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From:
Sukie Crandall <[log in to unmask]>
Date:
Sun, 4 Oct 2009 14:33:46 -0400
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Humans have trouble with too much Vitamin A; ferrets and dogs have much
with too much Vitamin D.

On the other hand both ferrets and dogs handle large amounts of Vitamin
A well, while humans handle large amounts of Vitamin D well as actually
appear to need it.

In fact, most people get less D than it is now thought that they
should, partly because of not getting enough sun exposure (15 to 30
minutes a day should be sufficient in more locations if a person isn't
stuck inside due to asthma temporarily). Vitamin D levels are now
something that physicians regularly test for in annuals. Older people
sometimes have trouble processing it, and I might be among those with
my physician telling me that low levels are now thought to POSSIBLY be
AMONG the triggers for a range of problems from some types of breast
malignancies to MS. It is known to contribute to bone loss. The low D
levels seen among U.S. children and the high levels of obesity with
poor muscularity among U.S. children -- which both seem to relate to
kids simply not getting outside to play actively for enough hours each
day -- have many health experts very worried.

Why would ferrets and dogs have more trouble with D but few if any
problems with A, while humans can' not handle large amounts of A but
appear to need high amounts of D? It lies in ancestry. Human ancestry
involves long recent periods of being diurnal (active in the daylight)
and sunlight on skin creates a lot of D. On the other hand, most human
populations did not get a lot of A because of animal foods including
organs that are high in A not being major components of the diet of our
ancestors until very recently (and the body does not have to change all
vegetable betacarotene that is ingested to A).

Ferrets are the opposite. Their ancestors were crepuscular -- meaning
most of their activity was in the low light periods of dawn and dusk.
Otherwise, they mostly were in extremely dark burrows. In addition,
having a dense fur coat does not exactly predispose a population to
having to survive high D levels to successfully reproduce down the
generations. D3 is especially a problem for ferrets.

Their diets included whole animals -- plenty of livers, for example --
so they had to be able to survive high levels of A to successfully
reproduce down the generations.

So, it is important to not take what is written for humans in relation
to these two nutrients and apply it to ferrets or you could wind up
with an undernourished one in relation to A who might also be more
vulnerable to Canine Distemper

See:  http://ferrethealth.org/archive/FHL9600*
http://ferrethealth.org/archive/FHL9659
http://ferrethealth.org/archive/FHL9578

or who has hypercalcemia from too much D3
See:
http://ferrethealth.org/archive/FHL7405
http://ferrethealth.org/archive/FHL5264
though this rare problem improved with a D analog:
http://ferrethealth.org/archive/FHL3280
and Vitamin D poisoning is being considered as a reason why grapes and
raisins can poison ferrets, cats, and dogs with acute kidney failure
resulting, but have not done so for humans:
http://ferrethealth.org/archive/FHL9247

May also be of interest in relation to ferret nutrition:
http://ferrethealth.org/archive/FHL8493
http://ferrethealth.org/archive/FHL7988
http://ferrethealth.org/archive/FHL9769
http://ferrethealth.org/archive/FHL7810
http://ferrethealth.org/archive/FHL7777
http://ferrethealth.org/archive/FHL4048
http://ferrethealth.org/archive/FHL8279

Sukie (not a vet)

Recommended ferret health links:
http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/ferrethealth/
http://ferrethealth.org/archive/
http://www.afip.org/ferrets/index.html
http://www.miamiferret.org/
http://www.ferrethealth.msu.edu/
http://www.ferretcongress.org/
http://www.trifl.org/index.shtml
http://homepage.mac.com/sukie/sukiesferretlinks.html
all ferret topics:
http://listserv.ferretmailinglist.org/archives/ferret-search.html

*
The amounts below are CORRECT.  See:
http://ferrethealth.org/archive/FHL9659
to verify that.
>J Nutr. 2007 Aug;137(8):1916-22.
>Disease manifestations of canine distemper virus infection in
>ferrets are modulated by vitamin A status.
>
>Rodeheffer C, von Messling V, Milot S, Lepine F, Manges AR, Ward BJ.
>McGill University Health Centre Research Institute, Faculty of
>Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases, Montreal General Hospital,
>Montreal, QC, Canada.
>
>The measles virus (MV) causes half a million childhood deaths
>annually. Vitamin A supplements significantly reduce measles-
>associated mortality and morbidity. The mechanisms whereby vitamin
>A acts against MV are not understood and currently there is no
>satisfactory small animal model for MV infection. We report on the
>development of a ferret model to study antiviral activity of vitamin A
>against canine distemper virus (CDV). CDV is closely related to MV at
>the molecular level and distemper in ferrets mimics measles in humans.
>We infected vitamin A-replete (control) and vitamin A-depleted
>ferrets with CDV and assessed the ability of high-dose vitamin A
>supplements to influence CDV disease. In control ferrets, CDV
>infection caused fever, rash, conjunctivitis, cough, coryza, and
>diarrhea. In contrast, control ferrets that were given 30 mg of
>vitamin A did not develop typical distemper after infection and
>exhibited only a mild rash. The supplement did not negatively affect
>ferret health and resulted in a 100% increase in serum and liver
>vitamin A concentrations. We also found that profound vitamin A
>deficiency is inducible in ferrets and can be rapidly reversed upon
>high-dose vitamin A supplementation. Vitamin A deficiency caused
>anorexia, diarrhea, cataracts, behavioral abnormalities, and
>ultimately death, with or without CDV infection. All ferrets that
>received vitamin A supplements, however, recovered uneventfully
>from CDV infection. These results replicate many aspects of the
>observations of vitamin A therapy in humans with measles and suggest
>that CDV infection in ferrets is an appropriate model for the study
>of the antiviral mechanism of vitamin A.
>
> PMID: 17634264
>
> The full article is HERE:
> http://jn.nutrition.org/cgi/reprint/137/8/1916

[Posted in FML 6476]


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