There is a lot of supposition regarding modern ferret diseases. Are they due to caging conditions, or artificial lighting? Are they due to neutering? Where they always there, but never recognized? Are they caused by modern breeding practices, especially those of large ferret farms? Are they the result of diet and/or feeding practices? There are dozens of other questions; all are profound, all are important, and all lack clear resolution. For the post part, these questions are moot. Ferrets have been housed in cages of some type or another for centuries, if not since initial domestication (modern overcrowding may have some influence, probably in the nature of a triggering agent). Artificial lighting appears a viable hypothesis, except that ferrets had been housed in electrified barns and ferret sheds for most of the last century, especially in the USA. There is a curious lack of correlation of disease caused by early neutering in ferrets to similar problems in other animals also neutered at a young age. Could such a visually unique illness such as adrenal disease, or even one a subtle as insulinoma, be missed or misdiagnosed? (Hint: scan the FML and you will see scores of instances where someone clearly unfamiliar with either disease clearly recognizes the problem, and describes it well enough to be diagnosed sight-unseen). That leaves the two major contenders being genetics and diet. There is no doubt breeding for size and fancy color can result in severe and devastating genetic disease in ferrets. Still, there is NO evidence breeding for any trait has resulted in the widespread introduction of various ferret diseases, such as insulinoma or adrenal disease, into the ferret genome to such an extent that it is found in significant numbers in a ferret population numbering millions. It also cannot explain why these diseases are beginning to show up in other countries, in breeding populations that have not had significant gene flow from USA ferrets. Also, if the =93Tainted USA Genetic=94 hypothesis is correct, it would have required either a rare existing trait or a new mutation to contaminate the genetics of a large group of breeding ferrets, not just once, but for each disease introduced. PLUS it would have to be done simultaneously at a single focal point in time. If the trait was dominant, then MAYBE such a series of coincidences could have occurred, but if adrenal disease was dominant, then a predictable number of offspring would contract the disease, something clearly not occurring in the USA population. Nor does the hypothesis account for the large numbers of ferrets being imported for breeding purposes, the tendency to back-breed to polecats, or even the fact that the incidence of disease does not result in the type of mathematical ratios (sick to ill) expected in a population of millions. There is no doubt genetics is involved, but it is unlikely inbreeding causes the problem we see with ailments like insulinoma and adrenal disease. Finally, there is diet, which is why we are here. The dietary restriction paradigm can explain the types of diseases, why they are hitting at specific ages, and why they impact specific organ systems. But, even this question is moot if we cannot show some type of increase in modern populations compared to historic ones. So, the question of the century is, is diet and/or dietary practices causing the relatively sudden onset of various ferret diseases? Before we can answer that, we have to know if the "sudden onset of various ferret diseases" a real phenomenon, or just an epiphenomenon of the computer age. Bob C [Posted in FML issue 3966]