In a recent private discuss the topic of urinary stones in ferrets came up as a topic. Of those stones the three most common types found in ferrets are: Struvite Stones which are usually due either to infection or to a poor diet too high in plant proteins and for that a better diet and sometimes an acidifier are good. For Cystine Stones the protein intake has to decreased since the kidneys are unable to process the levels being eaten of any of four amino acids, and the urine is already often too acidic and an acidifier should NOT be used. Today I ran into an article on Vitamin C which had information that more Vitamin C than is healthy may lead to Calcium Oxalate Stones. I thought that this might be useful because I have heard people wonder if and when acidic things like Vitamin C are good with uroliths, but it appears that for two of the three most common types of such stones in ferrets (Cystine, and Calcium Oxalate) there are extreme cautions on that regard. The work was in humans, but the mechanisms should be about the same and perhaps this may help save a ferret: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9767367 http://jasn.asnjournals.org/content/15/12/3225.long <http://www.bioscience.org/u37153137/gaDTRQo7632rgysaGWQYT64356/2003/v8/s/1082/1082.pdf> Sukie (not a vet) Ferrets make the world a game. Recommended ferret health links: http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/ferrethealth/ http://ferrethealth.org/archive/ 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 "All hail the procrastinators for they shall rule the world tomorrow." (2010, Steve Crandall) A nation is as free as the least within it. [Posted in FML 7692]
