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Hi everybody,
 
There is a lot of speculation that there is a genetic problem with
American ferrets, and this genetic problem is responsible for the high
rate of adrenal gland disease and insulinoma that we have here in
America.
 
There is a research group at the vet school at U.Cal- Davis that is now
looking into ferret genetics and to see if there is a tumor suppressor
gene defect or an onocogene.
 
Remember there is also a big difference in husbandry here in the US
(neonatal spay and neuter, kept indoors with artificial lighting for
12+ hours a day, and fed a dry kibble with a high carbohydrate level)
to England and Australia (not spayed or neutered till an adult, kept
outdoors in natural light, and fed a whole prey diet with a very low
carbohydrate level).  We know adrenal glands have LH receptors, and early
spay neuter and long day photoperiods (ie American ferrets) raise the LH
level.  This stimulates the adrenal glands to produce the sex hormones
and androgens and eventually this over stimulation of the adrenal gland
disease causes adrenal gland disease.
 
Likewise high carbohydrate diets (ie American ferrets) stimulate the
pancreas to produce insulin.  This over stimulation of the pancreas can
cause insulinomas to form.
 
Thus it may be simply bad husbandry here in the USA instead of an actual
genetic probelm with American ferrets.  Hopefully the research at
UC-Davis will answer this question in the near future.
 
Jerry Murray, DVM
Dallas, Texas
[Posted in FML issue 5062]