I read somewhere, whether it's the true statistic or not I can't say...70%
of Blazes are deaf.  Personally I think the number is high, maybe it should
be 70% of deaf ferrets happen to be blazes, that does seem correct to me.
In my opinion Blazes/Panda's are a physcal mark of a genetic disorder.
 
We can look at other animals and see this connection...Boxers-10% of boxers
with the white gene are deaf-also we see the higher the pigment level in
the eye area and ear area the lower the risk of deafness.
 
And in Lorraine Sheltons' article The Pigment Parade ,about Turkish Angora
Cats she writes (...)In my opinion, kittens with blue eyes and sound
hearing can not be selectively bred for with any degree of consistency.
If you are selectively breeding for the pigment parade to stop as early
as possible to get those lovely blue eyes you can not avoid running into
deafness at some point.  [...] Do not fall into the trap of believing that
there is a deaf gene or a blue eyed gene with a simple mode of inheritance.
Unfortunately, this is not the case.  [...] (anyone wanted the whole
article can email me)
 
Another interesting thought...the only feral group of ferrets living (that
I'm aware of), is in New Zealand.  I find it interesting that though all
colours of ferrets were let loose (intially to control rabbit population,
well thats another story), they have all reverted to the sable coloured
ferrets.  I find this interesting and I'm not going to speculate on that
now, but it's food for thought.
 
It seems to me in all that I've read about, and its been alot, horses,
dogs, cats and rabbits, it is not possible to breed two of these white
animals without the issue of deafness ariseing.  Now I don't want to step
on any toes here, but it seems to me if the experts of genetics can't do
it, it doesn't seem likely that your average ferret breeder is going to
come up with the answer either.  Again, my opinion, but I really don't see
the cute little white stripe being all that important to be promoting a
genetic defect.
 
Ok, This is getting rather long and I do believe i've said my share.  On a
completely different note, Big Bear is going to try on his wheels today so
wish him luck.
 
Dooks to all,
Kristine, Bear, Syvia, Moby and Sid
 
Friends Of Fuzzies Ferret Shelter
Bend, OR
http://www.geocities.com/Petsburgh/Farm/2057
 
Help Friends of Fuzzies every time you browse or shop on-line-at no
cost to you.  Just begin by clicking here
http://www.igive.com/html/ssi.cfm?cid=3909&mid=33722
[Posted in FML issue 2574]