>From:    Cheryl Cato <[log in to unmask]>
>Subject: ECE question - dilemma
 
The question to have potentially exposed ECE ferrets come and visit is
answered with another question...
 
Did the 6 month old ferret come down with ECE when the shelter ferret was
brought into the household?  If not, then the ferret from the shelter
probably did not ever get exposed to ECE.  By using standard sanitation
procedures, you can have the ferrets all visit reasonably safely, but the
stress of new strangers may still set off symptoms which could escalate
health concerns.
 
If the 6 month old did get ECE, then by all means DO NOT HAVE THE ECE
EXPOSED FERRETS VISIT.  Your friend may come and stay with you, just as long
as the ferrets do not.
 
>#4 Are there any other vegetarian ferrets out there?  Tavi and Booger don't
>like meat.
 
If your ferrets are eating a high quality dry cat food or ferret food, they
are eating meat.  Ferrets can NOT live on grain and fruit alone.
 
***
Adult Lympho
 
>(1) The evidence points very strongly to a viral cause of adult
>lymphosarcoma.
 
This statement is VERY different from:
 
>But, perhaps knowing that this is a transmissible disease,
 
Please be careful Jeff - no need to cause panic here.
 
>(5) The ferrets with lymphosarcoma studied came from a variety of breeders,
>commercial and hobby breeders. No clues there.
 
Since I was one of the "hobby breeders" which participated in this study,
and have the paper which gives the results, I must say I don't know where
the results came from.
 
I had two ferrets with adult lympho when I was asked to participate.  They
were both breeder ferrets that were unrelated and neither existed at my
house at the same time with the other so they could not contract _anything_
from each other.  A third rescue ferret was suspected of having lympho and
was sent to MIT for extensive study and turned out to be negative.  Blood
work was not enough to predict the disease.
 
I presently have a seven year old MF ferret with Lymphoscarcoma.  He has had
the disease since February 1996.  He has been living on and off with other
ferrets since he came to me in 1994 and NONE of his cage mates or friends
have lympho.  He presently resides with another 7 year old ferret who had
pancreatic and adrenal surgery in January 1996 and they are both on Pred
right now.
 
>She had no speculation about insulinoma but said that the existing evidence
>leads her to believe that the most suspect cause for adrenal cancers may be
>early neutering, perhaps complicated by disruption of light-dark cycles with
>artificial light.
 
Jeff, could you please call Dr. Karen Rosenthal at the NY Medical center and
ask her how many Adrenal ferrets she studied for her paper which Dr. Erdman
must be referencing above and ask the question I still have not been able to
get an answer on - "How many ferrets with Adrenal tumors were from Marshall
Farms and how many were from other sources?"  The dots in the ears will tell.
[Moderator's note: Dr. Rosenthal is at the ANIMAL Medical Center in NYC. BIG]
 
Adrenal tumors are NOT from early neutering, otherwise there would be more
reports of Path Valley, Canadian and other sources of ferrets having adrenal
tumors from early altering.  No, there is a genetic issue here that with
closed colony breeding is magnified by farms with this mutant in them - I
have only seen MF ferrets and some backyard bred ferrets with adrenal tumors.
 
This is NOT saying all MF ferrets will get adrenal tumors.  Your MF ferret's
chances are about 1 in 7 right now.  BUT, I have noticed that MF ferrets are
starting to get adrenal tumors earlier, like at about 2.5 years.  It used to
be at 3.5 - 4 years of age.  If your MF ferret is older than 4 years of age,
you probably don't have to worry about adrenal tumors any longer.  IMHO.
 
Pam
[Posted in FML issue 1730]