Possible infection or obstruction..

[kikitiana]

I have a four year old sable ferret named Bella. We adopted her at age two with her sister Xena. She's always had a strange obsession for plastic and rubber, especially the stuff we won't let her have. Recently, she's stopped eating and will sometimes just lie down and grind her teeth. She was still playing as usual and has only slowed down in the past few days. I thought she was nauseous, but when offered her food softened and mixed with ferretone, she gobbles it up. Her poop has been fairly normal. We've been feeding her as much as possible since she went off her food. Her coat has been lush and soft too. I'm not really sure what's going on. She just won't eat unless we feed her. She's pretty stubborn so I'm concerned she may have some infection and is hiding it well. Any thoughts or suggestions?
Thanks!!

~Christianna

[unclejoe]

Hiyas.
Fairly normal poop indicates she probably doesn't have an obstruction. Grinding teeth could indicate nausea or pain. Hve you checked her butt for prolapse? Has she lost any weight and is she dehydrated? If you're really concerned she should see a vet.

[kikitiana]

She isn't dehydrated, I've seen her drinking water. There are also no signs of prolapse. She's just been acting strangely. I think it might have something to do with our new ferrets. We just rescued three 4 year old girls who were sick. We were very careful to keep them separated and make sure that the sick ones had no contact with the healthy ones. The rescue ferrets have been healthy for over 3 weeks. Maybe she's caught what they had..?

[unclejoe]

It's possible. Do you know what they had? They can shed some viruses like ECE for months.