From:
Bruce Williams, DVM
Date: 2001-03-30 23:59:00 UTC
Subject: Re: urine licking
--- In Ferret-Health-list@y..., SBrown9530@a... wrote:
> In a message dated 3/30/01 7:17:20 PM Central Standard Time,
> weezul1@y... writes:
>
>
> > A vet told me that if a ferret licks its own urine, it
> > could be a sign of adrenal. Any comments on that?
> >
> >
>
> The only 2 ferrets I had who licked their own urine died of
> adrenal/insulinoma. Don't know if that's a true indication, just
my past
> experiences.
Yes, but you have to track WHEN the licked urine and when they
developed adrenal. A large number of ferrets will drink urine, and
an even larger number will die of adrenal/insulinoma, but we can't
prove that cause and effect is operating here.
It's actually like adrenal/insulinoma - there is a lot of speculation
that the two in combination may be a syndrome in ferrets of multiple
endocrine neoplasia, when in truth, they are both so common in the
population that one should not be surprised at all when both tumors
are present in the same individual.
My belief on urine drinking is simply that it is a vice. I haven't
found a consistent thread of disease in the urine drinkers, adrenal
or otherwise. It's yucky, but harmless.
With kindest regards,
Bruce H. Williams, DVM, DACVP
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