To Vanessa:
 
>One of my ferrets that I adopted from a pet store I used to work at has a
>cloudy gray film formed as a faint circle in the center of one eye.  I
>brought him to my vet and she said it definately was not cataracts, but
>could be a calcium deposit of some kind.  About 1 month later his right eye
>began to form the same faint gray circle.  She said it should go away, but
>it hasn't yet.  It has not gotten any worse either.
 
This is interesting.  It sounds like there is a corneal defect.  This would
be a new one on me.  In dogs, we can see ring-shaped defects as a result of
calcium deposition, but also in animals with cholesterol problems.  If it
continues to develop, and in any way hinders your ferret's sight, I would
ask your vet for a referral to an opthalmologist.  In some cases, the defect
can be scraped from the cornea and sight restored (not that there is any
assurance here that your ferret will ever have trouble with his eyesight.)
 
But if you do go to an opthalmologist, please keep me in mind.
 
Bruce Williams, DVM, DACVP              Chief Pathologist, AccuPath
Dept. of Veterinary Pathology               [log in to unmask]
Armed Forces Institute of Pathology
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[Posted in FML issue 1673]