In regards to the comments about natural photoperiods as another cause of
cancer in ferrets, I guess I forgot to mention it in my diatribe about
American ferrets and cancer before, but this is one of the things that I
think in addition or in combination with other factors such as genetics,
early neutering and improper diet, that may contribute to the high cancer
rate.  Yes, most other countries that I communicate with keep their ferrets
outdoors and we keep ours indoors under artificial lighting that varies in
intensity and spectrum from natural sunlight.  Ferrets are very "endocrine
oriented" and tuned into photoperiods.  I do not think that this is all of
the reason, as American ferrets have been kept indoors for many years and the
high rate of cancer, at least in my practice experience of 17 years didn't
become a big problem until recently.  Also, some ferreters I visited in
England who had perfectly healthy older animals kept them outdoors, but in
dark sheds that didn't get a lot of natural light.
I think that there are several factors, but genetics and early neutering get
my vote as a practitioner who has seen well over 3000 ferrets as the tops on
the list.
Susan Brown, D.V.M.
 
Regarding the ferrets with bloody rectums after defecating:
We have seen several cases of mild rectal prolapse after defecating which can
lead to bleeding.  In ferrets that are preneutered at an early age we have
seen it as a consequence of the anal gland surgery, where possibly there may
have been minor nerve or muscle damage at the time of the surgery.  This
requires a minor cosmetic surgery to correct.
It can also be seen with chronic diarrhea or colitis, but you said that the
stools appeared normal.  In colitis, there may be blood streaked in the stool
with a lot of mucous.  The condition may respond to antibiotics, your vet may
want to do a rectal culture, or even an intestinal biopsy if the condition
persists.
Unfortunately we have also seen three cases of lymphoma in young ferrets with
persistent rectal prolapses.  I would highly recommend that you get a CBC on
your ferret and check its lymphocyte count.  we diagnosed it on our three
cases by a 2 consecutive complete blood cell counts that had elevated
lymphocytes and then a lymph node or intestinal biopsy.
Bottom line...the condition is not normal and you should have it checked out.
Two very good ferret vets in California are:
Dr. Doug Mader in Long Beach California and Dr. Jeff Jenkins in San Diego
California (check the last issue or two for phone numbers...I keep repeating
their names...)
Good Luck
Susan Brown, D.V.M.
 
[Posted in FML issue 0771]