Dry skin?

[gan]

Hi, I adopted(rescued?) a ferret from a bad home earlier today, (there were 6-7 humans in a 2 bedroom apartment, 4-5 dogs, a caged cat, and god knows what else I didn't see! not to mention my baby was baking in the back yard without anything at all to shade her cage!)

She is supposed to be 5 months old, but I think it's a lie, however I can't be sure. Her teeth are sharp and in good condition, but she is gaunt and boney rather than fleshy and plump like all the other ferrets I've known at that age, I think it may have something to do with her diet. They were feeding her cat chow, Science diet- which is better than most for cats, but still not good. I did not notice what variety, but I suspect it was very low in fat.

The little thing has a bald spot I'm hoping is due to dry skin: they were washing her in Dawn dish soap, and keeping her outside, but had only moved her into the sun so she could dry off after her bath?

In any case, i can tell her skin is dry just by the condition of her coat, it's not slick or even particularly soft, but somewhat frazzled instead. As if she's got a million split ends!

I've already started her on Ferretone, but I'm wondering if you have any suggestions for good topical treatments to kill her itchy skin and fried coat fast? I heard someone mention oatmeal soaks once before, but they almost sound too mild for her condition.

Thanks!
Gan

[nwheather]

I wouldn't use ferretone as a means to improve her skin & coat condition. (Be careful not to give her too much ferretone, it's not good to give them too much). Once you get her onto better nutrition, her skin & coat will improve.
It will take time to get her back into healthy condition.

[gan]

that's what I hoped. As much as It will be nice to watch her coat com in fresher and healthier from diet, i was kind of hoping to garner some immediate improvement for her sake with something topical.

It probably isn't necessary- but i am uncomfortable knowing she was bathed in dish soap yesterday, so i will be giving her a little oatmeal bath later today to hopefully rinse any residue off her skin (considering how 'thoroughly' they cleaned her cage, i'm sure they weren't very careful about making sure she had no soap left on her) but after that I think I'll focus on treating the cause rather than the symptoms.

[whipple]

Soap residue can have alot to do with it too. Especially if they did not dilute the soap first. I do not have anything against using Dawn actually, but as with any soap it should be diluted. I use baby shampoo on my ferts and only bathe them when they really need it. I advise just rinsing her off with warm water. No need to use soap to get soap out.
Just get her on a good diet and wait. Giving her a mouse every so often does wonders to. Its very cleansing.

[sherrylynne]

If you want to add a supplement to her food, try giving her either whole body fish oil, like a salmon oil, or some emu oil.

[gan]

thanks Whipple!

"Giving her a mouse every so often does wonders to. Its very cleansing."
Unfortunately I haven't even gotten to try her on her first piece of raw meat yet, but hopefully one day she'll be munching mousies down like a champ
As for the bath, I certainly didn't use any soap, just water with about a cup's worth of oatmeal wrung out in it to calm her skin down, and hopefully soothe any bug bites she might have.

sherrylynne, thank you very much! I only wish i hadn't just bought a whole bottle of ferretone -.- I wonder if they'll let me return it Unlikely, but it would be worth it to me to get something less clogged up with unnecessary ingredients if i can find something purer and more effective- maybe even more tasty!

[whipple]

I use ferretone to clip nails. So keep it on hand. You put a dab on the tummy, and rub it into the fur, then they have to work a bit to get it all. Its the only way I can do it unless they're scruffed, but we all enjoy it much more. Less stressful.

[nwheather]

You can hang onto the ferretone & use it for nail clippings & such, like whipple said, but I was just saying not to use it to rely on getting the skin & coat into better condition. Many people who do use ferretone dilute it with cod liver oil or olive oil. *or not... ;p)
It's ok, just in moderation. =-)

*Thanks Jen, (below) for that info. There's a lot of "recommendations" out there & I am always looking for the best/correct info for my kids. =-)

[mustelidmusk]

As SherryLynn suggested, I highly recommend about a dime-size amount of fish body oil (salmon oil, sardine, oil, etc.

Cod liver has a balance of EFA's that's not as good for ferrets as the fish body oils.

I have tried the flax seed oil, and I've found that the fish body oil has produced the nicest coats and sin. Right now, I'm trying another bottle of flax seed oil to confirm my findings. This will be my third bottle of flax seed oil (I've already used 3 bottles of fish oil). I'm alternating between fish and flax to see which is best. I don't want to confuse seasonal coat differences will supplement type. I've been doing my "experiment" with these oils for 4 years now, and I think the fish oil is winning out.

Both are good, but I think the salmon oil is winning out. I tried one bottle of the sardine oil - it was more stinky and the brats had a strong preference for the salmon.

-jennifer

[bluedove]

I'm sure you've gotten the soap residue off of her by now... but just in case you wanted the info for future reference, a diluted solution of vinegar will neutralize all detergent residue. I even use it on my own hair after a shampoo to restore acid-balance. (prevents those nasty split ends!)

You mention that oatmeal may be "too mild"... but mild is what you want. I do believe they make a creme rinse, or conditioner designed for ferrets... but it's probably best to just allow her coat time to normalize without applying more product.

Sherrylynne mentioned emu oil. This can be taken internally and/or applied topically. It's an excellent anti-inflammatory and can soothe skin irritations. I've heard of people using it on serious ailments like mange on dogs with great improvement.

[mustelidmusk]

the only problem with anything applied topically that's oily is that ferrets will usually lick any oils to they point of irritating any skin even worse.
-jenniger

[cristina]

I never wash my ferrets with any type of soap anymore, I use oatmeal baths, oatmeal is a natural cleanser and is much less harsh on skin than soap...the Aveeno packets, I use half a pack for 3 babies at once. Soap really isnt even good for us humans either, which is why we have "cleanser" (which is soap free) for faces and such...soap tends to dry out the skin, same goes for ferrets.... and the thing about oatmeal bathing is you dont have to worry about "overbathing" since oatmeal is natural and cant harm if used too often as opposed to soap.

I have a fuzzie that develops a really brittle and sparse coat in the summer (me vet said its due to his hormones, they think he wasnt fully fixed right) so what I do is give the oatmeal baths to soften it and I give a capsule or 2 of fish oil a week to him, as well as vivify in soupy treats, and his coat has never been better!!

The nice thing is I am very holistic and natural now especially when it comes to my pets and whats nice is I have a normal ferret vet as well as an alternative holistic medicine vet who actually specializes in ferrets. So when I ask for remedies that are natural and dont involve any chemicals and such, he always has some remedy for me that always works great! (he also told me to use oatmeal and no more soap, unless absolutly necessary if they get into something really dirty)

[gan]

Oatmeal seems to be a really good bath, I know she liked it. She actually just sort of sat in it, occasionally sliding down to the deeper end of the tub to lift her feet up and try floating. I haven't tried any of the fish oils yet, but I know the oatmeal bath has already helped, her fur actually looks much better- which i'm sure is a combination of happier skin and the fact that it has been almost a week since she had her run-in with the Dawn detergent

Thanks guys!

[cristina]

I forgot to mention another remedy that I have found to work wonders on their fur....putting rice in a box or tub and letting them roll around and play in it...afterwards their fur is so soft! I dont know what the rice does but it seems to do something great!