From:
"Sukie Crandall"
Date: 2007-05-07 23:17:42 UTC
Subject: [ferrethealth] Re: new to ferrets with question
To: ferrethealth@yahoogroups.com
I don't think there are actually any hard and
fast rates for adrenal disease or insulinoma,
though I have read of folks in a lot of places
figuring that what they encounter must be the
norm, so you may have run into some of those.
Rates of those two medical problems seem to
vary a lot among households.
We've had ferrets in our family for about 26 years,
usually 5 or 6 at a time, though we have had more
and fewer. The rate of adrenal growths here is
about a third of them. The rate of insulinoma here
is below 20% and you have to add on the ones who
had lymphoma of the pancreas and the ones who
had carcinoma of the pancreas to get that high.
I agree with Dr. Karen Rosenthal that there seemed to be
not so many adrenal and pancreatic problems in the
earlier decades of pet ferrets in the U.S. and there
were not early cases. We were on the internet then
(and Steve was before then, actually) so we knew and
spoke with many of the first people to discuss ferrets
electronically which I guess began sometime around a
year or two before the Ferret Mailing List which itself
began 20 years ago this coming December, if memory
serves. Even early on there were people in the U.S.,
Canada, England, and Sweden talking. Personally,
I suspect a lot of the breeding for fancies worsened
things. There is genetic vulnerability work going on
now at UC Davis in a team organized by Dr. Michelle
Hawkins which will begin to shed light on the topic,
beginning with MEN (Multiple Endocrinological Neoplasia)
genetics if a read a reference to the study in an adrenal
disease paper by Dr. Johnson-Delany correctly.
Our ferrets typically live to be late in the 7th year to
the middle of the 8th year, but we've had ones with
longer lives and ones with shorter lives. Since we
had the habit of accepting ferrets with serious
deformities for a while when we could afford to do
that (One cost $11,500 in veterinary care over 6 years.)
and since we had ECE with older ferrets who were naive
of the disease, and two times with clumping lymphoma
those affected such figures, pulling them downward,
but they are among the types of medical problems which
can happen in any household.
Others will have different approaches, but below is how
life here is organized.
We feed kibble. In fact, right now since we have two
with histories of cystine stones we have to keep the
protein levels to no more than 35% protein, which works
great for those two. That is pretty much what the protein
levels were like in most kibbles until new higher protein
introductions in recent years.
We provide a lot of exercise, both physical and mental.
We make sure that there are always completely dark
places the ferrets can retire to for naps and harder
sleeping.
We never skimp on vets care, and we try to learn ahead
about medical problems so that we can respond rapidly
to warning signs.
In regard to genetics we had to change habits with economic
pressures, so now:
We avoid a lot of the fancy markings ourselves, especially
blaze or panda heads. (The two of ours who get cystine
stones have some post-cranial neural crest genetic variant
markings, and we have lost one with a head blaze to
hypertrophic cardiomyopathy which occurs in higher rates
in other species when some neural crest disorders that produce
those markings are present (rates unstudied in that regard in
ferrets the last time I checked). Plus, some neural crest genetic
variants like KIT are oncogenes so may increase vulnerability to
malignancies.)
All that said, yes, ferrets will get sick at some point
***** just like any other individual of any species will,***** and
yes, it often is costly. We are in the tristate (NY.NJ,CT) area and
we figure that the usual ferret costs us about $5,000 over the
lifetime in medical and surgical needs so we save ahead. Then
again, since we were in the habit of accepting ferrets with serious
deformities so we learned some lessons in really hard ways which
most get to avoid. (Honestly, it is also an emotional relief to not be
able to afford to do that any longer.)
Many areas of the country will be cheaper than here because this
is one of the most expensive locations in the nation.
When we figure out how many ferrets we can have and be fair to
them we figure in how much time we have for interacting and
monitoring their behavior and condition, as well as playing,
how much space we have (or in our case do not have), and the
veterinary needs. When we have had to we have postponed or
done without other things to afford vet care just as we would
and have for our own medical needs.
Sorry for blathering on, but I hope that some of that helps.
We all learn bit by bit, and then at some time turn around in
amazement at the history behind us, then turn forward again
in excitement at how much more there is to enjoy.
Sukie (not a vet)
Recommended ferret health links:
http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/ferrethealth/
http://ferrethealth.org/archive/
http://www.afip.org/ferrets/index.html
http://www.miamiferret.org/fhc/
http://www.ferretcongress.org/
http://www.trifl.org/index.shtml
http://homepage.mac.com/sukie/sukiesferretlinks.html
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