I have personal experience that insulinoma can run in ferret lines. My
very first ferret came to me at the tender age of 6 weeks and was the
first breeding of his parents. Before I knew we had insulinoma in that
line I bred him to another ferret I bought. All of his offspring except
1 had insulinoma by the age of 4. Once I knew we had it in our line I
stopped the breeding immediately and had Nikki neutered and Prissy
spade. You might wonder how I know it was in his side of the family -
I'm going on evidence that his mate lived without insulinoma to the
age of 9.5 and he died of insulioma at the tender age of 5 after being
diagnosed a year earlier and going through 2 surgeries to remove them.
I firmly believe insulinoma is genetic - what you believe is your
choice and your right. These ferrets were never fed any sweets at all -
they were fed free kibble and twice a day a gruel mixture of baby food,
canned cat food, and heavy whipping cream.

My suggestion is that Carolina Ferrets stop breeding from the parents
of the 2.5 yr old that was mentioned in the fml and any other parents
they receive reports on that offspring come down with ferret diseases.
This will hopefully eliminate future heartache and lower the chance of
lines being contaminated.

tle
www.ferretfamilyservices.org

[Posted in FML 5707]