In 16+ years I have read of a 14 years old (Did not verify.) with an owner
who had it since kithood and claimed to have checked back RECORDS to be
sure.  Have read of fewer than a handful of other individuals who were
claimed to be 14 (and one claimed to be 15) but, if memory serves, those
people didn't claim to have records though some said they'd had the animal
since kithood.  Most ferrets reaching older than 10 about which I have read
have had estimated ages and were adopted as adults so the ages might not
be all that reliable, though I certainly have read of or known ones with
established ages in that bracket, too.  A very reliable ferret vet I've
known through the FML for years had a 10 year old M.F.  but the sources
vary widely of the ones people have told me about -- looks random.  After
all these years of checking I have NOT found ANY current breeders ANYWHERE
who can prove that they actually have a line of ferrets which regularly has
longer-than-normal lived ones.  One person made the claim but backed down
when asked any types of even just the easiest of proofs.  No one else even
made the claim.  It may be that someone out there does have a
longer-than-normal-lifespan line, but after years of asking NO ONE ANYWHERE
has told me of ANY such extant line.  We figure that late in the 6th year
to early in the 8th year seems to be the norm, with most of the RANDOM
individuals who live longer being older 8 to 10, and then an exceedingly
few getting above that.  So, from just viewing and NOT studying this is
what seems to be the case: it can happen, just as some humans make it to
115, but as with those humans, the very advanced ages appear to be very
rare.
 
Anyone out there have anything new to add to this?  Steve and I remain
hopeful since we'd love to encourage breeding for longer, healthier lives
if that becomes an option, and would love ferrets from any such lines as
neutered pets.  (We do not breed ourselves, just ask a lot of questions,
often.)
 
We have found pretty well the same lifespan and life quality range for
ferrets from all the sources we've tried (possibly except one long-lived
retired breeder); that includes MF.  With Steve being exceedingly allergic
to whole male musk and the dangers for whole females left too long we have
only had one late neuter as a pet through to the end (a female who was the
retired breeder).  Friends who run shelters tell me that they see fewer
adrenal tumors in those which are neutered late, and extremely few in those
which are whole.  They also tell me they haven't seen adrenal growths in
those individuals until they reach 5 years or old.  Now, so far, that is
the SAME age bracket in which we have seen them here at home -- in our
early neuters.  Note, that they did NOT tell me that they were seeing
longer LIVES, simply that one common problem was seen less often from their
accounting, but HARD NUMBERS ARE STILL LACKING so this is not established
or verified.  (Adrenal growths are a confusing puzzle which seems to have
many parts -- with early neutering POSSIBLY increasing the risk IF other
factors might also be present, i.e. NOT a simple problem -- and no one has
been able to figure out what they are or how any factors might interact.
Perhaps there isn't enough true darkness for some, perhaps some haven't
received vaccinations (One shelter keeper noticed ones which hadn't been
vaccinated having higher rates of adrenal disease.), perhaps they did not
get the right food, perhaps they lacked enough exercise, perhaps they were
exposed to some virus that contributes, perhaps, perhaps, perhaps... Still,
the typical ages for here seem to stay in the same range.  Have certainly
heard of homes where the common range (in ferrets from multiple sources in
some of the situations) is shorter (as opposed to just some individuals
having problems early) but have no idea why that's so.  There have OFTEN
been attempts to put something together to see if even a hint of direction
can be found, but often people don't respond, or many don't answer enough
of the questions, or the puzzle is just plain too complex, or some
combination, So, in answer to your MF question: some folks have said that
they see these more often or earlier in MFs but our experience and that of
some others doesn't bear it out, so the picture is too way complex to
assume that MF origin is a contributing factor to increased disease rates
or to earlier deaths.
[Posted in FML issue 2773]