Just the tip of the iceberg again...

http://www.ferrethealth.msu.edu/Diseases/Gastrointestinal.pdf

This section begins with dental diseases and the pathologists' findings
about those. The periodontal disease shown is much more extreme than
the one case we had in our family (a ferret with advanced heart disease
first as well as host of other serious problems with the periodontal
disease beginning after she had to go to soft diet and then mostly
liquid diet).

That is followed by mucoceles which happen in the salivary ducts or
salivary glands.

Then come forms of neoplasia often seen orally:
squamous cell carcinoma, and fibrosarcoma.

Megaesophagus (Mega E) is the following topic. Did you know that middle
ages males are the ones most prone to that? I didn't. Associates with
that is a photograph of aspiration pneumonia which Mega E can cause.
That often comes up in discussions because incorrectly done syringe
feeding is another way to cause aspiration pneumonia.

Helicobacter is the following topic, followed by the often associated
Gastric Ulcers.

You will like the opening inflammatory bowel disease(s) photo. The next
obvious topic is Eosinophilic Enteritis and there it is, followed by
Proliferative Colitis. People with ferrets who have intestinal problems
will find the similarities and differences of these very useful.

Then in the parasite section a person can find handy info on coccidia
types. Did you know that one can cause biliary infections in kits? I
didn't. Also, oral ulcers can happen.

Logically, ECE follows as the next topic and the classic ECE feces is
photographed for people.

And that is followed by photos of the Ferret ENTERIC Coronavirus vs
the Ferret SYSTEMIC Coronavirus. Then info on the genetic coding of
the systemic version. Notice that it is much more closely related to
the ferret ECE rather than the feline disease.

Next are poor little kits who had Rotavirus. This team is working to
tackle this scourge of breeding colonies.

No discussion of a ferret GI tract would be complete without causes of
intestinal blockages being mentioned.

Oral injuries follow, including a palate damaged by chewing an electric
cord. Luckily, that is rare because it does terrible damage.

Mycobacteriosis is the next subject, with Clostridium perfrigens right
after.

Then it is on to GI neoplasia and malignancies: take a look at the
portions of the GI tract more likely to have trouble with specific
forms of lymphoma.

After that is grab bag with things like Salmonella, rectal prolapse,
Hepatic Lipodosis (which can be mistaken for metastatic tumors), actual
Hepatic (liver) growths including the ones that are malignant.

<http://www.ferrethealth.msu.edu/Diseases/Urogenital_Skin_SpecialSenses_Muskuloskeletal.pdf>

Among the diseases in this webpage pdf are some that have been
suggested as possible causes for the Australian ferrets' illness.

It begins with urinary tract infections and resulting hydronephrosis.

Leptospirosis may be uncommon OR it may be underdiagnosed. The ferrets
are icteric with light liver enzyme numbers, apathy, weakness, uraemia,
nervous symptoms... Like so many other sections there are gross
appearance photos and tissue slide photos so that vets can better
diagnose.

Bladder stones came up on the FHL recently and there is a bit about
them here. It does not mention constipation as a symptom but that was
the first symptom our two who get cystine uroliths without a controlled
diet had. (There are some genetic causes of cystine stones but some
other types of stones can arise from a wrong diet -- with the most
common ones being from diets that have too much plant matter, others
from infections, etc.)

Prostate disease is of course covered.

Here is something new: Prostatic Squamous Metaplasia. It's only
recently been recognized. You will want to read about it at this site!

Chronic Interstitial Nephritis is the next subject. High protein diets
may play a part in getting this kidney problem. (Hey, after a certain
age nothing is perfect, and at any age it is best to adjust diet
according to the INDIVIDUAL's medical history and tests rather than
assuming that one size fits all. Although it would not work for ferrets
who get cystine stones it perhaps would be good to have a high protein
BUT low phosphorous specially made ferret food for other ferrets after
a certain age or after certain problems. We'll see which manufacturers
develop one at some point. Current approaches are in:
http://ferrethealth.org/archive/SG15335

Did you know that over 25% of ferrets have benign kidney cysts, or that
E. coli is the most common cause of mastitis?

Estrus associated anemia is the next topic. This is something people
who are new to ferrets who want to try whole ferrets MUST know about!

Hey, another genetic thing: American lines appear to be more
genetically vulnerable to getting cardiomyopathy than those of some
other nations though that has incomplete penetrance. Ferrets get three
types of cardiomyopathy: Dilative, Hypertrophic, and Restrictive.
Isn't there a lot of info here? These notes just touch on the pdfs.

Those of us who had ferrets with what used to be called DIM will
recognize the Polyfasciitis section that comes next.

Then there is a timely reminder for those of us who are in the northern
hemisphere since heartworms come up next and we are in or entering
(depending on location) that season. Revolution in cat doses (not
kitten) is another preventative. Yes, those are worms in a ferret
heart.

The section on Aspiration Pneumonia starts off with a reminder that is
often heard on the FHL: the most common cause is syringe feeding gone
wrong. Syringe feeding NEEDS to be learned hands on from a veterinary
professional.

Endogenous Lipid Pneumonia is often misintrepreted by vets so this
section will be good for people's veterinarians to read.

Then the page goes to how ferrets get both Type A and Type B of
influenza from humans and what to do or not.

I'd never heard before of Chryseomonas luteolus as far as I can recall,
but ferrets get it and it is covered in some of the slides on this
webpage.

Rare systemic mycosis is also covered, also rare Dermatomycosis.

People here will mostly be familiar with Chordoma, the next topic.

Osteoma follows, then osteosarcoma.

Those whose ferrets have had blood vessel tumors will recognize
Hemangiosarcoma. The photos show an ear one and we've had some FHL
members whose ferrets had them there.

A range of skin tumors then are discussed over a number of useful
slides, followed by ectoparasites, another timely topic for the
northern hemisphere.

Then three of the eye diseases seen in ferrets come up.

http://www.ferrethealth.msu.edu/Diseases/Notes.pdf

is the final page at this website, but i don't have time to delve into
it, yet, though I have been told there is another statement I should
ask about to see if there is a typo, or something I didn't know about
the effectiveness studies of IMRAB 3, or something else...

Sukie (not a vet)

Recommended ferret health links:
http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/ferrethealth/
http://ferrethealth.org/archive/
http://www.afip.org/ferrets/index.html
http://www.miamiferret.org/
http://www.ferrethealth.msu.edu/
http://www.ferretcongress.org/
http://www.trifl.org/index.shtml
http://homepage.mac.com/sukie/sukiesferretlinks.html
all ferret topics:
http://listserv.ferretmailinglist.org/archives/ferret-search.html

[Posted in FML 6369]