More cystine uroliths are being seen in samples from ferrets arriving at the urolith lab at UC Davis in the last year+. This also coincides with the increased use of higher protein diets. A group at UC Davis study is looking at factors such as genetic predisposition and dietary factors to try and determine the reason for the increase in incidence of these uroliths. Dr. Michelle Hawkins VMD DABVP (Avian) is coordinating this effort and can be reached at: 2108 Tupper Hall University of CA, Davis Davis, CA 95616 1-530-752-1363 (phone) [log in to unmask] She would like to hear from vets who encounter stones so that they can accumulate case information as well as samples of blood, urine and stones, and if the unfortunate happens and the animal dies (regardless of whether from the stones or some other ferret disease) they would also like to collect kidney tissue to help look for a genetic defect. No one knows how common (or uncommon) these stones are when high protein loading occurs. Obviously, if this is from a genetic cause then some breeding lines will have increased or decreased vulnerability. [Posted in FML issue 4753]