I'm sorry about the length of this post, but I feel obligated to provide
this info as a service to potentially save the life of Matan's jill.
 
I have to beg to differ about the most recent post about a jill's life
not being in danger if she is not brought out of heat.  According to many
sources I have read, including books published by veterinarians, a jill
that remains in heat too long WILL be exposed to the certainty of dying
from aplastic anemia, i.e. bleeding to death.  Perhaps a vet here can
comment on this before this poor jill dies?  I am not an expert, but
everything I have read has told me that a jill WILL die if she is left
in heat too long without being successfully mated or spayed.
 
No, she does not have to be come pregnant to get out of heat, but she DOES
need to come out of heat b/c it WILL kill her.  Below is an excerpt from
Ferret Central's FAQ about spaying, with an important note about how one
should be prepared BEFORE breeding, which I think is the major problem in
this case:
 
"Spaying saves a female's life, since once she goes into heat she will need
to be bred or she will almost certainly die of anemia...A female can be
spayed even after she goes into heat, but if she's been in heat for a month
or more, your vet should do a blood test before the surgery.  Females can
be brought out of heat without becoming pregnant with a hormone injection
or by breeding with a vasectomized male, either of which will lead to a
false pregnancy which will last long enough to let her be spayed.  Neither
one is a good long-term solution, though.
 
***Breeding ferrets is difficult and time-consuming.  Before even thinking
about breeding, you should have owned ferrets for some years, be a member
of a ferret organization, and find out as much about it as you can.  The
actual mating is rather violent, and jills tend to have problems giving
birth, producing milk, and so forth.  If you're serious about breeding,
talk to someone who has first.  You'll need to have more than one whole
male available (in case your female goes into heat when your male isn't)
and more than one breeding female available (in case you need a foster mom
because your jill has milk problems) -- and be prepared to lose some or all
of the kits and perhaps the mom too.  Grim, but true.  To learn more about
breeding or where to find a good breeder, get a sample copy of the
Breeder's Digest by sending $2.75 to P.O. Box 2371, Leesburg, VA 22075"
 
Another source regarding a jill being in heat too long and the
life-threatening nature of this problem is, "Coping with Emergencies: When
to Call the Vet; Vaccination and Health Information" by Ann Davis of the
ACME Ferret Company and Jean Wardell, DVM (this source is listed on a site
with advice from none other than Dr. Bruce Williams):
 
"Female ferrets ('jills') must mate or die. If they are not taken out of
heat by a male ('hob') or spayed, they will eventually develop aplastic
anemia, which is fatal.
 
Females are susceptible to a life threatening condition where they are
unable to produce red blood cells subsequent to a prolonged estrus cycle of
greater than one month... If a female in heat is not mated or spayed and her
estrus cycle continues for more than 4 weeks she will develop the metabolic
condition previously described."
 
This is probably long enough for now, but anyone can research aplastic
anemia or spaying female ferrets and find out that she WILL DIE IF NOT
BROUGHT OUT OF HEAT somehow soon.  She WILL BLEED TO DEATH.  This is not
paranoia-it is a fact.
 
-April
[Posted in FML issue 3350]