Suspected pseudohypoparathyroidism in a domestic ferret

Abstract

A 1.5-year-old ferret examined because of seizures was found to have low serum calcium, high serum phosphorus, and extremely high serum parathyroid hormone concentrations. Common causes of these abnormalities, including nutritional secondary hyperparathyroidism, chronic renal secondary hyperparathyroidism, tumor lysis syndrome, and hypomagnesemia, were ruled out, and a tentative diagnosis of pseudohypoparathyroidism was made. Pseudohypoparathyroidism is a hereditary condition in people that, to our knowledge, has not been identified in ferrets previously and is caused by a lack of response to high serum parathyroid hormone concentrations, rather than a deficiency of this hormone. The ferret improved after treatment with dihydrotachysterol (a vitamin D analog) and calcium carbonate. It was still doing well after 3.5 years of continued treatment.