Chris,
 
Aleutian's disease is a *VERY* contagous disease in ferrets.  I attended
a talk by Dr. Kawasaki at a Montgomery Ferret Club meeting, where
he breifly discussed it.  This information is based on my memory of
that talk, which was several months ago.
 
There doesn't seem to be any know symptoms of Aleutian's in ferrets.
 
[If there aren't any known symptoms of Aleutian's in ferrets, then
why are we worrying?]
 
It is a very nasty disease in Minks though, and has wiped out
many populations of them.  There is speculation that it can cause
secondary problems, as was mentioned by the Crandalls.
 
Aleutian's is primary spread through feces, and can live for a *VERY*
long time (YEARS!).  So, if a ferret defecates somewhere and that spot
isn't disenfected, another ferret may come along and be infected
3 years later.  Dr. Kawasaki estimated that about 1 in every 5 ferrets
is infected with Aleutian's  (20 - 30%).
 
He said that there is a very simple test for Aleutian's.  All you have
to do is clip the toenail to draw some blood, then run an antibody
test.  I don't know the details, though.
 
[Taking blood from a ferret has always been a bit difficult.  Doing
it by clipping a toenail (or from the tail) is old-fashioned, a bit
difficult to control, and somewhat unnecessarily painful.  Our vets shave
a small patch on the upper front of the foreleg and take it direct from a
vein.]
 
The Crandalls,
 
I am so happy to hear Fritter is doing alright.  And you are VERY, VERY,
welcome for the wholesale information.  :-)  About the other ferret's
reactions to her illness, ferrets can become very attached to each
other.  When something is wrong with one one of them, the others will
get very stressed out.  I remember at the Ferret Expo there was a
little black sable up for adoption at the shelter.  She looked completely
pitiful.  She had a rat tail, and just sat there shivering violently.  She
looked like she was, in fact, very ill herself.  I asked about her, and the
story was that her cagemate, David, had just recently died after a
very long, degenerative, illness.  And the worse he had gotten, the
more stressed out she got, losing weight and hair.  Finally, he died
and they had her up for adoption.  All the other ferrets were adopted
out fairly quickly, but she was passed by because she looked so bad,
even though everyone was assured she was in perfect health.  Finally,
near the end of the day a very kind lady took her out and carried her
around.  After a few hours of a little love and attention, there was
a little glimmer of life in her eyes.  I don't know what happened
to this little black sable.  I don't know if the nice lady adopted her
or not, but she did say she would look after her for a few days.  So,
if anyone ever has an ill ferret, watch all his/her pals too.  They
know that something is wrong with their friend, and will be under a lot
of stress.  I've heard of many cases where a ferret's friend will get
a rat tail during an illness, or after a death.
 
I *LOVE* the ferret Dalek idea, that is hilarious.   :-)
 
Also, I too have a Mac at home.  My ferrets think it's great fun to make
the keyboard go "clikety click", and it's even better when I forget to
turn the power supply off and they can make it make neat sounds.  There's
nothing quite like being awakened to "It's alive, It's ALIVE, It's *ALIVE*!"
in the wee hours of the morning.  (That's one of my favorite startup
sounds, it's from Young Frankenstein.)  Causes some interesting dreams
before I become fully awake.  :-)
 
In response to Fara's statement,
 
I agree with you, everyone is very excited about the new club, but it's
hard to find people willing to take a lot of responsibility.  My club
is only about 6 months old now, so I'm still going through all that.
(I started it because Chip Gallo said it would be "easy".  Chip, you
really are a good salesman...  :-) )  At least I've just started a
chapter of an existing organization (the mid-Atlantic Ferret Association),
so I can use their newsletter, and they are currently handling the
mailing list.  They also are financially supporting the DVFC until we
get on our feet, and handling a *LOT* of other stuff.  I never could
have started a club from scratch.  I'm stressed out enough as it is,
and the AFA is handling all the really hard stuff.  My best advice
for anyone starting a club is to find an organization and start a
*chapter* in your area.  It will save you a lot of work, and you'll
be able to accomplish more, instead of being bogged down trying to get
the next newsletter out all the time.
 
It's also very difficult letting people know that the club exists.
You can stick as many fliers as you want up, and they will only be seen
by a few people.  I really lucked out, when the press releases were
sent out for our first meeting, I was contacted by a reporter, and
interviewed.  He wrote a very pro-ferret article, with a big color picture
of me holding my ferrets, and two little pictures of Percy and Bree.
The article plugged the DVFC and our picnic.  I had *MANY* phone calls
in response to the article, and the picnic was a success because of
it.  So, now I at least have a lot of people on the mailing list.  From
here, we can grow by word of mouth.  But that initial boost was what
this club really needed.  (I didn't know *ANY* other ferret owners
in the area!!!)
 
 
About hair loss:
 
Thanks for all the responses.  But, there was one vital question that
noone has answered yet.  Since the ferret in question has had a rat
tail for 3 years, and it is just now starting up the back, we were
wondering whether or not Cushing's could be present for so long without
showing any other symptoms?  Is it possible for it to progress so
slowly, with hair loss as the only symptom?
 
- Nancy
 
 
--
Nancy Hartman                                   CIS graduate student
[log in to unmask]                                U. of Delaware
        President and founder, Delaware Valley Ferret Club
                      Owner of Percy & Bree
                                                                          
[Posted in FML 0153]