>But they lived 9, 10, 11 years!
Yes, our experience in almost 30 years with ferrets has been that the
ones back before there were a lot of fancies very often were healthier,
aged later, and lived longer.
Unlike you we did not run into insulinoma with the early ones. The only
early ferret we had who developed a pancreatic disease had lymphoma
based there, not insulinoma, and we didn't run into adrenal disease
until one who came into our family about 25 years ago as a kit later
turned 7 or 8 years old and then that also was lymphoma but this time
in an adrenal.
We did have more ferrets than those two with lymphoma back then,
though.
Having many ferrets back then be stronger seems to be a common
experience, though we ran into the opposite, too. One of our early
ferrets who turned out to be from fur fitch stock had congenital liver
problems, and we knew of someone who had 80 ferrets back then who lived
and inbred willy-nilly in her household and I recall her once telling
me over the phone that her ferrets lived to be about 2 years old -- and
she actually thought that was acceptable. Arrgghhh!
Sukie (not a vet)
Recommended ferret health links:
http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/ferrethealth/http://ferrethealth.org/archive/http://www.afip.org/ferrets/index.htmlhttp://www.miamiferret.org/http://www.ferrethealth.msu.edu/http://www.ferretcongress.org/http://www.trifl.org/index.shtmlhttp://homepage.mac.com/sukie/sukiesferretlinks.html
all ferret topics:
http://listserv.ferretmailinglist.org/archives/ferret-search.html
HAPPY:
http://www.6footsix.com/my_weblog/2010/01/high-fives-for-happiness.html
"All hail the procrastinators for they shall rule the world tomorrow."
(2010, Steve Crandall)
[Posted in FML 6590]
