From:
Sukie Crandall
Date: 2003-02-14 02:01:54 UTC
Subject: Re: [ferrethealth] RE: Blaze and deafness ??
To: ferrethealth@smartgroups.com
Message-Id: <a05210300ba71fae0a536@[10.0.1.4]>
>Hmm, I must have misspoken, then. Gabrielle did have what I thought were
>panda markings when I got her, but apparently not what would be really
>considered "true" panda. She has been getting steadily lighter in color as
>she has gotten older. She has always had a white bib on her throat, white
>toes on all four feet, and white "knee" patches on her back legs, but along
>with the steady lightening of her coat (which has diminished these features
>by making the rest of her coat more the color of her white markings) she
>also developed a white blaze pretty early on in her adult life that she did
>not originally have as a kit.
Oh, she is roaning. That is neither a genetic panda nor likely a
genetic blaze (unless there was a hidden blaze which has always been
present but your description does not sound like that. It is a
change that happens with some ferrets over the years, some older and
some younger, and it can mimic things sometimes. I've also heard of
folks who thought that they had dark eyed whites who later found that
the ferrets were not true DEWs because when younger they had been
whites with a few markings that whitened out with age such a back
stripe which went away in adulthood. Pandas and blazes from genetic
causes always have the white head of a panda or the white head stripe
of a blaze because they apparently have one of the neural crest
genetic disorders such as KIT or WS. These are changes of very early
fetal cells which later develop into multiple types of cells which is
why changing those early cells can result at times in widely variable
medical concerns. You'll notice some of the things seen in the post
of geneticist, Dr. Brett Middleton earlier recommended in this
discussion. It is readily available in the Complete FHL Archives on
sonic-weasel.
There are possibly other causes of pigment reduction over time in
ferrets. I don't know, though.