From:
Sukie Crandall
Date: 2005-01-09 23:54:06 UTC
Subject: for vets who treat ferrets (Please,
To: ferrethealth@smartgroups.com, ferret-list@cunyvm.cuny.edu
give to your vet if you are not a vet.)
Message-id: <BFA2E576-6299-11D9-BE39-000A95CD182C@mac.com>
More cystine uroliths are being seen in samples from ferrets arriving
at the urolith lab at UC Davis in the last year+. This also coincides
with the increased use of higher protein diets. A group at UC Davis
study is looking at factors such as genetic predisposition and dietary
factors to try and determine the reason for the increase in incidence
of these uroliths.
Dr. Michelle Hawkins VMD DABVP (Avian) is coordinating this effort and
can be reached at:
2108 Tupper Hall
University of CA, Davis
Davis, CA 95616
1-530-752-1363 (phone)
mghawkins@ucdavis.edu
She would like to hear from vets who encounter stones so that they can
accumulate case information as well as samples of blood, urine and
stones, and if the unfortunate happens and the animal dies (regardless
of whether from the stones or some other ferret disease) they would
also like to collect kidney tissue to help look for a genetic defect.
No one knows how common (or uncommon) these stones are when high
protein loading occurs. Obviously, if this is from a genetic cause
then some breeding lines will have increased or decreased
vulnerability.