More cystine uroliths are being seen in samples from ferrets arriving at
the urolith lab at UC Davis in the last year+.  This also coincides with
the increased use of higher protein diets.  A group at UC Davis study is
looking at factors such as genetic predisposition and dietary factors to
try and determine the reason for the increase in incidence of these
uroliths.
 
Dr. Michelle Hawkins VMD DABVP (Avian) is coordinating this effort and
can be reached at:
2108 Tupper Hall
University of CA, Davis
Davis, CA 95616
1-530-752-1363 (phone)
[log in to unmask]
 
She would like to hear from vets who encounter stones so that they can
accumulate case information as well as samples of blood, urine and
stones, and if the unfortunate happens and the animal dies (regardless
of whether from the stones or some other ferret disease) they would also
like to collect kidney tissue to help look for a genetic defect.
 
No one knows how common (or uncommon) these stones are when high protein
loading occurs.  Obviously, if this is from a genetic cause then some
breeding lines will have increased or decreased vulnerability.
[Posted in FML issue 4753]