Incidence of Ferret Diseases at an Animal Hospital

Abstract

The incidence of ferret diseases at an animal hospital was investigated from November 2006 to April 2008. A total of 261 diseases in 198 ferrets were confirmed during the research period. When classifying them according to the organ systems, higher incidences of endocrine (34.9%), gastrointestinal (17.6%), and dermatological diseases (10.3%) were observed, followed by urologic and hemolymphatic diseases. Comparing the incidence of each disease, adrenal disease (24.5%), insulinoma (10.0%) and diarrhea (6.5%) showed a higher incidence,followed by ear mites and renal disease. In addition, neoplastic diseases seemed to be one of the more common diseases. The age of onset differed, depending on the disease. Endocrine diseases were seen in middle to older age groups, ear mites in younger age groups, and diarrhea in younger and middle age groups, respectively.