From:
sukiec@optonline.com
Date: 2003-02-13 22:41:25 UTC
Subject: RE: Blaze and deafness ??
To: ferrethealth@smartgroups.com
Message-ID: <21796126.1045176085111.JavaMail.root@scandium>
Well, like I said on both scores: I've heard of some and the sampling I had wasn't scientific. Alicia finds that in her shelter there doesn't seem to be a different proportion. The proportion would be a good thing to eventually have hard numbers on (known ages rather than estimates, from enough individuals to reduce the bad effects of small samples, and with a better sampling method than the request-for-feedback mode that I had available when i got curioius) to compare with the life spans of other markings. (Important to have data from more than one type of marking.)
Question: someone mentioned a panda becoming a head blaze. Did you mean the reverse? A panda lacks the pigmentation over a wide area and since the cells are unable to make pigment throughout life from genotypic causes so by definition I can't see how a true panda could become a blaze because those cells would not later make pigment. I wonder if there can be phenotypic (non-genetic) situation which can reduce pigment output and if that is what you saw. In that case it could be imagined that a ferret which lacked pigment on the head might later be able to produce pigment over more of the head.
I wasn't talking about roaning or phenotypic situations, but genetic (life long) ones. It is in relation to those that I haven't heard full lifespans for head blazes or pandas spoken of in pers coms usually and I think that Alicia is the first I've heard say she hasn't seen a difference in rate, though that is not based on any firm numbers, as I said, esp. since voluntary responses are more likely to get responses from those who are encountering problems.
It is always encouraging to hear of ones with full life spans and it will be great if the results of the sampling I did are wrong. Either way what we need are real numbers to know and those simply are lacking.