Hi,
 
I'm sorry to see another Marshall Farms bashing on the FML.  WHen it comes
to personal experiences, let me put it this way:
 
-Pertwee: adrenal disease by age 1.  Bilateral by age 1.5.  Nephrectomy to
 remove diseased kidney by age 2.  Assorted gastrointestinal problems.
 Total medical bills exceeded $6,000 by age 3.  He's from Triple F Farms.
 
-Romana: bilateral adrenal disease and possibly now insulinoma by age 3.
 She's from Triple F Farms.
 
Tell me, should I bash Triple F?  I mean, after all, the two ferrets who
were bred there have had more problems than any of our Marshall Farms
ferrets.  Do you see what I mean by anecdotal evidence?
 
By comparison, the Marshall Farms babies:
 
Tenchi:  no illnesses, age 4.
 
Adric: possible adrenal, but the symptoms disappeared so maybe not: age
3.5.
 
Kerr Avon: left adrenal tumor removed at age 1.5.  No problems since.  Age
3.5.
 
Ryo-Ohki: abcessed anal gland at age 10 mos.  Left adrenal tumor removed
at age 3.  Right adrenal tumor removed at age 3.5.
 
Lady Ayeka: mast cell tumor (benign) removed at age 3.
 
My Nyssa also had a left adrenal tumor removed before her third birthday.
She was bred by Animals Exotique back when they were still breeding and
not just distributing MF and/or Triple F babies.
 
Adrenal disease is clearly a major problem.  I don't think we can tie it
to MF or Triple F or anyone else.  I sure wish I knew the cause.  I
imagine if we did the major breeders would make adjustments to eliminate
the problem as best they could.  After all, they want us to have positive
experiences with our ferrets so that we buy from them again.  Personally,
I'd only adopt now, but that has nothing to do with one breeder or
another.
 
Just my opinion, which is worth exactly what you paid for it.
 
All the best,
Caity and the terrific 10
Tenchi, Adric, Kerr Avon, Ryo-Ohki, Nyssa, Lady Ayeka, Pertwee, Romana,
Podo, and Kodo.
[Posted in FML issue 3620]