>Just wondering here... Does anyone or has anyone ever owned a ferret
>that isn't sick with some costly disease?
 
Nikki -
 
My guy is in great health (he's a year old now).  Something to keep in
mind is that people may chime in with amusing tales from time-to-time,
but for the most part those of us with healthy ferrets aren't going to
load this list with messages with "my baby's doing fine, mine too, yup
yup".  However, when we are in crisis is when a lot of us will fire off
a message to this group looking for information and support.
 
That said, ferrets don't live all that long compared to dogs or cats and
will develop "geriatric" illnesses often as early as 5 years old.  Many
ferrets don't live past 6 or 7 years of age.  And yes, treating the types
of cancer they are susceptable to can be expensive (but so would a Dog or
Cat with a similar disease).
 
Some people on here have so many Ferrets (like over 10 in their household)
it is inevitable that one of their babies is going to be requiring vet
treatment at any given time.  If you had this many cats or dogs odds are
you would be taking one of them to the vet for something as well.  From
what I can tell, those who have experienced ferret math seem to accept
this ongoing relationship with their vet as one of the facts of loving
fuzzies.
 
I hope this helps.
 
Lorraine
[Posted in FML issue 3723]