Ulrike wrote from Wales:
>I don't think that European ferrets are that much healthier than American
>ones.  I do think the breeding farms and early neuter contribute to bad
>ferret health but we in Europe have our fair share of ill ferrets.  All
>the people I know that have ferrets have lost ferrets because of diseases
>and mostly cancer.  I suppose there are more American people writing to
the list than European ones so we hear of more sick American ferrets.
 
BINGO!  Exactly!
 
One thing that I have noticed is that there seems to be tendency among
people who are new to assume that European ones are healthier, but instead
it seems to be more a matter of different proportions of assorted medical
problems with similar life-spans overall.  Ulrike's been here a good
while now.
 
Ulrike also wrote:
>a lot of people are just ignorant and don't know much about ferrets at all
>and wouldn't in their wildest dreams take a sick ferret to the vets for
>tests and operations or take dead ferrets in for a post mortem.  If the
>ferret is sick- it gets killed.  Gee, if the ferret isn't a good worker it
>gets killed.  I bet many people wouldn't even realise that their ferret is
>sick because they hardly spend time with it.  And then they think their 3
>year old ferret died of old age.
 
This sort of thing used to be seen more in the U.S. in past decades, esp.
when we were getting started close to two decades ago.  I recall a woman in
N.J. who had about 80 running loose in her place, mating willy nilly and
dying after a year or two often.  It's like barn cats often are treated.
I think that it is changing all over at varying paces, fortunately.
 
and:
>Some people here who feed their ferrets a more natural diet seem to have
>old healthy ferrets that actually do die of old age whereas our kibble fed
>ferrets seem to die of mainly cancer by the time they're around 6 years
>old (or younger...)
 
Whereas, we usually see 7 years to early 8 years with kibbled foods and
early neuters.  Our longest lived ferret was a late neuter (after litters)
retired breeder who came here as an adult so that is partly dependent on
having been given a correct age at first.
 
There are indications that adrenal growths may be more likely in those
ferrets which have been neutered but that other things may help trigger.
A silent virus is becoming more and more enamored of certain research vets
from what the scuttlebutt says.
 
Now, logically, insulinomae may be a matter in which diet could play a part
IF the numbers really do indicate that there is any difference in rates.
 
A lot of simple "possible solutions" have been presented many times over
in the past (including diet changes, which many have tried or are trying);
what is lacking is any proof that any of them have made any difference,
except perhaps for MC's ten year old ones with their mice.
***Comments MC?***
[Posted in FML issue 3319]