Oh, gosh, YES, there have been ferrets lost to heartworms, too many of
them since the infections can be prevented. In fact, a family member of
mine who did not understand how animals get heartworm lost an adopted
ferret to them.

Here is a good write-up on them:

http://www.miamiferret.org/fhc/heartworm.htm

Also see resources like:

BEGIN QUOTED ABSTRACTS

J Small Anim Pract. 2000 Apr;41(4):172-4.
Echocardiographic diagnosis of dirofilariasis in a ferret.

Sasai H, Kato K, Sasaki T, Koyama S, Kotani T, Fukata T.
Kitasuma Veterinary Hospital, Hyogo, Japan.

Heartworm disease is described in a 14-month-old neutered female ferret
(Mustela putorius furo) which had a three-week history of sneezing,
anorexia and dyspnoea. Echocardiography revealed the presence of
heartworms as hyperechoic densities within the right atrial and
ventricular cavities. At necropsy, four Dirofilaria immitis parasites
(three females, one male) were found in the right heart, the cranial
vena cava and the caudal vena cava. Histopathological findings were
similar to those reported in canine heartworm disease. Echocardiography
may be a useful method of diagnosis of heartworm disease in the ferret.
PMID: 10812548 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

Res Vet Sci. 1982 Nov;33(3):386-7.
Efficacy of ivermectin against third-stage Dirofilaria immitis larvae
in ferrets and dogs.

Blair LS, Williams E, Ewanciw DV.
Ivermectin prevented maturation of Dirofilaria immitis when given per
os to ferrets at a dosage of 0 X 1 mg ivermectin per kg bodyweight
two days after inoculation with third stage heartworm larvae. Similar
results were found in dogs treated one day after infection at a dosage
of 0 X 05 mg ivermectin per kg. No heartworm were found in the hearts
and lungs of five treated dogs compared to an average of 11 worms per
dog in five control animals.
PMID: 6897584 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

END QUOTED ABSTRACTS

and there are more.

---

Don't assume that because the treatments affect the nervous system of
the parasites killed that they have any affect on the nervous systems
of the ferrets. Years ago there was an incorrect assertion that
Frontline did this. It turned out that the people were looking at
Australian studies that the treatment does not work for a specific
species of tick which has a BITE THAT AFFECTS NERVES. In fact, it has
the common name of Paralysis Tick. The people read a little bit and
missed that the neural damage was from the tick bites themselves.
Then they assumed the Frontline did it. As folks here in the U.S. who
have been through Lyme Disease and some other nasties we have some
interesting parasite borne diseases, here, too (including heartworms
carried by mosquitos).

Highly recommended read:

http://ferrethealth.org/archive/SG7520

by Dr. Jerry Murray, DVM including this portion and a later section
on the special vulnerabilities of rabbits:
>I will try to clear up some of the confusion about Frontline, ear
>mites, and rabbits.

>Frontline when applied to the skin (or inside the ear) is not absorbed
>into the bloodstream, and it does not cross the blood/brain barrier
>in ferrets. Thus it does not cause any problem with the ferret's GABA
>receptors, because it stays on the oil layer on the skin (or ears).
>Only rarely does Frontline cause any skin irritation on dogs or cats,
>and I have not seen this problem in ferrets. There was a study with
>Frontline for ferrets (Lewington, J: Frontline for ferret fleas.
>University Sydney Postgraduate Foundation, Veterinary Science Control
>Therapy Series 189:856, 1996). Both safe and effective.
---

An excellent flea write up by Julie Fossa:

http://ferrethealth.org/archive/SG17935

---

Yes, there are also home remedies, some of which work and some which
don't, and some which even carry their own risk possibilities. So like
anything else, learn both the upsides and downsides because everything
has them.

Sukie (not a vet)

Recommended ferret health links:
http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/ferrethealth/
http://ferrethealth.org/archive/
http://www.afip.org/ferrets/index.html
http://www.miamiferret.org/fhc/
http://www.ferretcongress.org/
http://www.trifl.org/index.shtml
http://homepage.mac.com/sukie/sukiesferretlinks.html

[Posted in FML 5667]