Thanks to all who have posted aging ferret info, its at least reassuring
to hear what others have experienced.  As to Anais' blindness, the news
is that as far as I know (Colin??) she isn't running into things any
more than the usual ferret-frenzies.  She does, however seem to sniff
around more often than usual & stops more.  Colin also recently brought
his fingers right up to the eyeball with *NO* response.  Maybe she can
still see shapes...
 
On the rescued ferret & old & young ferret interactions, I have had two
experiences with introducing young and old ferrets.  Both were quite
successful & have resulted in life-long bonds between the two, but there
was quite a bit of harrassment that the older ferret had to suffer &
some pretty vicious battles (mostly harmless, but I've found bite marks
more than once).  In both cases the older ferrets were at an age that
they still had lots of spunk.  I would be hesitant to introduce a very
young ferret to a very old ferret.
 
In the case of the pair we have now, Bo has become a very **FIERCE**
defender of Anais (the older of the two).  He will attack other ferrets
& any other animal (including our 65 lb. dog) & we suspect this is in
protection of Anais.  We don't know if we will be able to ever get him
to accept any other ferret, even when Anais is gone.  He fortunately,
gets along fine with the dog, since the dog has some respect (& a little
fear) for the weasel & the dog doesn't suffer much damage from the
ferret, thus they end up accidentally playing!
 
More ruminations & remincicences from the remote & ferret-less ferret
parent, Cynthia.
 
[Posted in FML issue 0418]