I'm in the U.K. and had two rescued ferrets which were imported from the
States by a man in the armed forces who couldn't face the thought of his
girls returning home in the cargo hold so left them behind when his tour
of duty here finished.  No visible tattoos or breeder marks (I checked
thoroughly when the tattoo thread was going on).  They had both enjoyed
good health up until about a year ago when one developed a heart murmur .
Sadly she went to the bridge two weeks ago after getting a bad cold, just
to much strain on the ticker I guess.  Her sister is still very much
active and will soon be celebrating her tenth birthday.  I guess just
like humans some ferrets are more prone to cancer and illness than
others.  Comparing European kept ferrets to US kept ferrets and where
the ferrets were bred would also be interesting.  As I've said my US
bred ferret feed on a mixture of kibble and fresh meat has done ok.
 
There have been a few cases of ADV in the UK and some ferret clubs do
offer testing for it.  As ADV was originally a mink disease which was
imported with fur farm stock (please correct me if I'm wrong) would
Nathania in France be better to ask a vet who specialised in agriculture
rather than pets.With the French history of fine clothing I would guess
there were a few fur farms somewhere in France for a possible
introduction.
 
Our vet said frontline was ok to use on ferrets but said to use the spray
not the capsule on and to follow the weight/spray guide carefully because
of the alcohol in it.  he did mention he had heard of rabbits becoming
ill and in one case dying due to the alcohol but nothing in ferrets.
[Posted in FML issue 3941]