Waardenburg Syndrome ferrets

[xeopse]

So I have a comparing/contrasting list between Lulabelle (my Waardenburg girl) and my "normal" ferrets. I'm curious to see how they are compared to ferrets that were purpose-bred to be companions versus growing up in a laboratory environment. They are VERY different from my males I had.

Lulabelle is an oddball for sure:
Hardly active at all, sleeping constantly
Better tempered than everyone else, but does not like being picked up
Significant muscle waste - there is no muscle mass on her at all
Many, many shades whiter than everyone else but still has markings
Head is flatter and eyes are not positioned quite right
Her ears are dirtier than all four of the others put together
She does not groom herself
Does not make any noise, ever - no dooking, hissing, squeaks, anything
Does not dook or wardance for any reason
She far prefers canine company over ferret company
Generally not part of the group, keeps to herself mostly
She is the only one out of the group that drags toys, foods, blankets, etc
She drinks more than any of the others
She does not cling to me when held, she always lays completely limp, will not hold herself up
Will not rearrange herself when held awkwardly
Eats way more than everyone else yet never puts on weight
Does not enjoy toys/teasers unless they are rubber dog toys for chewing
Loves to sleep in hammocks or kitty hidey holes
Never climbs anything
Seems to tire out very easily


Cidalia, Persephone, Odette, and Delphine:
Range in weights but 3 are slinky little petite girls, hard to put extra weight on them
Persephone is twice their size and seems "fat"
Muscle mass is significantly better than Lulabelle
All four climb everything in sight, even if it's 6 feet high
Curiosity knows no boundaries, they never sleep when they're out free-roaming
Cleaner
Have not quite figured out dragging anything, even food, back to a hideout
Aside from Persephone, the other 3 are not as quick to change re: new food, not very enthusiastic about raw feeding
Like sleeping in towels/blankets more than anything else
Everyone puffs up, squeaks, dooks, war dances, etc
SUPER HYPER



Does this seem to be pretty consistent? I know that all ferrets have different personalities but I've never had ferrets that didn't like to do very many "ferrety" things. Mine used to burrow, dig, roll around, hop up and down, war dance constantly, dook, steal everything in sight, and when I held them they were happy to be above everythiing else with their new vantage point. This lot really doesn't do that, which I think is because they were so deprived at the research lab.

[rarnold18]

Lullabelle sounds a lot like my ping and I suspect that she has Waardenburg too... The main difference is that Ping has choosen one person to like my oldest son and does not tolerate being handled by anyone else in the household, if you do handle her beware she may bite you. Ping also has nothing to do with toys, other ferrets, climbing, dooking, war dancing or other ferrety type things. She does keep to herself and went let out to play she will find a cozy spot and go to sleep, she much rather not be bothered with "ferret nonsense"! The biggest physical difference between Ping and my other fuzz is in the way she walks, her gait is a bit off and her front arms are positioned differently so that she walks with her elbows pointing outward kind of like an english bull dog, she does have a flatter head and her eyes are more set off to the sides instead at the front of her face...I can't really figure out a way to discribe it in writing...(not trying to be offensive) but her facial structure kinds reminds me of a down syndrome baby where their eyes are really wide spread with out much of a bridge over their nose instead it's flat...
Ping is also my biggest eater (she will fight the others off so she can keep the bunnies all to herself) but also my skinniest too...I wonder if Waardenburg also has a metabolic side to it that goes along with the deafness and physical deformities?

[xeopse]

I forgot to write about how oddly she walks - Lulabelle has an odd gait like Ping. Sometimes she drags her legs. I've seen her run once since I brought them home in June and that was down a very long corridor in my loft building while I was jogging alongside her - that seemed to stimulate her to run a bit but she kept stopping and flattening herself out along the way for a break so I didn't push her. She doesn't drag her legs nearly as much anymore, so I'm assuming that's a sign her muscle strength is coming back even though I can't hardly feel it at all

I'm hoping that this list maybe puts together some issues that these guys have. Sherrylyne said that they are pretty much like Down syndrome babies and that their lifespan is no different than them which is a big relief.

Does anyone have any ideas on what they use/used for Waardenburg babies to get them to be a little more active? I'm afraid of the muscle wasting

[katt]

Does she like playing in water? You might want to look into hydrotherapy. There is some info on it in a thread in the health section, I'll come back and link it later. Right now I'm getting ready to head into lab.

[mjohn143]

How do you know if they have Wardenburg? Is is all white ones that are deaf of what? Bc my new one is deaf and a marked DEW, so does she have it?

[xeopse]

Not all white ones have it - I used to have a DEW and he was fine. I work with animals, so I see this all the time - white Jack Russells, white cattle dogs, white German Shepherds, white dachsunds, white pit bulls, white boxers, white whatever... typically they are either deaf or blind, or both. Not all of them, but many times animals that carry the white gene have some sort of handicap. What's interesting to me is that not only are these guys white and deaf for ferrets, but it seems to me like they are generally "different" from others. White dogs that are deaf/blind typically have no other issues- they are otherwise normal dogs. Waardenburg ferrets seem to have a list of other issues, which is what I'm trying to figure out since there isn't a whole lot about it online.

And no, Lulabelle is not fond of the water I've tried many times, hse just sits there. She is not afraid, but she's not excited either. I've left the water dripping a bit to entice her to play with it, I've left it off completely, I've tried it with varying warm temperatures, put her favorite toys in there, held her up and helped her move around and kick, varying depths of water ranging from barely anything to enough to swim as long as I held her up. Nothin

[mjohn143]

How do u know they have it? Bc she is deaf, Are there other signs?

[Heather]

Xeopse it sounds like your little Lulabelle has almost all the classic symptoms. The sleeping, flattened skull, a slower personality. It has unfortunately been linked to when breeders breed for a specific exotic colouration..blazes, pandas and DEWs in particular. In dogs the famous breed known for waardenburg is the dalmation. Unfortunately, as this is becoming deeper and deeper ingrained into the farm ferrets breeding regime even their sables are becoming affected. I was just talking with sherrylynne about this. I have a boy, Boris who is a marshals ferret. His whole skull is damaged. His nasal passages are so flattened and narrow that he cannot breathe properly. He's profoundly deaf, he cannot close his jaws properly because of the malformation of the lower jaw. If he's scruffed he cannot breath and will suffocate. He's rather slow, mentally but he's very sweet. Unlike Lulabelle he does like to play. Lady Natasha who was purchased by her previous person about the same time is also affected. She's an exotic DEW. Thor who is a local BY breeders ferret, although he's not profoundly deaf, has the classical flattened skull, almond shaped eyes that are set too wide apart, says little to nothing, is a social outcast, he's very clumsy (even for a ferret ). I once described him as a total spaz. Remember to note that it's not only the farm ferrets who are affected but anyone who carelessly breeds for the exotic colours.
Here's a description given for waardenburg's syndrom :
**Waardenburg syndrome is known to occur in ferrets. The affected animal will usually have a small white stripe along the top of its head or a solid white head and a somewhat, although barely noticeably, flatter skull than normal ferrets. As a ferret's sense of hearing is poor to begin with it is not easily noticeable except for when the affected animal does not react to loud noises that non-affected ones will respond to. As the disorder is easily spread to offspring, the affected animal will not be used for breeding by private, reputable breeders, although it may still be neutered and sold as a pet. Unfortunately, companies that mass breed and sell to pet stores consider the markings caused by the disorder "exotic" when compared to the standard sable ferrets, so they continue to breed deaf ferrets with no regard to the fact that they are producing deaf ferrets. As a result, 75% of ferrets with a blaze or white head sold from pet stores are deaf**
ciao

[katt]

Here is the link I promised:

holisticferret.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=medicine&action=display&thread=5217&page=1

I think the stuff about water therapy starts a few pages in, but the whole story is very touching, so it's not a waste of time to read the whole thing. Not to mention, the poor little girl in this thread had major weakness in her hind limbs due to a spinal injury, so you might pick up some other tips for gaining strength that I overlooked.

[shilohismygirl]

Yes, Hiro is a Waardenburg ferret, for sure. His eyes are more wide set, and I am pretty sure his nasal cavities are malformed, because he weezes all the time, even when he is asleep. He also coughs a lot, and we're having that looked at, but it may be because he's a Waardenburg. He's also deaf. He plays quite a bit differently, because he is fearless, and tireless and always wants to play. He always seems to be awake, and is not in the least bit interested in any treat.

[mjohn143]

Clovis has always looked like he is a little deformed in the face, but still cute... I KNOW he isn't deaf, but he dose seem really dumb and has a lot of white on his head, and a bib. He plays but he also sleeps a lot... and he is hugely fat. Not really muscle like MegaWeasel...just gushy fat. It is hard to tell though bc I know they get fat in winter. Here are some pics to him... anyone who knows about it, tell me what you think.





Idk what it is about him and its not as noticable in the photos but his eyes are droopy.

[katt]

I diagnose him as officially SuperCute! haha I don't know about the Waardenberg's, his headset seems ok, but I can see what yo mean about the slight droop to the eyes. Perhaps if he's not Waardenberg's, then he's something else...? It is possible he is just inbred. Sorry I can't be of help, but I looove Clovis!

[Kerit]

Here are more photos... My DEW Trial showed certain symptoms of Waardenburg's.



He always had that sort of goofy, sweet look to his face. I never considered him to be especially ferret-smart, but he was very friendly and outgoing, and always ready to wardance and quietly dook. Interestingly, he was not Marshall's... no tattoos, and no backstory on him. His owners before me swore he could hear (but they also thought Trouble was a boy, so...).

Here's a headshot of Trouble, a normal sable, for comparison.



Looking for these photos made me miss them so much! My deafie and my little girl.

[maddiesmom]

Izzy's a deafie, but she shows none of the symptoms in the OP. She's very active, the only difference I see behaviorally in her compared to the others is she LOVES water

[sherrylynne]

Here's Zeus. The eyes are wide set, head is flatter. He's also much slower than the others, although he does hear, there almost appear to be some hearing deficits.:

And Willow. Again, wider set eyes, totally deaf, flatter head:


Both these guys dook and dance, although both do sleep a lot.What I find odd is the fact that both of them, AND the pics of the other possible Waardenburg's babies in this thread, almost seem to have a "sweeter" look to them, if that makes any sense?