From:
Melissa
Date: 2003-01-07 13:40:05 UTC
Subject: Re: [ferrethealth] re: European bloodlines
To: ferrethealth@smartgroups.com
Message-ID: <25504191.1041962209385.JavaMail.nobody@strontium>
--- Alicia <xtasyferrets@usaexpress.net> wrote:
Ferrets I have had that were not
> altered until they have
> reached sexual maturity are healthier >and do not
> develop problems as often
> or as early as the ones altered at 4 or 5 weeks of
> age.
> Danee
and
> I have experienced no lymphomas in the late alters
> thus far ( 6 years) and
> no adrenal hyperplasia's as of yet.
>
> Alicia
The "late alters don't get adrenal disorder" is an
untrue stereotype, and when people say this, it is
important to clearly limit the applicability to their
own experiences. Mishka, of the adrenal disorder at 4
1/2, insulinoma at 5 1/2, and the weird GI-tract
problem, is a (gorgeous) private breeder ferret that
was not altered until 18 months, has always received
the absolute best in vet care and foods, and has been
free-roam since he was about 6 months old.
I took him for cryo to a specialist, who does
literally hundreds of these procedures on ferrets.
When he found out Mishka was a late alter, he argued
and argued with me that he couldn't possibly be
adrenal, and essentially wasted a surgical procedure
because of this belief. This gentleman opened him
up, looked at the glands, and just sewed him back up.
Mishka lost over half a pound just from being put
under and sewn up. It took him four months to recover
completely.
Melissa