>Just wondering here... Does anyone or has anyone ever owned a ferret that
>isn't sick with some costly disease? It just seems like everyone who
>posts has a ferret that is really sick. Can I too expect my ferret will
>one day be suffering with a sickness?
If the average number of ferrets/address here is 5 then there are over
15,000 ferrets represented here. That is a lot of ferrets, so the % is
not quite what it may seem.
Yes, do expect illnesses down the line and save for them. Veterinary
care adds up. Since ferrets cram about 10 human years into each one
ferret year that means that middle age problems will show up at around 4
give or take a bit (I like the think of 40 as starting middle age, though
I have had multiple physicians tell me back when that 35 is when middle
age health problems begin in humans.). There is no such thing as a
mammal type that isn't going to have increased health problems with
advancing years.
If you go to
http://geocities.com/sukieslist
you will find a large number of sources to help you learn. If it is down
for a few days I think that Yahoo runs Geocities and Yahoo will be moving
server locations until sometime on Sunday, so save the addy and be
patient. Learning is especially important for ferret people since many
areas of the nation lack ferret-knowledgeable vets, so often ferret people
need to move them in the right directions for acquiring information. Here
are some first basics to learn about (not knowing the ferret's age am just
listing exceedingly common problems encountered in ferret lives): avoiding
accidents including blockages, which symptoms call for immediate vet
visits, feeding and feeding when ill, teething, how to give medications,
adrenal neoplasia, insulinoma, and vaccination schedules and precautions
for the multiple kit canine distemper shots, rabies shot, and for later
annual boosters. You can find those pieces of info in those sites and by
getting reputable resources such as Kim Schilling's excellent book,
_Ferrets for Dummies_.
Everything gets sick and everything eventually dies of something. Once
upon a time with people there were folks described as dying "of old age"
but now we know that folks do die with advanced age but that they die of
diseases acquired: heart disease, malignancies, kidney failure, etc. You
don't hear people described as "dying of old age" because there is decent
medical care, so quality of life and sometimes both quality and quantity
of life can be provided . (Quantity without quality makes me shutter...)
It's the same with ferrets; when they die in old age it's not of old age
but of some illness that cropped up, so sometimes that illness is even a
treatable one and suffering and death can be prevented or delayed...
---
We've had ferrets in our family for 20 years come early June (Actually,
we cared for one short term before that, but June will mark when we have
always had ferrets in our family.) so Steve and I are used too care
levels and cost levels when there is illness present. We've been
through a lot through the years with these guys: adrenal neoplasias,
adrenal malignancies, insulinoma, a pancreatic malignancy, JL,
Lymphosarcoma/Lymphoma, thoracic tumors, spinal cord tumor, hypertrophic
cardiomyopathy, arrhythmia, dilative cardiomyopathy, ECE, kidney failure,
thrown clots, coccidea, IBD, etc., etc., etc. The simple fatc of the
matter is that medical care for ferrets is VERY time consuming, very
tiring, and very costly. Last year, with 7 ferrets (now 6) of whom 6 had
medical problems (now 5) we spent $11,500 on ferret needs -- most
veterinary, and we often lived in shifts with Steve getting up early and
me going to bed late (Actually, that has had to become our norm.). This
year so far we have had around $2,000 in medical costs already. The worst
part, though, is when ferrets in the same age brackets begin dying close
together. The grief is enormous.
Now, we KNEW what responsibilities we were accepting when we took in some
rescues in the same age brackets, and took in some with medical problems.
Some things just aren't known as well from reading about them as from
experiencing them. It scares the begeebers when I read of folks with
less five year of experience who take in a large number of ferrets. Yes,
some will be up to it, but that practise so often leads to shelters later
getting many very ill ferrets that have missed out on needed veterinary
care. No matter how many years any of us have with ferrets we are still
learning, but unless one can deal with almost no sleep, and very high
costs, and profuse grief, and unless that person also has a very steep
learning curve it really, really, really is best to stick to no more than
three ferrets for the first 5 years.
[Posted in FML issue 3723]
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