As I explained in the FHL (and folks who wanted to see the full thing
could have looked there and followed the conversation as it unfolds) the
treating vets and also so far all of the consulting vets are implicating
diet.
With cystine stones there is a second implicated cause in some mammals
(which is confirmed as an existing hypothesis by a human urologist who
is friend) which is diet related.
Again:
http://www.smartgroups.com/message/readmessage.cfm?
gid=1423922&messageid=9504&startid=9520
Discussions on this have been going on quietly with vets for a few weeks,
and more so when we got the results, which -- although they were not the
expected results -- had been talked about and somewhat looked into but
then looked into much more seriously when the results came in including
many discussions with knowledgeable ferret vets.
What is too much protein for a ferret and how much do individuals differ?
No one knows, but it does appear that folks need to take some things into
account, including:
1. that moderation is a logical approach once we finally know what
moderation actually is in this regard because there just isn't enough
info to know yet what levels may be optimal,
2. that stones need to be considered of there are signs of difficulty
urinating, of a UTI, or even of straining to defecate and difficulty
passing stools with actual constipation or thin stools but no GI blockage
present (since that was the first presentation for both due to general
inflammation and all) and if found need to be tested rather assumed to
be struvite stones,
3. that we as a group may be seeing more of these as higher protein
diets become more common, or it may be that only certain types of foods
get involved so ones using those particular foods might be more likely
to get them so it pays to be aware of the possibility for optimum safety
if a ferret takes ill,
and
4. that there may be more of these than thought but the needed pathology
isn't being done or the ferrets aren't being caught in time. If there
are more than thought then the equation changes but the precautions and
responses once such an individual is encountered are at least available in
http://fhl.sonic-weasel.org
for those who may need them, no matter how common or rare they may be.
As has been said may times by many vets: ferrets are not dogs, are not
cats, are not humans, etc.
So often enough the best approach is to be aware that a situation which
might call for awareness has been found even when there is too little
info to know better what the boundaries or particulars are. You'd be
amazed at how many ferret health problems have made very real progress in
people understanding them due to those who encounter them making the info
available and someone finally putting things together from that after
enough cases happen: from finding and tracing a coccidia variant that was
hard to get but fatal when caught and stopping it by isolating the areas
and treating (no joke -- the FML years ago was essential in the ground
work which stopped that epizooic), or putting together patterns for ECE,
or noticing things about a wide range of other medical problems. There
have even been vet articles on how the internet helped ferret medicine
progress. Whether the stones we had to deal with (and which hopefully
will stop now) will fall into the category of something which can be of
use to others in writing about them and having others who may run into
them over time also write here isn't possible to know at this point.
Only time will tell.
We are aware of the the one proven cause (which the vets consider
unlikely, but of course, odds are beaten all the time in bad ways as well
as good ones, it's just that they are beaten by very few individuals),
and we are also aware of the hypothesis which the vets consider more
likely in this situation. Time and sharing will likely the only ways to
sort out just what exactly is going on.
Meanwhile, it never hurts to remember that there really is close to
nothing which doesn't have both upsides and downsides.
[Posted in FML issue 4570]
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