>From:    Lisa M Tieber <[log in to unmask]>
>Subject: Albino deafness? and thanks for ECE info.
>Hi, thanks to all of you for giving me all that great information about
>ECE-that was very helpful.  My question now is about deafness.  I have a
>3 month old marked-white(with black/raspberry eyes) and he seems to be
>deaf.  He is unresponsive to any noises.  Is there any association between
>albinism or his coloring(marked white) with deafness.
 
The dark eyed white patterns do indeed seem linked with potential deafness.
Albino in ferrets hasn't seem to show the same connection.  DEW, DEW-P,
panda and blaze are all variations of Waardensburg patterns.  These are
where you need to be aware that ferrets might be deaf.  Though many are not
for those that love to say "but mine aren't".  Okay we can say that a bunch
of ours aren't; but others are.
 
>From:    Samantha Rosier <[log in to unmask]>
>Subject: New ferret book has wrong information
>A few weeks ago one of our clubs shelters received 24 copies of a new
>ferret at no cost to us.  The name of the book is "The pet ferret owner's
>manual" by Judith A.  Bell, DVM, PhD.
 
That book is written by someone who we consider probably the very most
knowledgeable people on ferrets.  If we thought we knew something in
contradiction to Dr Bell, we'd rethink our point of view rather than
assume she was wrong.
 
>For example, this book says it is OK to give ferrets milk but it is not
>OK to give ferrets Penut Butter.
 
We would give a dairy product sooner than give peanut butter.  We hear alot
about milk being bad for ferrets but in moderation its never been a problem.
Peanut butter is a vegetable product and ferrets aren't herbivores.
 
Dr Bell is acknowledged by many to know more than a little about ferret
nutrition.  Dr Willard - a phd in nutrition acknowledges that.
 
>Have any of you read this book?  If you have, do you agree with me?
 
Yes.  I guess not.  We think more excercise is better but don't have our
copy handy to read for context.
 
Dr Bell's book isn't perfect by any means but we like it far better than
other books - one of which is extremely popular among one clique of shelter
operators.  Dr Bell has the highest credentials of any author of a book on
ferrets that we've seen so far.  Her book isn't our personal choice as best
single book - we give the nod to Mary Schefferman's.
 
bill and diane killian
zen and the art of ferrets
http://www.zenferret.com/
mailto:[log in to unmask]
[Posted in FML issue 2422]