Heather wrote:
>...I have 6 Marshall Farms ferrets.  Yes, as babies and into their second
>year they were healthy and active.  However as they reached 3 and 4, they
>started to develop chronic illnesses, and 5 out of 6 have had adrenal
>disease and surgery to correct it.  Two have insulinoma.  Marshall Farms
>ferrets are notorious for developing these diseases later in life because
>Marshall Farms continues to breed parents who have the diseases, insuring
>that their ferret lines will carry genetic predisposition to adrenal
>disease, insulinoma, lymphoma (cancer) and other conditions.  This
>is because the bulk of Marshall Farms ferrets are sold to labs for
>experimentation and research.  Pet ferrets are actually Marshall Farms
>"secondary sideline" and not their main business.  This, in fact, is
>documented by several sources.
 
I don't know how you can print conjecture as if it were fact.  Researchers
and vets don't know what causes adrenal tumors, insulinomas, and other
tumors in ferrets.  So, the fact that it it genetic is not even close to
being proven, and the fact that ferrets with adrenal disease, insulinoma
and lymphomas are still breeding seems unlikely.  First off, if the animal
hasn't been spayed it is very unlikely to have adrenal disease.  Secondly,
I doubt it could carry to term a litter with insulinoma and other illness.
More likely the adrenal disease is more prevelant due to early spay/neuter,
and the insulinoma due to diet high in carbohydrates.  Viruses,
carcinogens, and other things just haven't been ruled out yet, and all
in all we just don't know.
 
I do believe it is possible that an animal can have a genetic
predisposition to get tumors, that is why certain ones are used in
research, but it still doesn't mean MF or any other farm is breeding for
this, and certainly there has been no official survey to say if one breeder
of ferrets is more likely to develop tumors and diseases, more than another
breeder.  It may or may not be true, and until proper studies are done, or
there is proof of such, please don't post it as true.
 
Don't buy MF ferrets if you don't want to, start a fund to help get money
for proper research and studies that are desperately needed, find an
interested party to collect data from all ferret owners as to what diseases
they had and what age diagnosed and how diagnosed- from this data have
someone unbiased to collect, and analyze to see what, if any , statistical
difference between MF ferrets and others, taking into account variations
in housing, climate, diet , time of neuter/spay, and health care.
 
Patty
[Posted in FML issue 3459]