From:
Sue
Date: 2001-10-31 17:28:43 UTC
Subject: [Ferret-Health-list] retinal atrophy
Hi
I am somewhat familiar with retinal problems in ferrets.
PRA (progressive retinal atrophy) is occasionally
diagnosed
in the ferret. There is no treatment for this disease,
but some
vets (board certified veterinary ophthalmologist)
recommend
antioxidants to the canine patients. There is no good
research showing it will actually help like in people,
but it
does not hurt.
However, the good news is this disease is not painful.
The
vision will progressively get worse. Your
ferret will do fine adjusting to the environment--just
don't move
things around. Zoey may use Wriggley as her seeing eye
ferret.
If you want to make sure this is a proper diagnosis go
to a
veterinary ophthalmologist and have them run a test
called
an ERG (electroretinalgram). It is like an EKG for the
heart,
but it reads retinal function. It is actually a very
cool test.
I have also heard that Dr. Williams and Dr. Kawasaki are
working
on having a paper published about this subject so
perhaps Dr. Williams
can comment further.
Good luck
Sue
-------Original Message-------
From: Ferret-Health-list@yahoogroups.com
To: Ferret-Health-list@yahoogroups.com
My 4 yr old female has been running into things lately
so I took her to the vet to have her eyes checked. He
was able to visualize them very well as she held
amazingly still (very unlike her) He said there were
definite changes such as blood vessel narrowing. He
said he wasn't real familiar with the ferret eye,
however, as he doesn't usually have one that
cooperates as well. I had Zoey's cagemate with me and
suggested he look at Wriggley's to have a comparison.
Wriggley wasn't as cooperative but the vet was able to
see the retina. There is a definite difference and
change. He wasn't real sure what this all meant so I
am on a quest. Anyone care to comment? Any
treatments? Could there be a tumor at work? Please
respond, someone, I am worried about her, a lot. We
can deal with decreased vision and even blindness but
I am fearful that there is something life threatening
going on here. I have researched this list's archives
as well as the FML but didn't find much on this
subject. Any help or advice at all would be much
appreciated.
Thanks
Ann and Zoey
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