If I were to change any things for our ferret's health they would be:
First: have a situation where the ferrets can have more room and even
more interesting toys.  I'd love to have the space of them to have
slides, to have a second and different teeter totter than the one I
made for them with wedges of foam and covering, a big digging box, etc.
 
I'd like them to have the chance to be true athletes while having great
fun with it instead of somewhat athletic.  I feel guilty some times
because that isn't possible here, but know that all anyone can do is his
or her best, and for this location this is what we can afford.  The
second thing I would change would be to have our vet located closer to
us.  We have an hour's drive, but he is a very good vet.
 
Because they are pretty athletic our ferrets don't have the waistline
trouble we are getting.  Excessive fat weight is a hard to control thing
which can impact on health -- and certainly since fat is also a very
active hormonal generator it has the potential to possibly be involved
in some endocrinological health problems (and both adrenal growths and
insulinoma fit in that category).
 
Our adrenal growth rate here is about a third in their lifetimes.  We
provide a LOT of complete darkness and the ferrets can go to dark areas
any time they want.  The only times we have had a few ferrets develop
early adrenal growths (before age 5) have been after an extended spell
when enough darkness could not be provided.  If anyone here hasn't read
of the use of melatonin and how the body produces its own melatonin in
darkness that can be read about in http://fhl.sonic-weasel.org.  Parts of
that are hypothetical still, but in our case if it isn't coincidence then
it has served us well.  Most of the ferrets here who got adrenal growths
did not have bilateral ones.  All but one of our ferrets have been early
neuters.  It would be great to have fewer than a third and we are trying
things Dr. Jerry Murray advises on that score and hoping they work.
 
We try to avoid ferrets with extraneous spotting, panda heads, or blazes,
though we do have two with the spotting now.  All too often these ferrets
just don't live as long as others.  Some do -- people for a long while
let me know how long those ferrets lived -- but few of that particular
group of fancies seem to make it to 7.  Sadly, the KIT oncogene is a
neural crest variation and there are some health implications reported
in relation to such genetics in other mammals.  We WILL do the old-age
bi-annual visits for our two with these markings at younger ages than we
do for those who don't have those markings -- just to be safer.
 
If I had to say my top four things that I think strongly affect health
and longevity in ferrets I'd say getting a lot of mental and physical
stimulation through exercise, having a great vet, having darkness handy
any time of the day or night, and avoiding a number of the fancies when
possible and providing them with extra vet care when they are in the
family.  (We had long lived ones before there were any good foods, but we
DO opt for good foods now that they are available.  I DO tend to think
that perhaps our stock here in the U.S.  is not as genetically strong as
in some places where there have been greater survival challenges.)
[Posted in FML issue 4793]