Sharon wrote:
>When I discussed food with my vet and mentioned that Rocky started out
>eating the crappy Eight-in-One with raisin juice (Can't remember which
>is which--Ultimate or Ultra; one is better) he said that even though
>it's not the greatest food, he's seen ferrets who've done well on it.
>And I recently met a ferret lover who has only fed her two ferrets that
>food and one lived to age 9 1/2 (died of adrenal--no treatment) and the
>other is now 7 1/2 and looks very healthy.
 
Oh, goodness, yes.  I recall a number 7 and over (one 14) back from
the days when all that was around were things like Meow Mix.  In fact,
typical age at death was pretty similar to now.  There weren't many
insulinomas diagnosed, either, but vets who could diagnose them were few
and far between.  Still, In our home I know that we had only one ferret
with pancreatic disease back then (going from symptoms) and she had
lymphoma there.  (Our own rate of insulinoma is very low and always in
elderly ferrets, usually age 8 or so.) We no longer feed that junk food
(but have given it as a treat though not often) but instead personally
use higher grade kibbles.  Of course, that was before there were so many
fancy ferrets out there, which I can't help but wonder about playing a
part.
 
Hey, here is a post from Dr. Brett Middleton to F-G that will interest
many people here.  He is a classical geneticist and statistician (Many
of the former are also the latter.)
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Ferret-Genetics/message/3695
 
Notice:
>I would much rather see breeders concentrating on traits that are
>"invisible", but are much more important to the *ferret*.  Wouldn't it
>be wonderful to someday have a line of ferrets that is immune to
>distemper and never needs vaccination?  Similar things have been done
>with chickens and pigs!  Wouldn't it be wonderful to someday have
>ferrets that easily live to be 15 years old and never get adrenal
>disease?  It might be possible!  All of these things are subject to
>genetic control, at least to some extent, and would be well worth the
>cost of a major breeding program, in my opinion.  Breeding for trivial
>traits such as color seems like such a waste in comparison.
 
It would be so good if more breeders kept health and longevity line
records, and culled by sterilization when ferrets did not meet health
desires.
 
At least there is one thing which is increasingly being backed by more
and more research that we all can control: providing enough hours of
complete darkness for our ferrets.  It is not fully proven, yet, but
it sure has a load of evidence linking it to possibility of decreasing
adrenal disease rate and early onset rate thanks to the melatonin the
body produces in darkness.
 
Exercise and mental stimulation are also things we can all help be
better, and it might be that diet plays a role for some even without
diseases or disorders present.  Only carefully controlled research will
tell.  (Exercise -- both physical and mental -- is a biggie for mammalian
physical and mental health in general.  It is a truly wonderful thing.)
 
Thank you for the un-birthday wishes a half dozen people sent today.
LOL!  Great senses of humor!
 
-- Sukie (not a vet)
Ferret Health List co-moderator
http://www.smartgroups.com/groups/ferrethealth
FHL Archives fan
http://ferrethealth.org/archive/
replacing
http://fhl.sonic-weasel.org
International Ferret Congress advisor
http://www.ferretcongress.org
[Posted in FML issue 5169]