>RE: William Killian - Zen and the Art of Ferrets <[log in to unmask]> >Subject: Re: Ferret Adversities - open eyes are worth everything There are some things in your post that I felt compelled to comment on. Granted, some of us may be relatively "new" to ferret ownership. I, like many others, am coming up to the 3 year mark. However, I have taken in and treated handicapped animals for over 15 years, both feline and most recently, ferret. I have interacted with feline breeders and CFF judges during that time. Many of the issues we face today are not that far removed from issues I've encountered within the cat fancy. Therefore, I don't consider myself totally ignorant in matters of animal health. A mill is a mill is a mill. Period. Be it a puppy mill, a kitty mill or a ferret mill. It is impossible to consistently raise healthy, disease-free animals with well-socialized personalities in such a situation. This is why many people buy animals from breeders where they can view the parents, see the pedigree and know the personality of the animal they are purchasing. We have been handicapped with ferrets, since for many the pet store ferret is the only game in town. This is starting to change, which is good, since it is pretty well documented that closed breeding colonies of any type eventually run into genetic problems. I would also believe it's fairly logical that if it's common practice to neuter a kitten or puppy at 7-9 months, neutering a ferret at 4-6 weeks is going to cause some problems, even if you factor in physiological differences and differences in growth rates. It's plain too early. It also isn't out of the realm of possibilty that there is more than one cause of adrenal disease in ferrets. Geriatric medicine is a field unto itself. Diseases in old age are not uncommon. Diseases in 1 and 2 year old animals are. Marshall Farms is a business. What help they are giving to CA legislation is most likely being given with a nod to future business in the state. MF is following a business model, MF needs to make money, and MF is most likely not going to change their business practices unless a compelling financial need for them to do so appears. Knowing that, it might instead be more worthwhile to expend some energy to change the laws that say these animals have to be neutered at such a young age in order to be sold, since I'm willing to bet that MF could very quickly be convinced that it's cheaper for them to have you pay for the neuter and spay :-). This, unfortunately creates new issues around "backyard breeding". There are no easy answers. I agree that "we don't know" is often the answer to questions about adrenal disease origins, however, I'd like to see a little better reception to "we might try...". Most accepted treatments started out as someone's theory. My animals are housed in much the environment you describe. They have there own room. They are not subjected to large volumes of artificial lighting (In fact, if you wanted to get real picky, you could argue that the benefits received from artificial lighting may vary according to the spectrum used, since even humans respond differently to artifical light). They have a separate heating zone and their room temperature is regulated. They are fed Totally Ferret exclusively. They are played with and handled daily. They follow an established routine, as I have found that animals respond well to consistency. I have two adrenals, one of whom is bi-lateral and one possible early stage insulinoma. Unless I need to get them a nanny, I've ruled out environment as the cause of their diseases. They are all MF ferrets. I have two other MF ferrets who are currently very fit and healthy, and one 4 month old currently unneutered male which I purchased from a breeder. The differences between this ferret and my others in terms of weight, muscle mass, energy level and overall size are very apparent and astounding. I don't need a scientific study to tell me the difference early neutering makes. I can see it very plainly. The jury is still out as far as ethoxyquin is concerned. The feline community has been dealing with this issue much as we are now, and they haven't come to any conclusions either, although many will not feed foods with ethoxyquin to pregnant or lactating cats. The "other" preservative most often used is vitamin E which is not used at anywhere near a toxic level. Regardless of how "scientific" the research has been, many pet owners avoid ethoxyquin. The studies don't matter to a lot of them, what matters most is what happened to the dog or cat or ferret down the street. While that may not feel right to you, most people make their decisions with their gut, not the latest pet food study they surfed off the Web. What I am afraid of is that through publication of these debates, we will succeed in driving people away from ferret ownership and, more importantly, from ferret adoption. The truth is there is a problem. Any one who denies that has their head in the sand. When someone adopts a cat or a dog, you don't have to warn them it may need major surgery when it's 3 or 4 years old. These cancers and tumors show up often enough that people are going to start classifying ferrets as "fragile" animals unless we find out the cause. Any information we can find out is useful. Any information may help put enough pressure on to encourage scientific study. Waiting for science is ludicrous. The damage is already being done now. For the sake of all those little fuzzies who, through no fault of their own have two blue dots, we need to act now. If MF isn't responsible, we have an obligation to clear them. If MF is responsible, we have an obligation to make them see the need to changes their practices. Otherwise, we will risk creating a sub-class of unadoptable ferrets. Mary-Michael Scanlon [Posted in FML issue 1760]