Forgive me if this is worded badly but I've had something for the last two
weeks which keeps making me fever ( but which has three times seemed to be
done, so with that and the very restricted hours physicians around here have
I have not had the ready access to medical appointments that locals pets
have -- perhaps people doctors here should take a lesson from vets ).
 
Anyway, one topic has come up recently in four members' notes, and some of
what has been discussed here recently also address it.  That topic is
breeders who are going for look alone, whether it is coat color, or face
shape, or pattern, or the luxuriousness of coats,etc.  The reason for the
notes is that folks realize that Ruffle was a breeder's attempt to get
animals with long lush fur, and beautiful short faces  (She looked like a
malamute puppy in her face.).  Well, she did have the first two, but those
are quite standard things to find in acondroplasic dwarfism.  I don't know
how many of the rest of you have also had friends with dwarfism over the
years but humans with the condition also tend to have hair which puts the
rest of us to shame, and among critters the coats tend to be long, thick,
and kit-like throughout life, as Ruffie's was. She didn't even lose coat
quality with an adrenal tumor or when dying of multiple causes.
 
Everyone here except recent members knows why this is a hard topic for me
to discuss.  We loved Ruffle dearly, but she died early, suffered terribly,
and for those of you for whom medical costs may make you think about health
as a determining factor when acquiring a pet she ran us a few thousand in
care for her last months (veterinary and other needs).  Animals are not
decorator items.  Steve and I are happy to love and care for handicapped
and abused ferrets (except that right now we have to not accept any because
we can't have Meltdown under stress with her cardiomyopathy), but we would
rather see breeders concentrate on health and personality rather than pets
as decor.
 
Until buyers make health and personality their most important demands that
will not be what we see. As with dogs and cats there will be more and more
ferrets from extremely narrow genetic pools. (If some of you think the big
breeders had small pools before their imported studs just think how narrow
the ones for such coats or faces often become and how many other factors
are too often over-looked just to get a certain appearance.)  Many of us
remember when a member breeder had to make the hard decision to end one
friendly and gorgeous line because of heart defects.  Ruffle's breeders'
also ended her line, even before they knew there was more than just the
dwarfism because they realized how compromised the joints and especially
the backs of dwarves can be -- Ruffle had back pain every day and always
needed massages.  Does this mean that such features can't be approached
safely?  No, it does not.  Still I have heard of some I won't name who are
described as not careful and that scares me silly, whether it is due to
reality or due to rumor -- though the first is worse. (I have not verified.)
 
Now dwarfism is certainly not the only defect possible (There are deafness,
failure to thrive, early cataracts, organ problems, etc.), and Bob may find
that Ruffle's short limbs, wide rib cage, skunk-like locomotion, short
pretty face, incredible coat, and other abberations (which you all heard
loads about over the span of her short six and a third years) may have been
something else since it always helps with borderline individuals to be able
to do actual skeletal observation and measurements, but whatever it was
her's was a fascinating line which was still best ended even if she had not
had her other health problems. (For pets WE have to make this choice;
humans design their own lives and can work around what would be great
difficulties for non-humans -- just look at my thick glasses and my upper
limb limitations. Please, don't generalize here.)
 
What can you do?  Expect breeders or the breeders' representatives to show
you older relatives (especially with a specialty animal rather than a
"mutt" with fewer possible doubled genetic loci), to give information on
experienced life spans, health problems, and the like IN WRITING.  Find out
the origins of their breeders so you can get an idea of how narrow their
genetic pool is.  Then you may better the chances of all ferrets having
longer, healthier, happier lives.
 
Sukie
[Posted in FML issue 1671]