Message Number: YG438 | New FHL Archives Search
From: maikeru207@yahoo.com
Date: 2001-02-28 03:53:19 UTC
Subject: Re: any ideas please

Hello everyone, this is my first post on the health list. I've been
trying to put together a good mix of food for my ferret Boo, and
based on things I've read here and there, I've been attempting to
avoid foods containing corn like the plague. I recall some of
proposed contraindications of corn being that it is hard to digest or
it causes allergic reactions. Has any of this been proven or is this
just well meaning opinions??

I'm also trying to obtain the vitamin and mineral content of some
high quality ferret and cat/kitten foods for the purpose of
comparison. So far, this has been easier said than done.

Thanks, Michael


From: "Dr. Bruce Williams" <williams@e...>

Dear Deb:

E. coli in the bladder and now prostate, eh? Well lets look at this
problem.

E.coli, the most common bacterium in feces, is also the most common
bacteria isolated from bladder infections. Bladder infections in
ferrets are most commonly seen in females, as males have a small
urethral orifice, a sheath, a longer urethra, - all of this
contributes to a lower overall UTI rate in males.

Prostates in male ferrets, however, are never seen unless the ferret
has adrenal disease, and the estrogens that are liberated from the
adrenal cause enlargement. Until we starting looking at ferrets with
adrenal disease, no one had ever seen the prostate, and several books
suggested that ferrets didn't even have one.

Ferrets with prostatic disease often have concomitant bladder
infections. My feeling is that if the prostate is indeed involved
that we are dealing with concurrent adrenal disease. Ferrets with
prostatic disease have difficulty urinating. Conversely, if there is
no adrenal disease, the prostate is playing no part in these
recurrent urinary tract infections.

Bottom line - let's look hard for adrenal disease - treat the adrenal
disease and the prostatic disease goes away, and likely the urinary
tract infection becomes amenable to treatment as well.

Oh, and you can't remove the prostate in a ferret - you would have to
split the pelvis to get it all out.


With kindest regards,

Bruce H. Williams, DVM
Join the Ferret Health List at
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Ferret-Health-list

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