I thought that over the years, I've seen it all with ferrets.
Especially deaf ferrets. But not so. I guess as long as their are
individuals, different environments, social dynamics and heredity ...
I'll never see it all. So, I'm always interested in hearing about
deaf ferrets.

I think it's important that those with hearing impaired ferrets share
their medical histories. Particularly those born deaf. There isn't
research among ferrets regarding to the genetic defects that lead to
deafness. In fact, there isn't really an abundance of information
regarding various secondary health issues among mammals with genetic
syndromes that result in deafness period. We need to know these things,
because rarely is a ferret born deaf "just 'cause". When they are born
deaf, it's almost always associated not just with a single genetic
defect, but a syndrome. A condition containing a collage and spectrum
of traits and symptoms. Making things even more complicated is the fact
that sometimes, well for all we know, many times, a ferret is born with
more than one defect or more than one syndrome.

I've been watching ferrets with various conditions that lead to
deafness quite closely over the years and listening to others who
have experience with such ferrets. At one point, I set up a
poll/questionnaire online for people with deaf ferrets to take to see
what, if any, health problems plague these guys. Pam Sessoms was very
generous and awesome in setting that up. What I did not anticipate ...
was 500 test results!!! My questionnaire was very long and
comprehensive on top of it all, because I didn't think very many people
would step forward and contribute to the effort. Also because I never
thought people would have the time to participate, I never ran any
types of controls for comparison. In the end, I sat with a mound of
info. And no knowledge of how to sort it all out, graphic it analyze
it, etc. I was able to see a few things just from a glance however.
So it was not a waste of everyone's time, thank goodness.

My test showed the following (and remember this is taken from a VERY
small, American ferret pool):
- Ferrets with neural crest disorders rarely make it past 7.
- Ferrets with a lot of asymmetrical markings and a lot of white
  splotching have shorter lives than average.
- Neural crest ferrets exhibit a lot of typical features of those
  disorders such as shortened tails, widened eyes, juvenile facial
  appearance, a finer nasal area as compared to the brow/eye area,
  gosh and I forget what all else.
- Ferrets who are true pandas (born as pandas) are always 100% deaf
- Ferrets with normal, standard markings but whom have just a small
  white stripe on top of their head have a much higher chance of
  possessing intact hearing.
- Neural crest ferrets who have a long list of traits (facial features,
  irregular white splotching, deafness, etc) can seem to have either
  a smaller throat/jaw area, or not be able to open the jaws quite as
  wide as normal ferrets. This leads to odd eating habits, coughing
  while eating, or even choking while eating.

What I was looking for were GI problems and cancer. Waardenburg
Syndrome commonly expresses GI issues except in one of the four types.
I personally have had issues with hairballs, unexplained vomiting once
in a blue moon, Helicobactor, ulcers. I think I had read somewhere that
some types of mammals with a lot of white splotching on their stomachs
are more apt to suffering from various GI problems, but I may be
remembering wrong. I was also looking for cancer rates. I seem to
remember that KIT as well as a few other neural crest defects in
mammals were a bit more susceptible to cancer (forget what kinds).
Lastly, I was wondering about the heart. I've read something about
the aortic arch and something else being affected while cells migrate
incorrectly when there is a neural crest defect. If I recall there were
a few other little oddities I was curious about. But those were the
three main health issues that concerned me. Either the information was
just too much to decipher at a glance, or nothing was substantially
irregular. I do not remember seeing any type of outrageous cancer
rates, etc. I'm not saying there isn't a problem! I'm just saying
there wasn't anything so impressive that it stood out. And that's a
happy thing.

So why do very few ferrets make it past average ages?? Why do so many
also die young?? I remember seeing a whole caveat of reasons all
typical in senior ferrets. Sukie has a very interesting theory. And it
makes a lot of sense IF it is true that there is no striking rate of
cancer and other life threatening health issues among these ferrets.
That's a big if given that I could not really examine the information I
had. Animal cells can?"age faster" than normal for a lack of a better
way to put it. Cells have a life span. And genes map this out. There
are actual gene or genetic reasons that lead to shorter life spans of a
cell. ?I don't understand it enough to explain it properly other than
the living cells of an organism just don't have good longevity.

I've had good luck with these animals in that only one had JL at only
10 months of age. All others made it til 5-6 and died of very common
ferret illness. All different. Other things in life took me down
different paths so I stopped keeping up with health issues in relation
to various genetic defects that can result in deafness in mammals. I
simply just do not have the time and I do not have the mental capacity
to hold onto the facts anyway.

So for now, I enjoy observing behaviors!! I love hearing from other
people about living with deaf ferrets and their behaviors. And as I
started to say in this very long post, I still learn something new
every day. One of the latest things I've seen ... is deaf ferrets
gravitating towards each other. Now you'd think, it'd be the opposite.
That a deaf ferret would want to pal around with one that "had a clue".
But in this home, I see them drawn to each other like magnets. I have
not had very many deaf ferrets, so this could be a coincidence. I"d
love to hear if others have observed this or not.

[Posted in FML 6375]