The only mention I can find so far of renal amyloidosis is http://fhl.sonic-weasel.org/browse.php?msg=SG10995 which is also from Australia so might already refer to that genetic line. Searching under amyloidosis+ferret: http://listserv.cuny.edu/Scripts/wa.exe?A2=ind9402 &L=ferret-search&F=&S=&P=16009 Amyloid is a protein material made by plasma cells. Amyloid seeps (or sometimes crowds) into tissues and organs, causing disfunction, when the plasma cells are too active all the time. The line IS being culled by sterilization, right? The materials were read by a veterinary pathologist who is familiar with ferrets, right? Mike Garner of Zoopath has studied amyloidosis in the Black Footed Ferret. This pdf below looks like it should be checked into. I normally would skim for you but when I am too tired I can't do that well enough. Have these ferrets been checked for serious chronic infection, including TB? The most common type in ferrets is avium, which is always present -- widely -- in the wild in birds, so we all get plenty of exposures to that without knowing it. Ferrets tend to get the avian form only when very compromised and it is not something that tends to lead to euthanasia so much anymore unless folks get panicky. The bovine form would be from infected ungulates and the last I heard that does lead to euthanasia due to zoonotic potential. I hope this is not happening there. They have not been fed raw beef, or raw (unpasturized) milk, cream, or other dairy products have they? Bovine TB in ferrets is almost never seen if they aren't fed those, but when they are fed those the risk is a decent bit larger if there is an infected dairy or meat source. (It's a no-no for those who have ferrets in the family.) Have they been interacting with a human who has TB? http:// www.oie.int/eng/publicat/rt/2102/DE%20LISLE.pdf - Similar pages http://hair-loss-stop.com/ref-tuberculosis/ tuberculosis-research-abs5.259.html It would not hurt to test remaining ferrets if your vet thinks that makes sense. http://www.afip.org/vetpath/WSC/WSC94/94wsc15.txt on rats I am exhausted and starting to see double so try Googling... Is it sure that it is not a different type of protein accumulation? http://www.miamiferret.org/fhc/aleutian.htm http://exoticpets.about.com/cs/ferrets/a/aleutiandisease.htm http://www.geocities.com%2Fwhite_russian4adv/drstevenson.html *****I had almost no sleep last night so if I am being dense (or even really, really dense forgive me.***** Nichole: >http://www.soyouwanna.com/site/syws/ferret/ferret.html >http://www.canit.se/~griffon/ferrets/ >http://home.comcast.net/~mustalayday/pets.htm Suzi is seeking those, Nicole. (And here I got excited thinking that a Danish speaker had tracked down the abuse articles I am seeking...) Sukie, who is not a vet (grain of salt warning) Being a silver mitt means never having to say you're sorry. [Posted in FML issue 4706]