paula

DC is running about rubbing his ears along the carpet again. He's done this
before but not as determindly as this evening. No-one has dirty external
ears, and no-one else is scratching theirs, so I doubt it's mites (do we
even get them in the UK, anyway?) I have no other animals, and they don't
go out the house.

Can ferrets get excessive wax build up? Any other suggestions?

TIA
--
Paula
& Biffa, Rumpus, Banzai & DC
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

good golly miss molly

Ferrets ca get wax. They can also get earmites as can cats and dogs. If
there is nasty black waxy stuff in their lugholes, the chances are it is
earmites. I use stronghold drops from the vet to keep mine clear of
earmites,roundworms and fleas etc but you can get just eardrops for it. The
face rubbing could be it has something sticky on it's face and it is
cleaning it, or it could be toothache etc. A quick trip to your vet will
tell you what it is and get you the appropriate treatment.

jumpingmouse02

Just got back from the vet to get Gilbert's last distemper shot. She was
explaining to me that the mites can even migrate down onto their faces and
necks, which makes them itchy. Fortunately for us, all of Gilbert's mites
were dead (she took a slide of an ear swab and I got to see the dead
mites.......ewwww). She gave him an injection of Ivermectin anyway because
there are always those little eggs taht will hatch in several weeks (if they
are not destroyed) and the whole cycle could start over again. Kylie and
Sara will go Friday and get their ears checks and ivermectin shots also, as
it's common if one pet has mites, they probably all do.

BTW, Gilbert's weight at today's visit was 2.7 lbs!! He was 1 lb when I got
him and was 2.1 lbs when he got a distemper shot three weeks ago, so he's
really growing fast! The really amazing thing was that his heart rate was
130 - it was really low last time he was examined too. The vet said he is
so muscular and solid that the low heart rate is because he's in such great
physical shape. Boy, did that sound good to my ears!! I thought I'd never
get him out of there today.......all the vet techs had to take turns passing
him around and hugging on him. Yeah, he's kind of a sweetie :-)

jumpingmouse, kylie & gilbert

good golly miss molly

Ferrets ca get wax. They can also get earmites as can cats and dogs. If
there is nasty black waxy stuff in their lugholes, the chances are it is
earmites. I use stronghold drops from the vet to keep mine clear of
earmites,roundworms and fleas etc but you can get just eardrops for it. The
face rubbing could be it has something sticky on it's face and it is
cleaning it, or it could be toothache etc. A quick trip to your vet will
tell you what it is and get you the appropriate treatment.

jumpingmouse02

Just got back from the vet to get Gilbert's last distemper shot. She was
explaining to me that the mites can even migrate down onto their faces and
necks, which makes them itchy. Fortunately for us, all of Gilbert's mites
were dead (she took a slide of an ear swab and I got to see the dead
mites.......ewwww). She gave him an injection of Ivermectin anyway because
there are always those little eggs taht will hatch in several weeks (if they
are not destroyed) and the whole cycle could start over again. Kylie and
Sara will go Friday and get their ears checks and ivermectin shots also, as
it's common if one pet has mites, they probably all do.

BTW, Gilbert's weight at today's visit was 2.7 lbs!! He was 1 lb when I got
him and was 2.1 lbs when he got a distemper shot three weeks ago, so he's
really growing fast! The really amazing thing was that his heart rate was
130 - it was really low last time he was examined too. The vet said he is
so muscular and solid that the low heart rate is because he's in such great
physical shape. Boy, did that sound good to my ears!! I thought I'd never
get him out of there today.......all the vet techs had to take turns passing
him around and hugging on him. Yeah, he's kind of a sweetie :-)

jumpingmouse, kylie & gilbert

ilena ayala

It could still be mites, but there are other explanations as well. I'm not
sure how much of a problem ear mites are in the UK. To check for mites,
swab the wax and tap it off and put the swab on a dark surface, such as
black paper. If there are mites, they are light colored, and you might see
them moving against the dark surface even without magnification. You can
also check the swab and paper under magnification (I use a 12x jewelers
loupe.).

Other explanations:

Ear infection (possibly yeast). Are his ears unusually sensative during
cleaning? If not, there may be nothing wrong with them at all.

Mine used to rub the side of their face along carpet from time to time-I
think it's partially a cleaning thing, and partially a scent marking thing.
If that's what he's doing and he looks relaxed rather than anxious or upset,
it's probably just normal behavior.

-Ilena Ayala

ilena ayala

It could still be mites, but there are other explanations as well. I'm not
sure how much of a problem ear mites are in the UK. To check for mites,
swab the wax and tap it off and put the swab on a dark surface, such as
black paper. If there are mites, they are light colored, and you might see
them moving against the dark surface even without magnification. You can
also check the swab and paper under magnification (I use a 12x jewelers
loupe.).

Other explanations:

Ear infection (possibly yeast). Are his ears unusually sensative during
cleaning? If not, there may be nothing wrong with them at all.

Mine used to rub the side of their face along carpet from time to time-I
think it's partially a cleaning thing, and partially a scent marking thing.
If that's what he's doing and he looks relaxed rather than anxious or upset,
it's probably just normal behavior.

-Ilena Ayala

paula

Well, he seems fine today, happily jumping about and playing as normal.
Maybe he just had itchy ears last night and just couldn't manage to hit the
spot with his scratches. Can't see anything disgusting in his ears, and I
don't clean them ~ so if anything was building up it should be visible.
Will keep an eye on him.

Does anyone know how prevelant ear mites are in the UK? Are they species
specific, or could they come off the family cats and dogs? (As I said
before, I don't really think it's mites, cos I don't have any other animals
who could bring it into the house... unless they brought them in on
themselves when I got the 2nd pair last year.)

Hmm.
--
Paula
& Biffa, Rumpus, Banzai & DC
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

paula

Well, he seems fine today, happily jumping about and playing as normal.
Maybe he just had itchy ears last night and just couldn't manage to hit the
spot with his scratches. Can't see anything disgusting in his ears, and I
don't clean them ~ so if anything was building up it should be visible.
Will keep an eye on him.

Does anyone know how prevelant ear mites are in the UK? Are they species
specific, or could they come off the family cats and dogs? (As I said
before, I don't really think it's mites, cos I don't have any other animals
who could bring it into the house... unless they brought them in on
themselves when I got the 2nd pair last year.)

Hmm.
--
Paula
& Biffa, Rumpus, Banzai & DC
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

mc

Hey Ilena!

Long time no see! Good to see you on and making comment.....don't be such a
stranger!

MC