Errrrr, Alicia: Have never heard of dwarfism related to WS; it's its own
variation.  Have encountered dwarfism, though, in a standard marking and
coloration ferret who suffered from joint problems caused by it.
 
I think that a number of people are tacking all sorts of things on to
WS that simply are NOT documented as definitely being related to this
variation.  We know that deafness is; we know that research shows that that
intestinal problems have shown up in some other species with WS but don't
know how widely those are seen among species.  We know that ferrets with
head blazes, and at least some with white heads, and some who are DEWs
seem to be carrying some aspect of WS or something very similar, esp.  if
they also have widely spaced eyes.  We do not know firmly of other markings
though some ferret folks have had conjecture about some.  We know that WS
is very old variation which shows up through many mammal orders and may
even likley be a pre-mammalian neural crest disorder.  We know that
expression varies among individuals, and that in some species it's
encountered a lot while in others (such as humans) it is much more rare.
We know that it often causes deafness or partial deafness and that can even
in kits from hearing parents carrying WS.  We know that for most people
deaf kits are harder to train and thus more likely to suffer abuse,
neglect, or being left at a shelter.  The rest is still unknown and we have
to be very careful to take that into account in what is written.  Yes, they
might have some other physical aspects in looks or in other reductions in
health, besides hearing impairments and intestinal difficulties, but there
is still much to be known.
 
There are PILE of genetic variations out there; people have to be very
careful to not assume that any variation is connected to WS.  Most are not.
[Posted in FML issue 3209]