JL: fortunately, it is rare. In 20 years we have had one ferret with it.
We did have a lymphoma clump follow her, but those were older individuals
and they had standard lympho. I still think that JL is the greatest
heart-breaker.
>They have deep dark hidey holes that I respect.
Yep. Same here. Besides, it may be good for their health by giving them
more chance to produce natural melatonin, and burrows are natural for
them.
It's not that some folks aren't fair, of course, just that some have
had longer time to observe ferrets, or have read more, or simply have
backgrounds or personal natures that lend themselves to more productive
observation. So, when others mentioned that providing activities, dark
places, etc. are all important due to their behavior and personalities as
has happened over the last few days that wasn't them offering a criticism
of those who have not yet done so; it has been just making useful
information available. Providing darkness is nothing new; there is at
least one British ferret person here who was told by old timers when he
began having ferrets 3 or 4 decades ago that ferrets stay healthier and
happier if they have dark places, so it's an observation that dates back
a long way. We found it by trial and error maybe 17 or 18 years ago, but
folks don't need to learn it the hard way anymore, since resources are
available now. It was always pretty well obvious that they needed as lot
of mental stimulation and plenty of exercise -- those are things needed
across the board in animals of any type (including ferrets and humans).
Now, their preferred activities are not always going to mesh with our
preferences, and some will stop couch/carpet/bed digging if they have
other things to do, but if that's a favorite game for an individual it
will continue so the techniques discussed here and those in the archives
(See header for how to access the FML archives.) will help.
>As the years passed, our house has gone from decorating for humans to
>accommodating the little furry bodies running around here.
Oh, yes!
Our alpha loves to roll in some herbs and eat them now and then. The
others know those planters are HER"S and will usually not dig them
because they get into too much trouble with her.
>I'm sending this note to clarify a perceived misunderstanding in my
>statement to promise myself to never purchase another ferret from a pet
>store. One word. Shelters.
Two good things about shelters are that they usually get vaccinations up
to date and provide some training for people. This year so far I have
been contacted by about 5 or 6 people (another one this week) who didn't
understand about the vaccinations and had not had the pet stores even tell
them about GOOD ferret books like _Ferrets for Dummies_. "So what?", you
say? Well, those folks got in touch because of canine distemper in their
four-footed families! We often hear about ECE or coccidea coming in this
way, sometimes about ADV doing so. This year was a warm one in many areas
and in warm years there is longer survival and more transmission by vector
species of both rabies and canine distemper. This is a year in which
some areas are expected to see much more of this, and the resulting canine
distemper problem already begun. It's an easily transmitted disease
(unlike rabies) and people MUST be careful about getting the full vaccine
series for kits! There are three possible alternative CD vaccines your
vets can order: Merial Purevax, Fervac D, or Galaxy D.
>Though there are special cases, pet stores don't generally cause
>shortened life spans.
True. Neither do most breeders (with the exception being "backyard
breeders", the category which echoes puppy mills). We have and have had
for two decades ones from private breeders (good) and farms (reasonably
fair to good though they all need improvements) and there have not been
health or longevity differences among the private breeder and farm ones.
(That includes the breeder most often used as a scapegoat.) Most here
still pass away in the late 7th to middle 8th years (some older and some
younger) no matter who the breeder or source is (except for the "backyard
breeder" ones). What we have seen here have been health differences with
some "fancies", with some of those being worse (and have heard of one line
of fancies that is being followed by it's private breeder for a few more
generations because it MIGHT have longer than normal lifespans). We find
that avoiding fancies has typically given us a healthier crew, even though
most of our's are adopted in kithood due to health, abuse, or deformity
issues (with deformities being the roughest one). Lifespans, of course,
can be reduced by family or vets who don't know about or don't provide
sufficient care or appropriate lifestyles, or enough activity. In humans
study after study has shown that exercise -- both mental and physical --
may be the single best thing for have a long life with real quality time.
Certainly, appropriate medical care can easily give a ferret years that
would be otherwise lost.
Remember that the sampling flaws of an internet survey will make it
questionable. You best bet for accuracy is to work from vet records.
See the archives for many such surveys, and see the on-going one at
http://www.miamiferret.org plus notes of what things have caused
problems (like misunderstanding of the term "natural lighting".
[Posted in FML issue 3765]
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