>Can a ferret have WS and not be deaf?  What again are the characteristics?
 
OH yes indeed.  You do not have to be deaf to have WS.  Think of WS as
a spectrum type of disorder rather than an all or nothing thing like
pregnancy. :) I don't know about ferrets, but in other species there
have been as many as four types of WS found.  And within those types,
there are varying degrees of traits.
 
WS is like a collage of traits.  Some ferrets will have almost all of them
and with impressive expression.  Some ferrets will have only some traits,
with little expression.  If you got to my deaf ferret site below, there
are photos of a ferret that is probably at one side of the specturm with
physical traits you can barely see, and another ferret that has profound
traits.  Please take a look, there are many photos of each characteristic.
 
I wanted to make an indepth page of WS for those very interested in the
technical aspects of the genetics side of it all.  A few people graciously
offered help.  But as I learned more and more about it, the more questions
I had.  I felt like I was in over my head in an area that has not even
been touched by research using ferrets.  So I abandoned the idea.
 
Wolfy
for information on ferret deafness:
http://www.geocities.com/wolfysluv/deaf.html
[Posted in FML issue 3801]