Steph wrote:
>Now I am not a geneticist, I am only using my experience from having
>grown up with animals and simple common sense, So Sukkie please don't
>jump on me, but lets put it this way.  We wouldn't have our husband and
>daughter have a child together just because they both have exceptionally
>beautiful eyes, because we know that incest is not ethical and not
>healthy, so why should it be acceptable with animals?
 
LOL!  Yeah, it really is one of my standard gripes that people emphasize
looks over health, longevity and behavior too often, isn't it?
 
The pandas and blazes might at times be Waardensburg but since so many
also have body spotting many, perhaps most in ferrets are more likely to
be one of the other neural crest syndrome causes : most likely what is
known as the KIT oncogene.  There could be a mix of neural crest genetic
variants in more than one genetic location, though, so, yes, cumulative
effects can be seen.  Some neural crest genetic variants are ones from
genes that seem to just affect the early fetal neural crest, but some
effect an earlier grouping of cells, the cardiac neural crest, so if
that happens in ferrets those individuals could be at an increased risk
of heart problems.  There are studies connecting an increased rate of
cardiomyopathy to some of the neural crest markings in other mammals,
especially increased rates of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (the harder
one to spot which also can lead to a wasting syndrome in ferrets before
treatment).  KIT is an oncogene and oncogenes have increase malignancy
rates in studies.  Some other medical problems seen in these individuals
include incomplete innervation of sections of intestine or other
intestinal malformations, improperly formed jaws which do not open
fully, deafness, etc.
 
Angoras have been mentioned repeatedly in relation to litters too
large for their health, size, and nursing demands, a range of skull
malformations, and nostril malformations which can not only impede or
prevent nose breathing, but can lead to serious infection.  Some people
who know some of the breeders of these ferrets refer to a number of kits
being destroyed due to malformations.
 
Some other variations that some breeders have bred over the years include
at least two lines with early cataracts, and one line with acondroplastic
dwarfs who had a lot of medical problems.
 
There was a splotchy and strongly non-bilateraly coloration line that
was entirely culled by sterilization once it was known that the markings
(which were beautiful) also went with early death from circulatory
problems.  Aortic arch problems can be involved.
 
Some lines have been culled by sterilization due to polydactyly,
syndactyly, or both.  (For an example -- a ferret Stephenie helped
rescue and care for -- see
http://www.smartgroups.com/groups/ferrethealth
homepage and use the link for the photo album.)
 
Looks should NOT be the first criterion when making a selection.
 
That said, when we matched personalities of new-comers to our crew we
wound up with two who have neural crest markings in our current crew.
Both will have veterinary care adjustments made as a result, such as
starting old age exams at a younger age.  Response needs to be shaped
to need.
 
You'll be glad to know that MF at least didn't try for such appearances
by breeding relatives.  In fact, the popularity here of pandas and blazes
was first pushed by some private breeders and by one mid-sized farm which
even showed them off in a book.  MF has line codes and the animals'
location in the farm is based on that, so that when they select ferrets
from separate buildings to mate anyone closely related doesn't mate.
Originally they also would not breed the ones with the physical signs of
neural crest genetic variants, but with too many people wanting panda and
blaze headed ones, and splotchy ones (high demand from pet stores) just
because of how they look they did breed those individuals for a while.  I
was told (last year or one or two years before that?) that they had gone
back to only breeding ones with more standard markings, BUT there is a
problem that neural crest variants (which sometimes don't overtly express
themselves) are hard to reduce in a population once the proportion is
increased so... There was a discussion on shifting proportions of such
genetics I think last year on the FML so anyone who wants to see it can
find it in the archives (address is in the header of every day's FML)
and in past posts in Ferret-Genetics.
[Posted in FML issue 4799]