Dear Shirley
 
>I have a friend whose 4 year old ster. male ferret, Herbie-Heartbeat, has
>had 2 minor strokes a matter of days apart.  He recovered from the first
>one with no lasting symptoms but is only slowly recovering from the second.
>His vet has prescribed aspirin (sorry, can't recall the dosage), each day
>to prevent further blood clots forming.  Does anybody on the list have
>experience with this that I may share with the distraught owner.... eg
>prognosis, holistic care, hope?
 
Unfortunately, I have no experience with strokes in ferrets, nor do I think
they have ever been documented in ferrets.  In fact, I would tend to think
that this is a misleading diagnosis which was probably not backed up by any
definitive lab findings.
 
Let me tell you why I am a "doubting Thomas" on this one.  Many private
practitioners tend to ascribe human diseases such as heart attacks and
strokes to their patients as their owners tend to understand these diseases
and the poor prognosis associated with them.
 
Why don't ferrets have strokes and heart attacks?  Because they generally
don't have the causal diseases of hypertension and atherosclerosis.
Ferrets don't get hardening of the arteries, they don't need bypasses,
and they don't get myocardial infarcts (at least I've never seen one.  The
primary reason that they don't get atherosclerosis is that their diets are
much better than ours - less saturated fats, less processed sugar, less
sodium!
 
We also don't see hypertension in ferrets, and that, and atherosclerosis,
are the two main risk factors for strokes, at least in humans.
 
I've looked at lots of ferret brains from animals with neurologic deficits,
and never once seen any evidence of a stroke (which essentially results
from rupture of a cerebral vessels and hemorrhage into the surrounding
brain).
 
Weakness in the hindlegs, be it either unilateral or bilateral, is not an
uncommon finding in ferrets, and without resorting to an autopsy, can be
very difficult to diagnose.  But if you get a diagnosis of a stroke from
your vet, ask how that diagnosis was obtained - MRI?  cat scan?  skull
X-ray?  spinal tap?  or just classic clinical signs and experience?  I'd
like to know!
 
With kindest regards,
Bruce Williams, DVM
[Posted in FML issue 3218]