From:
"Sukie Crandall"
Date: 2008-09-19 14:48:34 UTC
Subject: [ferrethealth] Re: Spaying Questions and Pivot's choices: a female in first estrus at 7 months
To: ferrethealth@yahoogroups.com
Many thanks to all who replied.
What work exists in relation to the timing of adrenal growths
indicated that a rough average correlation of approximately three
years is pretty common --among the ferrets who get adrenal
growths. On the other hand, not only do not all get them, but the
splay around that average was very wide, so wide that a difference
of a half year is basically not a difference at all. Now, whether
RATES are changed by delaying the spaying is still an unknown
as far as I am aware.
The work was done in the Netherlands by Dr. Schoemaker
and there are other questions here in the U.S. including the
rates of genetic vulnerabilities, with two highly likely genetic
contributors to endocrinological growths such as adrenal disease
and insulinoma already found in U.S. ferret lines, and others needing
to be sought to see if they are present and to what degrees.
http://ferrethealth.org/archive/FHL1843
http://ferrethealth.org/archive/YG1866
http://ferrethealth.org/archive/FHL4386
(Remember that in the U.S. -- not only according to those of us
who had ferrets and communicated with other ferret people decades
ago, but also according to treating vets, the rates of endocrinological
growths was far less per capita ferret than now. There have been a
number of changes since then: those ubiquitous green and blue
equipment lights (because they are the worst light wavelengths for
disrupting the body's natural melatonin production and that in turn
reduces the levels of FSH and especailly important of LH, and certainly
the imposed and marked level of breeding for fancies which may well
have increased medical vulnerabilities beyond the well known problems
that go with neural crest variations, or the increased rates of spinal woes
with markedly shortened tails, or the increased rates of skull malformations
and nostril closure in angora ferrets, or (the list could go on...).
The reason I had been hoping to wait was actually because of a
different type of study which had a tantalizing
suggestion that there are some hormonal changes which happen
the age of one for jills, but that is merely a hypothesis based on
an interesting observation, nothing more. I recall that I ran into the
mention in _Ferrets, Rabbits, and Rodents, Clinical Medicine and
Surgery_ but not where it was nor the details, just that it gave an
indication that something fundamental might be different over the
age of a year. (This can be seen in other species as well. The human
uterus is ready to carry before it reaches full maturation at about
age 20 which is thought to be one reason that teenage girls seem
to be more vulnerable when exposed to STDs according to some
studies I've encountered.) AH! Here we go: it's the reduced risk
of fatal anemia at different ages:
study cited in _Ferrets, Rabbits, and Rodents, Clinical Medicine and
Surgery_, page 47*) that the fatal anemia complication for a female
who goes unbred is much lower before the age of a year. Of course.
while that might be for endocrinological reasons it might alternatively
indicate that the marrow is more resilient at the younger ages.
Our current choice is that we will bring her out of heat short term with
Lupron -- for which use a person does not need to wait for day 10 (ten)
of full estrus (open and wet), and then will spay.
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