>From:    Bob <[log in to unmask]>
>Subject: Miscellaneous Stuff
Bob wrote about the problems of pug faces.  He is absolutely right in what
I've seen in cats and ferrets.  We have an exotic short hair cat Think short
haired Persian.  Jaw is all screwed up with lower canines protruding.  Bad
breeding idea.  We saved her from euthanasia.  I've seen ferrets with badly
screwed up jaws and teeth.  We accidentally hit on a bad combination of
genes - lower jaw too short for the teeth.  These are wonderful ferrets that
unforunately have dental problems.  the lower canines had to be filed down
so they wouldn't puncture the upper lip.  I've seen several of these from
other breeders as well - I'm just more willing to talk about them.
 
The TRUE bull-dog face on a ferret is the one I suspect is even more
problematic than a sculpted short face.  Just like the squashed nose dogs
and cats have problems because it is an un-natural face, the bull-dog seems
more likely to have problems.  To tell the difference look for a distinct
snout.  If it has one, you don't have a bull-dog face.  I personally think
the bull-dog face looks like a frog.  I've also seen only a few.  The
bull-dog body style vs.  the whippet body style is something else entirely.
I don't really believe in a real dichotomy here - but I've said that before.
The sculpted short face could have the problems Bob talked about though.
I've seem them.  As a show judge and a breeder I look for a real balance on
a ferret. I appreciate Bob describing one more area I need to be careful in.
 
>From:    "Gwen M. Daley" <[log in to unmask]>
>Subject: Hazardous Bookshelves
Gwen pointed unfortunately a too common experience.  If you have a tallish V
shape a ferret can fall into it.  Unfortunately they can die very easily
like this.  They can compress their chests until they suffocate.  I've known
of it to happen from tall stacks of cages and from a sewing machine too
close to a wall.  Looking for these traps is an important part of
ferret-proofing.
 
>From:    Chere McCoy <[log in to unmask]>
>Subject: GOTTA DANCE - POST THOSE MESSAGES
>O.K. everyone on the list - DON'T FORGET TO SEND YOUR MESSAGES OF HOPE AND
>WELL WISH'S FOR THE TRIP. Send them to the FML - inundate BIG with messages.
 
Other ferret groups are going to be there as well.  Of course we wish all of
these ferret groups well.
 
>From:  Alicia K Drakiotes / Ferret Wise Shelter <[log in to unmask]>
>Subject: BEWARE OF BARGAIN FERRETS
What are you talking about?  How are you defining 'fitch'?  I've heard
nothing about bite cases involving 'fitch' not 'ferrets'.  I'm also not
happy with you definition of 'mills'.  Ferret are not bred in the equivalent
of puppy mills.  The large ferret ranches have vets on site and other things
unlike puppy mills.
 
>From:    Barbkitty <[log in to unmask]>
>Subject: inbreeding
Line breeding is a form of in breeding.  Line breeding (which is commonly
accepted in most breeds in the dog world) involves breeding less closely
related animals.  The idea is to take a high quality animal and breed two of
its offspring.  Done carefully this can be a very good thing, but done less
carefully you can replicate bad traits as quickly as good traits.  All of
the champion dog breeders that I know understand line breeding.  We have a
championship class Pomeranian that is the product of line breeding.
 
In-breeding does not CAUSE deformities, what it does is double up recessive
genes already present in an animal.  By doubling them up they surface but
they were already genetically present.
 
Animals do breed naturally with their relatives.  In the wild that is how
offshoot populations with mutations recreate themselves.  This is a
necessary part of evolution.  The un-natural part is what we impose either
inbreeding or not.  Some social animals eject the males from the group but
not all
 
There are ferret breeders who use in-breeding and various forms of line
breeding.  An unfortunate cause of some inbreeding in ferrets is accidental.
Escaped hobs or jills in season coming across a relative also in season will
gladly help each other out.
 
bill and diane killian
zen and the art of ferrets
[Posted in FML issue 1471]