Patty wrote:
>I will respond to the question of encouraging breeders to move towards
>starting ferret breeds= like a "pure breed" dog or cat.  I hope this
>doesn't happen, if it is possible anyway.
 
Ditto.  Such practises can so very, very often lead to worsening
health and decreased longevity within the subsets.  I figure that we
have the opportunity to put the ferrets first, so why not?
 
and Patty continued:
>Sure the most expensive, best of the litter is an exquisite animal- but
>all the other substandard, genetic messes are being sold too.  I think an
>animal should be bred for longevity, health, temperament- this is found
>mostly in the mutts of the dog world.  They are genetically hardier and
>stronger for the mix of genetic lines, and the chances of recessive genes
>showing up together are rare.
>
>We are not sure which diseases are genetic or environmental (or
>combinations of both), it would be a shame to move forward until we know
>what is inherited and what is not.
 
EXACTLY!
 
and:
>For now those that have little scruples would just charge more and claim
>they have a certain rare breed of ferret- like the giant bear ferret, or
>is this happening already?
 
Yes, it has.  That is just how WS began to be seen more and we all know
that there are multiple problems associated with that which plague ferrets
and the breeding populations.  Over the years it has been suggested or
begun with: lines that had a genetic defect that caused interesting
markings but also heart defects (fortunately short-term since the owner
did the responsible thing immediately when the heart problems were found
and neutered ALL), lines that had short tails but also other defects,
short faced ones that had horrid dental and nasal woes, long and silky
coated ones that turned out to have a painful form of dwarfism, coat
colors that turned out to be diet related only, "midget" ones that turned
out to have some serious defects, other "midgets" that turned out to be
nutritionally deprived, etc., etc.  etc.
[Posted in FML issue 3326]