From:
sukieferret
Date: 2002-02-21 19:42:00 UTC
Subject: Re: Stiff Joints
> slow motion. But, blindness really couldn't explain his inability
> to lift his hind leg to his ear???? I'm still searching for clues on
Nicole, what are his proportions like? I have been very worried
by certain breeders who are offering what some of them term to
be "bull dog ferrets" and yet have proportions which are not
consistent with a robust build but are consistent with dwarfism,
sometimes with forms of dwarfism that can be very painful for
some such as acondroplastic dwarfism can be. We have had
one little girl with that (years ago) and it was very hard for her --
with pain her entire life. Her proportions themselves caused
differences in posture and in capabilites, for instance she could
not bow her back properly and she could not spread scent from
behind her ears because her arms were too short. (So we did it
for her.) She waddled when others scampered or pronged.
Every day she needed massage to combate muscle spasms.
Ruffle's photo is in the medical photos section at
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Ferret-Health-list .
I certainly don't worry about ferrets who just are stocky or robust
since that can be quite healthy, but when I see limbs that are too
short for the body to allow normal motion, and especially if those
limbs show other problems like bowing then alarms go off that
this might be an individual who is going to pay sorely for what a
breeder did to have a certain "look" to sell.
BTW, from the descriptions some use "bull dog" to just refer to
robust builds, but watch out for the others.