From:
"Sukie Crandall"
Date: 2008-04-24 17:40:27 UTC
Subject: [ferrethealth] Re: Dwarf Ferret?
To: ferrethealth@yahoogroups.com
Possibly, but I am wondering if you may be dealing with something else like pronounced
arthritis in an angora ferret. Angoras have an unusually high rate of skull malformations,
BTW, according to past posts on Ferret-Genetics.
If you would like to see what the short legs with normal body length and short face were
like on one ferret, Ruffle, who one vet diagnosed as having achrondoplastic dwarfism as
well as multiple deformations and intellectual handicap. She couldn't even understand
normal ferret body language even though in the first part of her life there were two other
ferrets with whom she got along (but they made many allowances for her).
http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/ferrethealth/files/
Open
"Old, really old, case files"
http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/ferrethealth/files/Old%2C%20Really%20Old%2C%20C
ase%20Files/
(That direct URL might not work because of the %20s in it.)
which are from when we were at our original URL at Yahoogroups
Scroll down to the one named
"Ruffles_legs.jpg"
Again same note about the DIRECT URL possibly NOT working so you may need to use the
steps I outline to get there:
http://f1.grp.yahoofs.com/v1/kLwQSJlMwYBHCvSdIdr0ivWTUqUn9aChevMAPBAOwMLrVNl
ACvAYpOVFvPMTtNp4cz8fKm_HXchzBufQIh2x2Q/Old%2C%20Really%20Old%2C%20Case%2
0Files/Ruffles_legs.jpg
Her head was shorter than having that bag half in the way makes it appear, but the legs
are accurately seen. You can see how very short her legs were.
She had terrible arthritis secondary to her form of dwarfism. On top of all of that she had
asthma.
When her little body finally failed when she was 6 after many years with a lot of special
care she simultaneously developed something like 8 serious medical conditions, most of
which were fatal ones. For a number of her last months she could not eat anything of
greater consistency than a cream soup because her esophagus was impinged upon by two
heart diseases (very advanced dilated cardiomyopathy and a cardiac tumor) so she had
homemade meat soups, meat and egg soups, and nutrient drinks which worked well
enough for her at that stage, given her condition.
--- In ferrethealth@yahoogroups.com, "Jerri Carel" <ferretmomjc@...> wrote:
>
> Good Morning All,
>
> I only see a few mssages on this subject and none in the past couple
> of years - I wonder if we know anymore details since then?
>
> I got a little 3 yr old guy into the shelter and quickly noticed that
> something was just not right. It took a while to pin it down, but to
> begin with, he's short from front to back - very compact little guy.
> He's not flexible like a ferret - not the typical slinky spine - his
> is a bit arched and stiff as is his neck. I also noted that his legs
> don't move normally - the joints seem to be stiff and he seems to
> move pretty much only from the hips. Lastly, his little face,
> adorable as it is, is short and rounded - it almost looks like a kit
> head - the nose area has never elongated. I'm not talking about the
> typical big round faced ferret -vs- the early spay/neuter long faced
> ferret - this one is rounded like it just stopped growing early
> on...it's like a little round kit head.
>
> I do know that he has not seen out-of-cage time in 2 years with the
> exception of cage cleaning time. This could be a reason for muscle
> loss or some stiffness......but I've seen that before & it looks
> different than what I'm seeing now.
>
> I'm not sure if he might also be developmentally deficient......his
> play is kit-like - you hold him and he just paws at you/holds your
> fingers like a kit and mouths at/play bites with your fingers. No
> clue about a litter pan, but being raised on that CareFresh bedding,
> I can write that off to lack of exposure to a litter pan. Won't
> climb the ramp in his FN cage.
>
> One person on a forum said this: "I do have a pretty good study on
> the somatotropes of the domestic ferret in my research files.....
> Dwarf ferrets tend to have very soft fur and small, short faces. They
> also have heart problems and very painful joints. Those with
> achondroplastic dwarfism generally have short and/or mishapen limbs."
>
> "Rory" has Brillo Pad fur, but he also appears to be adrenal....or I
> would assume that if he was a "normal" ferret....I'm not sure now.
>
> Thanks!
> Jerri Carel
> The Ferret Haven
> Louisville, KY
>
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