From:
"Sukie Crandall"
Date: 2007-07-22 18:41:57 UTC
Subject: [ferrethealth] Re: botulism in some dog foods and human foods
To: ferrethealth@yahoogroups.com
--- In ferrethealth@yahoogroups.com, "Sukie Crandall" <sukie@...> wrote:
>
> I know some people let ferrets have such foods for treats
> (and don't want others poisoned, either):
>
> http://www.fda.gov/bbs/topics/NEWS/2007/NEW01670.html
>
Please, notice that the site includes information on botulism in ferrets:
>The disease has only been seen occasionally in dogs and
>has not been reported in cats. Ferrets are highly susceptible
>to botulinum toxin. The incubation period can be 2 hours to
>2 weeks; in most cases, the symptoms appear after 12 to 24
>hours. Botulism is characterized by progressive motor paralysis.
>Typical clinical signs may include muscle paralysis, difficulty
>breathing, chewing and swallowing, visual disturbances and
>generalized weakness may also occur. Death usually results
>from paralysis of the respiratory or cardiac muscles. Pet owners
>who have used these products and whose pets have these
>symptoms should contact their veterinarian immediately. At this
>time we are not aware of pet illnesses associated with these
>products although we recommend that all these products should
>be discarded.
>Castleberry recommends consumers with any questions or
>concerns about this recall should go to Castleberry's website
>(www.castleberrys.com) or call Castleberry's consumer hotline
>at 1-800-203-4412 or 1-888-203-8446.
Botulism is one of the things that was very well documented in
ferrets in the past from raw feeding. Long after most people
had taken dogs to prepared foods (which have a lower risk)
many British ferrets and fur fitch ferrets still ate raw. Not all
got vet care), but those who did seek vet care provided data.
For insurance reasons that means that fur farms were often origins
of data.
Okay. I just looked in PM. Yes, they were used as an animal
model, in at least an attempt to develop a botulism to develop
a vaccine in the early 1980s which appears to be the last study
of botulism and ferrets in PubMed which lists several others in
the 70s, but all were long enough ago that no abstracts appear.
To learn more about those studies, for those interested, I suggest
going to the FHL links section on the website, then open the
USDA studies page. The USDA had two earlier compilations of
studies and at least one includes excellent summaries just as the
the most current one does. You will find links to the last
compilation in each next one, so go from the current one to the
one just before it, and then for at least some you may need to link
from that website to the compilation which predates it.
Reading this makes me wonder if some past puzzling neurological
cases that were never resolved could have been botulism.
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