Biology, Husbandry and Diseases of the Ferret VCM 656

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Biology, Husbandry and Diseases of the FerretVCM
656
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Taxonomy

• Order Carnivora
• Family Mustelidae
• (otters, weasels, badgers, skunks, etc.)
• Genus Mustela
• Species putorius furo (domestic ferret)
• putorius (European polecat)
• nigripes (Black-footed ferret)

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History

• Domestication 2000 years?

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Research Uses

• Virology
• Canine distemper virus
• Influenza
• Toxicology
• Replacing dogs and cats
• Other
• Gastroenterology
• Bacteriology
• Pharmacology
• Cardiology
• Behavior

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Other Uses

• Pets
• Show

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Other Uses

• Rodent Control
• Ferreting
• Ferret-Legging

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Varieties

• Silver Mitt
• Sable with white chest feet

• Siamese
• Brown guard hairs

Albino

• Sable or Fitch
• black guard hairs
• genetic dominant

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Varieties
Sable or Fitch
Chocolate
Albino
Black Sable
Black-eyed White
Black Mitt
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• Adult weight
• Males hobs 1300-2700 gm
• Females jills 450-900 gm
• Young kits

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Anatomy

• Dental Formula
• I 3/3, C 1/1, P 4/3, M ½
• Supernumerary incisors are common
• Lack cecum, appendix seminal vesicles
• Os penis
• Poorly developed sweat glands
• Anal (musk) glands
• Thin walled bladder

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Biological Parameters

• Life span 5-9 years
• Body temperature 37.8-40.0oC (100-104oF)
• Heart rate 180-250 /minute
• Respiratory rate 30-36 /minute
• Hematology and clinical chemistry parameters
  similar to cat
• Proteinuria is common in normal ferrets

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GI / Nutrition

• Strict obligate carnivores
• High-quality, highly digestible, well-balanced,
  meat-based diet.
• Eat several small meals daily
• Extremely short digestive tract
• 3-3.5 hr transit time vs 6-8 hr of cat
• Do not fast for gt 3-6 hrs.

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Environment

• Do well in dog, cat or rabbit cages
• Openings should be lt 1 inch
• Cage furniture
• Tubes, tents, hammocks,
• Sleep in dark, enclosed spaces
• Litterboxes
• Dont tolerate
• heat well

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Broken Teeth

• Biting and gnawing
• Discoloration
• Excessive wear
• Broken tips
• Broken canine teeth
• No obvious discomfort or pain, unless exposed
  dental pulp

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Growth and Development

• Gestation 40-43 days
• Fetuses can be palpated as early as 14 days
• Litter size 6-10
• Kits at birth
• 8-10 grams
• Hairless
• Eyes shut
• Deaf
• Eyes open 34 days
• Hearing onset 32 days
• Wean at 6-8 weeks

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Sexual Maturity

• Sexually mature at 6-10 months
• Seasonally polyestrous
• March through August
• Induced ovulator
• May remain in estrous up to 6 months if not bred
• Testes descend into scrotum just prior to
  breeding season

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Breeding

• Female to males cage
• Copulation is vigorous, noisy and prolonged
• Male grasps females neck and drags around cage
  (lt 1 hour)
• Lay side-by-side to copulate (30 minutes to 3
  hours)

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Restraint

• Scruff
• Restrain head and support hind end

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Blood Collection

• Similar to cat
• Cephalic vein
• Jugular vein
• Tail artery
• Ventral midline

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Blood Collection

• Lateral saphenous vein
• Anterior vena cava

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Estrogen-Induced Anemia

• Associated with prolonged estrus
• 50 of unbred females
• Persistent hyperestrogenemia
• Suppression of hematopoietic cell lines
• Clinical signs
• Vulvar enlargement
• Inactivity, anorexia, weight loss
• Bilaterally symmetric alopecia
• Pale mucous membranes, petechial ecchymotic
  hemorrhages. Melena
• Posterior paralysis

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Estrogen-Induced Anemia

• Clinical signs not apparent until
• Hematocrit is below 20 (46-57) and
• Platelet count is below 50,000/ul
  (297,000-730,000)
• Diagnosis
• Appropriate history and clinical signs and Hct lt
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• Treatment
• Ovariohysterectomy treatment of choice if good
  surgical candidate
• Medical treatment
• Hormone-induced ovulation (Gn-RH or HCG)
• Supportive care blood transfusions, fluids,
  antibiotics

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Estrogen-Induced Anemia

• Hemorrhage is the most common cause of death
• Prognosis
• Always guarded after appearance of clinical signs
• Fair Hct gt 20
• Guarded Hct 14-19
• Grave Hct lt14

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Adrenal Gland

• Medulla
• Tumor usually pheochromocytomas
• Rare in ferrets
• Cortex
• Zona glomerulosa - outer zone
• Secretes mineralocorticoids (mainly aldosterone)
• Zona faciculata - middle zone
• Secretes glucocorticoid hormones (mainly
  cortisol)
• Zona reticularis - inner zone
• Secretes sex steroids and androgens

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Adrenocortical Disease

• Cause
• Functional adrenal adenoma or carcinoma (zona
  reticularis)
• Pituitary gland tumor causing bilateral
  adrenocortical hyperplasia
• Metastasis is rare, may be locally invasive
• Speculation of association with early spay/neuter
  (lt6 weeks of age)
• Adrenal glands acting as gonads?

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Adrenocortical Disease

• Classic clinical signs
• Swollen, enlarged vulva
• Progressive hair loss that spares face and paws
• 4-5 years of age
• Other signs include weakness, pendulous abdomen

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Adrenocortical Disease

• Alopecia
• Typical hair loss pattern
• Bilaterally symmetric
• Rump/tail to sides to dorsum and ventrum

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Adrenocortical Disease

• Thinning hair
• Severe pruritis
• Only in 1/3 of cases
• Usually between shoulders

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Adrenocortical Disease

• Hair loss
• Swollen vulva

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Adrenocortical Disease

• Diagnosis
• Clinical signs
• Abdominal ultrasound - 50 identified
• Ferret Adrenal endocrine Panel
• University of Tennessee CVM
• Ancillary diagnosis tests of little value
• ACTH stimulation test
• Dexamethasone suppression test
• Urinary cortisolcreatine ratio
• 20-40 also have insulinoma

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Adrenocortical Disease

• Medical Treatments
• Lysodren (op-DDD)
• Used in dogs to treat Cushings
• Kills cortisol producing cells (zona fasciculata)
  and some cells in zona reticularis
• Fairly successful with hyperplasia and adenomas,
  not adenocarcinomas
• Oral administration can be difficult
• Cause hypoglycemic crisis if have concurrent
  insulinoma

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Adrenocortical Disease

• Medical Treatments - palliative
• Lupron
• Potent GnRH secretion inhibitor
• hypothalamus (GnRH) --gt pituitary (LH FSH) --gt
  adrenal (sex steroid androgen)
• Often cause rapid improvement in clinical signs
• Normal sized vulva in 1-2 weeks, stop hair loss
  in 2-3 weeks, hair regrowth in 1-2 months
• Not decrease size of hyperplasia or tumor
• Fairly successful with hyperplasia and adenomas,
  not carcinomas
• Used in ferrets that are poor surgical candidates
• 4-month depot form (2 mg/ferret SQ), lasts 4-6
  months
• Repeat with return of clinical signs

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Adrenocortical Disease

• Surgical Treatment
• Usually treatment of choice
• Unilateral (left) tumor is most common
• 10 bilateral
• General surgery notes
• Short preoperative fast (3-4 hours)
• Inhalant anesthesia is best (isoflurane)
• Mask or tank induction
• Heating pad during and after surgery (hypothermia
• Fluids

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Adrenocortical Disease

• Gross anatomy
• Left adrenal gland
• Adrenolumbar vein
• Right adrenal gland
• Caudal vena cava

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Adrenocortical Disease
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Adrenocortical Disease
Right adrenal gland
Left adrenal gland
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Adrenocortical Disease

• Right adrenal gland
• Debulk only
• Incise capsule shuck
• Total ligation of vena cava
• 75 survive ??
• Edema /-

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Adrenocortical Disease

• Cryosurgery
• Treat right adrenal tumors
• 2-3 rapid-freeze, slow-thaw cycles
• Vena cava tolerates freeze/thaw
• Minimize hypothermia
• Lavage abdominal cavity with warmed isotonic
  fluids after cryosurgery

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Adrenocortical Disease

• Prognosis
• 6-12 months without treatment
• Four-year old, spayed female
• (A) left adrenal tumor prior to surgery
• (B) 2 months postop

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Insulinoma

• Pancreatic islet cell tumors beta cells
• Excessive insulin production
• Metastasis pancreas, liver, spleen, lymph nodes
• Incidence gt30 in ferrets over 3 years old
• Clinical signs
• Episodic weakness, lethargy, ataxia, depression
• Hypersalivation /-, pawing at mouth /-
• Seizures are uncommon
• Diagnosis (presumptive)
• Episodic or persistent hypoglycemia and
  hyperinsulinemia
• Fasting glucose lt60 mg/dl (90-125) and insulin
  gt350 pmol/l (35-250) are suggestive

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Insulinoma

• Treatment of Choice Surgery
• Palliative, not curative
• Often recur after a year
• Prognosis is always guarded
• Pancreatitis is rare
• Always check adrenals
• Nodulectomy
• Partial pancreatectomy
• Remove up to 60

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Insulinoma

• Medical treatment for presurgical stabilization
• Preoperative fluids
• Prednisone glucogenic effects
• Diazoxide inhibit insulin release
• Expensive, minimally effective
• Frequent high protein, low carbohydrate meals
• Avoid excessive exercise

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Insulinoma
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Influenza Virus Infection

• Orthomyxoviruses, types A and B
• Transmission
• Aerosol droplets
• Human to ferret, ferret to ferret, ferret to
  human
• Clinical signs
• Sneezing, lethargy, conjunctivitis, pyrexia
• Serous to mucopurulent nasal discharge

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Influenza Virus Infection

• Diagnosis
• Clinical signs, rising antibody titer, virus
  isolation
• Disease course
• High morbidity, low mortality
• 1-2 week duration
• Treatment
• Encourage drinking and eating (favorites)
• Pediatric cough suppressant /-
• Antibiotics /-

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Canine Distemper Virus Infection

• RNA Paramyxovirus
• Transmission
• Aerosol, direct contact, fomites
• Reservoirs unvaccinated dogs, wild Canidae,
  Mustelidae, Procyonidae

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Canine Distemper Virus Infection

• Clinical signs
• Incubation 7-10 days
• Anorexia, lethargy, pyrexia
• Serous to mucopurulent oculonasal discharge
• Dermatitis chin, lips, inguinal areas
• Footpad hyperkeratosis
• Diarrhea
• Mortality approaches 100 in ferrets

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Canine Distemper Virus

• Encrusted eyes
• Mucopurulent discharge
• Dermatitis
• Lip and chin crusting
• Foot pad hyperkeratosis

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Canine Distemper Virus Infection

• Diagnosis
• Exposure history, clinical signs
• Rising fluorescent antibody titer
• Treatment
• Supportive care
• Not effective
• Prevention
• Vaccination modified-live vaccine
• 6-8 weeks old, then every 3 weeks until 14 weeks
• Revaccinate yearly

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Whats Your Diagnosis ?

• Clinical presentation
• Lethargy
• Inappetence
• Weight loss
• Occasional coughing or choking
• Regurgitation
• Labored breathing

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Differential Diagnosis

• Esophageal foreign body
• GI foreign body
• Gastritis
• Influenza
• Respiratory disease
• Megaesophagus

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Megaesophagus

• Thoracic esophagus
• Subtle

• Cranial esophagus
• Easier to see

• Barium

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Helicobacter mustelae

• Ubiquitous disease, fecal-oral infection by 2
  weeks of age
• Clinical signs
• 10 will develop clinical signs during lifetime
• Vague GI signs, inappetance, loose stools,
  intermittent vomiting
• Chronic atrophic gastritis
• Gastric mucosal damage, lymphoplasmacytic
  inflammation, gastric ulcers

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Helicobacter mustelae

• Diagnosis
• Pyloric biopsy
• silver stain - extracellar bacilli
• PCR - feces
• Endoscopic biopsy and culture
• Treatment
• Triple therapy
• Amoxicillin (10-20 mg/kg bid), metronidazole (30
  mg/kg sid), Pepto-Bismol (1/15th of a tablet)
• Treat for 4-6 weeks
• Ferrets hate the taste of Flagyl and Pepto-Bismol
• Other combination therapy
• Chlorythomycin (50 mg/kg sid), amoxicillin (35
  mg/kg sid or 20 mg/kg bid) note Biaxin is
  expensive
• Treat for 2 weeks

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Proliferative Colitis

• Lawsonia intracellularis, Ileobacter sp.,
  Desulfovibrio sp.
• Clinical signs
• More common in young males
• Prolonged (gt6 weeks), intermittent diarrhea
• Frequent painful defecation with frank blood abd
  mucus
• Weight loss, lethargy, palpable thickened colon
  (painful)

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Proliferative Colitis

• Histology
• Hyperplasia of colonic mucosa
• Reduced goblet cells
• Silver staining organisms in apical epithelial
  cytoplasm
• Treatment
• Supportive care, including fluids and nutritional
  support
• Systemic antibiotics chloramphenicol,
  gentamicin, metronidazole
• Prognosis is guarded

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Epizootic Catarrhal Enteritis

• Ferret coronavirus
• First identified in the Washington D.C. area in
  1993
• Asymptomatic carriers, prolonged virus shedding
• Clinical signs
• High morbidity, low mortality, older adults more
  severely affected
• Secretory diarrhea, malabsorption, mucus
  hypersecretion
• Lymphocytic enteritis with jejunum viller tip
  blunting
• Chronic lesion persist up to 1 year post
  infection
• Diagnosis
• Clinical signs and history, biopsy and
  immunohistochemistry and or EM
• Treatment
• Supportive care fluids, force-feed, antibiotics,
  prednisone

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Dilatative Cardiomyopathy

• Leads to congestive heart failure
• Clinical signs
• Weight loss lethargy for several months
• Dyspnea fatigue
• Radiographs
• Enlarged, globoid cardiac shadow
• Pleural effusion, pulmonary congestion
• Hepato- splenomegaly
• Treatment
• As per cat
• Treatment failure is common

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Heartworm Disease

• Dirofilaria immitis
• Clinical signs
• Lethargy, coughing, dyspnea, ascites, pulmonary
  congestion
• 1 adult worm can be lethal
• Diagnosis
• Clinical signs, radiographs, heartworm antigen
  test
• Peripheral microfilaremia is uncommon
• Treatment can be difficult
• Preventative
• Oral ivermectin monthly

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Mast Cell Tumor

• Most common cutaneous tumor
• Usually benign
• Crusty scab that doesnt go away
• Mast cells and eosinophils
• Surgical resection

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Lymphosarcoma

• Classic lymphosarcoma chronic lymphocytic
  form
• 5-7 years of age
• Peripheral mesenteric l.n.
• Infiltrate visceral organs,
• spleen, liver, kidneys, lungs
• Organ failure and death
• Lymphoblastic form
• Less than 2 years of age
• Rapidly progressive
• Enlarging thymic mass
• compressing lungs, causing dyspnea
• Extensive hepatic infiltration
• Organ failure and death

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Lymphosarcoma

• Diagnosis
• Lymph node aspirate or
• biopsy
• Monomorphic population of
• immature lymphocytes
• Elevated circulating lymphocyte
• is not diagnostic
• Treatment
• Prognosis is poor
• Younger the ferret at presentation, more rapid
  the progression, and less favorable the prognosis
• Oral prednisone (1 mg/kg SID) - short-term
  clinical improvement
• Various treatment protocols - combinations of
  chemotherapeutics
• vincristine, asparaginase, cyclophosphamide,
  doxorubricin

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Benign Renal Cysts

• Common incidental finding, found in greater than
  25 of ferrets

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Polycystic Kidney Disease

• Incidental finding

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Dermatomycosis Ringworm

• Microsporum canis Trichophytom mentagrophytes
• More common in young
• Treat as for cats/kittens

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Mastitis

• Frequent occurrence
• Rapid progression of clinical signs
• Swelling, discoloration, firm and hot gland
• Jill anorexic and lethargic, Kits may stop
  nursing
• At times, septicemia and death
• Lesions may include gland necrosis
• Treatment
• Systemic antibiotics and supportive care
• Surgical resection of affected tissues

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Urolithiasis

• Relatively common
• Grain-based dog or cat food high urine pH
  urolith formation
• Clinical signs straining, vocalizing, urine
  dribble
• Treatment
• Catheterization difficult due to small urethra
• Cystotomy

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Whats Your Diagnosis ?

• Presentation
• Sick ferret
• Weight loss of 0.4 lb (normal 1.5 lb)
• Hind limb weakness, ataxia, lethargy, vomiting lt
  24 hrs
• History
• 8 year old pet
• Spayed at 3 years of age
• Distemper rabies vaccinations and heartworm
  preventative are current
• Was given subcutaneous fluids overnight

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Differential Diagnosis

• Esophageal foreign body
• GI foreign body
• Gastritis
• Heartworm disease
• Intervertebral disk disease
• Megaesophagus
• Insulinoma
• Lymphoma
• Adrenal gland tumor
• Severe metabolic disease
• Cardiac disease

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• Diagnostic workup
• Normal hair coat and vulva
• Fasting blood glucose slightly elevated
• Blood smear no atypical lymphocytes
• WBC normal (lymphocytes low normal)
• RBC, hemoglobin and PCV low
• BUN elevated, Creatine low normal
• Liver enzymes (ALP ALT) normal
• Heartworm negative
• Fasting blood glucose - elevated

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• Presumptive Diagnosis Chronic Renal Failure
• Note elevated BUN and normal creatine levels
  common in cases of renal failure in ferrets
• Treatment
• Fluid therapy
• Supportive care
• Epoetin stimulate erythropoiesis
• Response to treatment
• Returned to normal over 3 week period
• Condition worsened after 7 more weeks
• Hind limb weakness and abdominal distention
• Died in sleep

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• Necropsy
• Gross
• 100 ml serosanguineous abdominal fluid
• Loss of abdominal fat
• Kidneys were small
• Liver was lumpy and bumpy
• Histopath
• Chronic interstitial nephritis
• Multifocal hemangiosarcoma - liver

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