Re: the discussion on Waardenburg and deafness, and breeding for patterns:
 
I currently have a little girl from MF who is quite deaf - as a kit she was
a dark charcoal mitt, panda-blaze-couldn't-quite-make-up-her-mind-which.
She's now a lovely silver panda with dark eyes.  Perian is only 2 1/2 years
old - and already had to have her left adrenal removed back in January.
She's only now getting back her full coat.
 
My first ferret, Litje, was a MF silver blaze.  He wasn't deaf, but he had
problems with wheezing as a youngster, his back feet were too small in
proportion to the rest of him, and he never was very robust.  I lost him
before he was even 5 years old to a post-surgical diabetic reaction
(complications from insulinoma.)
 
Madigan was a silver mitt, blaze wanna-be from an unknown breeder.  She was
mentally "retarded" (Bob C saw the Xray of her skull; IIRC there was some
compression in the frontal lobe which probably affected her development)
although not deaf.  She was apparently "stuck" at the teething age...
everything went in the mouth and got chomped HARD to see if it was food,
friend or foe.  We lost her at age 3 to sudden splenic lymphosarcoma.  No
warning.
 
Pugsley "The Brock" was a retired breeder from Hagen; he was a lovely,
stocky little sable blaze mitt, and at least partially deaf.  He died of
massive internal tumors; the path report said all the tumors were of
pancreatic origin.  They'd just metastasized to almost every organ in his
abdomen, and he'd never shown any symptoms of insulinoma at all.  He was
between 4-5 years old.
 
I could mention others, including ferrets owned by other people in this
area.
 
While I have lost ferrets of other colors, it seems that the worst or most
"sudden onset" problems have occurred in those who carried the Waardenburg
gene.  The number of ferrets I've seen with similar problems, but without
the Waardenburg, is small by comparison.  (Yes, I've seen perfectly
normal/healthy ferrets with Waardenburg, too.) Are Waardenburg-affected
ferrets pretty?  absolutely!  They're some of the "prettiest" ferrets I've
seen.  Are they good pets?  no question about that at all.  But I have to
wonder about that little genetic "time-bomb" that some (not all) of them
seem to carry.... Their lives are short enough as it is, even when they're
genetically "normal." To me, the pretty colors aren't worth the chance of
trading good health or a couple more years of life for.  (They're all the
same color under the fur and skin, anyway - "boing" color <g>)
 
I've loved every one of them, and because I rescue I will probably have
other ferrets here in the future who carry the Waardenburg gene.  I would
love if there were a way to completely separate the color from the health
in this gene; recent discussions on this list indicate that with ferrets,
at least, it may not be possible.
 
I recognize that my "sample" is tiny, and may not reflect trends across
the country; this just reflects what little personal experience I have
with Waardenburg.  Now, I'm not saying that non-Waardenburg ferrets will
absolutely be healthier; I lost a sable male to malignant lympho at age
4, and one to an intestinal tumor at age 5, and I've seen my share of
insulinoma in ferrets of all colors.  But there does seem to be a
correlation between the Waardenburg and potential health problems (other
than deafness) at least in the ferrets I've seen in the few years I've
been owned by them.
 
Comments?
 
Carla Smith  <><
WhyNot? Ferrets
http://www.whynotferrets.com
ICQ:  29478475
member, Rio Grande Domestic Ferret Club, El Paso, TX
"Every pet deserves to be loved, and to have someone cry over them when
 they're gone."
[Posted in FML issue 3117]