From:
Pam Sessoms
Date: 2002-06-02 12:25:00 UTC
Subject: Re: Re: The Food Issue
This is a very interesting discussion... I haven't had ferrets that long
(only about 8.5 years), and I am very interested to read in Betty's post (the
first under this subject line) that anecdotally, insulinoma probably wasn't so common going back farther, even though the diets were primarily kibble.
Sukie wrote:
> Insulinoma was just called "hypoglycemia" back then, and we
> have never had a lot of that in out households (and we do give
> raisins as treats a bit). Either we have been lucky or maybe
> something like our not giving carbohydrate treats, or providing
> many hours of time for exercise plays into it.
Wish I was in your boat! Every single ferret I live with seems to get
it. Well, actually, most of the rescues I have taken in have come with
it, so those shouldn't count, as far as looking at something I am doing
to cause it. But still, I have had four of four raised from kits get
insulinoma, and the one or two rescues that came in without it sure enough had it within 6 months to a year. I do have two new adoptees that are too young,
really, to have it (yet). Other than those two young girls, I'm at my
usual 100% insulinoma status.
I have never fed these guys carby or sugary treats and have even shied
away from raisins. They don't get junk food and were raised on the
oft-suggested blend of premium kibbles, primarily TF. I also do not cage
my ferrets; they are 100% full-time free roam and have always had all the
love, attention, and playtime I could give.
I'd love to know what gives. I lean towards bad luck and the basic fact
that this is so common in ferrets. I do wonder *what* makes it so common
in them... It's a pretty rare thing in most species - not a common
"old-age" disease at all. Currently I lean towards kibble-based diets,
but that does not explain why I have this kind of luck and others don't
(yeah, small samples size, I know *g*), or why it may not have been so
common going back 15 or so years when husbandry was not so different. Also, cats are pretty carnivorous and don't seem to have huge rates of insulinoma even though they are fed kibble... although some cat people worry about some other cat problems as coming from kibble-based diets. But still, for ferrets, it does seem to be a theory that makes sense. There's an interesting article by Dr. Susan Brown called "Rethinking the Ferret Diet" at:
http://www.vin.com/PetCare/Articles/VetHospital/M01096.htm
And Bob Church's FML series about insulinoma which makes much the same
argument is available at http://www.trifl.org/gravy.html
I am very hopeful that with the fast rate of learning about ferret
disease, there may be some real hard data to point to within my lifetime.
:) Can't wait. Until then, I may move more towards the meat/mice/etc
camp for my two that don't yet have insulinoma, simply lacking any other course of action that seems to make some sense, in stemming the Sessoms ferret insulinoma tide.
Hypoglycemic and confused in North Carolina, signing off!
-Pam S.