Cindy C. Sooy wrote:
>all the ferrets I've known or heard of that had cardiomyopathy were all
>males. My vet said that cardiomyopathy is predominantly a male disorder.
>How common is it in females?
I can't imagine why cardiomyopathy should occur exclusively in male ferrets.
It doesn't in human males. Cardiomyopathy occurs following some sort of
insult to the heart, either directly such as an infection that weakens the
heart muscle or indirectly by damaging other parts of the circulatory
system, which ends up weakening the heart later. It may be possible for
males to be predisposed to some risk factor that would lead to heart damage,
but it's not likely that it cannot happen to females. Genetics is certainly
a possibility, though. I did a quick search of one of the [human] genetics
databases and found more than 25 genetic causes of cardiomyopathy. Maybe
some of the vets online can estimate the incidence of cardiomyopathy in
males vs. females.
Debbie Riccio wrote:
>You may have misunderstood my post abut UK and Aussie ferrets -- I was
>commenting on the incidence of adrenal disease -- not size -- which Judi
>[Bell] feels may be related to unnatural light exposure/cycles.
Sorry--I got your post confused with another. As for whether adrenal
disease might be associated with exposure to artificial light, that's an
interesting thought. We'll need to rely on the keen observations of folks
on the FML to see if something's going on there. The scientific folks can't
help on this one, since geneticists have only just begun to find circadian
("clock") genes in mammals, and neuroscientists still don't know exactly
what the brain's pineal gland is supposed to do in the regulation of body
rhythms.
Debbie also asked whether reactions following distemper vaccination occurred
more often in Marshall Farm ferrets than others. It may be possible to find
out but it's a complex issue since you have to factor in the age of the
ferrets at first vaccination, the way the distemper virus was prepared for
the vaccine, the diluent (as Debbie mentioned), any adjuvants in the
vaccine, the type of vaccine(s) the ferret later receives, if the distemper
and rabies vaccines were administered together, and even less tangible
things such as genetics and diet. On the positive side, there are a LOT of
MF ferrets out there, and I assume MF vaccinates most of them at close to
the same age. That consistency strengthens any results one can find. (Can
you ask Judi Bell exactly when MF ferrets are vaccinated and if the timing
of vaccination has changed over the years?) Accounting for some of these
variables is the reason I proposed conducting a case control study (FML
#1564) so that specific risks can be looked at. The big problem is finding
a valid comparison group, which is why I asked for names of vets to
participate in designing the study. With a bit of work, it may be possible
to start collecting data this summer.
On the issue of why US ferrets seem to be so much bigger than UK ferrets,
Bill Killian seems to have confirmed what I thought was casual speculation:
>Larger ferrets don't go through the tunnels as well so they aren't as
>good as hunters. Pets are often desired "larger" so they are bred larger
>in the US.
Graham Cooke echoed similar comments. At least in North Carolina, members
of our local ferret group have noticed that the larger ferrets have a harder
time transporting themselves into improbable places. For a *pet* ferret,
bigger isn't necessarily better for its own sake, but it does make ferret
proofing easier. There's something to be said for that. Even so, the trend
toward macro-ferrets is OK only up to a point. I have images of a
wolverine-sized ferret doing a lick-lick-CHOMP number on me. Yikes! <G>
--Jeff Johnston ([log in to unmask])
[Moderator's note: I'll resist the urge to make a jumbo ferret joke and
make a serious comment instead... recent research seems to have located
cells in the eye which exhibit a circadian rhythm totally distinct from
the circadian rhythms in the brain. BIG]
[Posted in FML issue 1567]
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