Nor is that the only disease which may be passed in raw foods. There are quite a few. One very avoidable one is bovine tuberculosis. Cases of this have almost stopped appearing in ferrets in the U.S. now that almost no one gives raw milk from cattle, goats, etc. or raw ungulate meat to ferrets. It is a larger problem in some areas where that practice still occurs. It's not common but it is an avoidable death sentence. When ferrets do get TB is usually the avian form which is omnipresent in the environment because so many wild birds have it, and even then the ferrets need to be immune suppressed usually to get it. They can catch the human form but that is very rare. This is also a death sentence. Meanwhile, the bovine form in ferrets can be avoided by keeping any ungulates healthy and tested, and by not giving raw animal products. Another still UNanswered question about out domestic ferrets is what protein level will give optimal health results. A dietary protein level in the low to mid 50 percentile range is more natural, but again our domestic ferrets in the U.S. have many generations behind them of not facing the physiological demands of that high a protein level and our current "pet stock" in this country has generation of breeding for factors other than health and longevity. (I really wish appearance was less important to people.) I was reading an article by Dr. Mark Finkler "A Nutritional Approach to the Prevention of Insulinomas in the Pet Ferret" from Exotic Mammal Medicine and Surgery recently and noticed a few things in this excellent and completely honest synopsis of what things are known and which are postulated. First: Although I already knew that the low starch and high protein concepts were based upon hypotheses I had not realized quite how very many stacked hypotheses they were based upon. On asking around with research vets who study these questions (in case there might be new solid data) I found out that this "stacked hypotheses" observation is a correct impression, so if the approach works there will still be the question whether it works for the postulated reasons which are ultimately largely based upon diabetes work, especially in cats, from the sounds of it, or if the approach works but the hypotheses fall apart. Second: There is no way to even know if it would work. It turns out that there are NOT reliable rate data on insulinoma RATES according to those I asked. How is that for a sad eye-opener? It would be a very good thing if perhaps a large group of vets who actually look for insulinoma would agree to keep a hospital tally of the number of ferrets they treat, the number with insulinoma, the markings/coloration of the ferrets, age of on-set, and the diets given those ferrets including treats. (BTW, our own household rate of insulinoma PLUS the pancreatic carcinoma and pancreatic lympho cases we have encountered -- just in case they also had insulinoma going on -- has been around 20% or so over 24 years. I'd have to do the numbers to be really sure but that's the estimate and all here were at least 6 years of age. We personally give a few dried cranberries and a little Nutrical/Nutristat among the treats we use but they are not the primary treats, we do not give starch treats or things like Yogis, and we returned to an about 35% protein level when we found that two of our ferrets formed cystine stones when they ate higher protein foods so we need to shape around their personal vulnerabilities. To each his or her own.) [Posted in FML issue 4777]