Tim Fowler in the UK suggested in a previous post that the US ferret's
health problems may be diet related.  Although I'm sure there are some
cases that will be due to poor diet, I don't think that will explain all
the medical problems.  I'm a Swedish breeder, and here in Sweden we use the
same type of dry food as you do in the US (I feed my ferrets IAMS Kitten
and whole, dead mice which I raise myself).  In fact, most ferret owners
in Europe, with the exception of the UK, feed their animals dry food.  But
despite that, there's no doubt European ferrets are A LOT healthier than
the American ones.
 
We do have some of the typical ferret diseases, such as insulinoma,
cardiomyopathy, lymphosarcoma etc, but it's not nearly as common as in
the US.  I have also noticed that ferrets here in Sweden which are bred
from imported American ferrets show a higher disease rate.  My theory is
that the US ferret's health problems is largely due to a long history of
poor breeding and maybe the fact that most ferrets are being
spayed/neutered/descented at a VERY early age.  (We normally don't descent
our ferrets at all in Sweden.)
 
I don't mean to offend anyone, I know there are many excellent and very
responsible breeders in the US, and many US ferrets live long and healthy
lives.  And I know from this mailing list all the love and care you provide
for your ferrets.
 
But still, at least in my experience, there is a noticeable difference in
health between European and American ferrets.
 
Marie
[Posted in FML issue 3317]