Wow, Joan. Those books are some fun stuff. Thanks for sharing. I didn't
even know they had a book about ferrets for casual pet owners in 77. It
was around that time, that I had my first ferret. We could not find any
books in NJ about them. Mom finally found a funny little book called
Ferret Facts and Fancies, 1943. It was 3 dollars. The price tag is
still on it. It would be vintage ... if doodle happy Scotti hadn't
jotted down a phone number on it a few years back. ::shaking with
anger:: Anyway, yes if I recall this book spoke of bread and milk as
a main staple. I haven't read it since I was little. Who knows what
else is in there.

We knew to keep our ferrets cozy, warm, and to give them more than that
books suggested diet. Any mammal needs more than that. Common sense.
So, instead our ferret was spoiled rotten with piles of Meow Mix,
purina, occasional bowls a milk, chocolate (she had a sweet tooth), and
scraps from the table on rare occasion. Thats how we cared for all my
ferrets until the eighties. No adrenal. No cancer. No nuthin. I never
saw fancy marked ferrets. Not even during the first couple of years in
the eighties I didn't see any fancy marked ferrets. Lots of awesome
fancy "colors" from Path Valley were being put out though. I personally
didnt' see my first adrenal ferret until 1998, and that was at a
shelter. I suspect that I've seen insulinoma many times before though
and didn't know it, especially in albinos. All the vets knew back then
was they were "old and sick" very early and not thriving. Extreme
fatigue, eventually hind end weakness, etc. Nobody ever knew why. All
eventually put to sleep before 5 years was up. I saw no seizures
though. Hmm.

Anyway, I just love my little book. It's stashed away safely, from
hubby, in my underwear drawer. I should give it a read sometime.
Anyway, being that I did everything wrong way back when .... its
my firm belief that most problems of today are from poor breeding
practices over many decades. I believe all the common cancers we see
are definately from that. The adrenal puzzles me. You and Sukie both
saw it before the late nineties? I'm wondering if adrenal and
insulinoma were found in ferrets way back when, but uncommonly and
then poor genes introduced later made it more common.

Thanks for the memory ...

Wolfy

[Posted in FML 6907]