Oh, gosh, Joy, that is so sad!  Your experience is about the opposite of
our's; we've had ferrets for about 19 years and so far have not lost even
one during or after surgery.  I guess the first op any of our's had would
have been about 17,perhaps even 18 years ago, though not many surgeries
were done then and ferret just died of most things.
 
Is your vet well used to ferrets?  What anesthesia is used?  Isoflorene is
the safest one.  Is the ferret kept warm enough during and after surgery?
Have you tried the post-surgical care tips that can be found in the FML
archives?
 
Last year the single best ferret surgeon we've ever known, Hanan Caine
moved to NYC to be with his new wife while she finished her residency;
they will be moving to somewhere in the Berkshires this June.  Whoever gets
him as a vet will be fortunate.  We've had our current ferret vets (added
to the same practise, Basking Ridge Animal Hospital in Basking Ridge, NJ)
perform at least five surgeries so far and all went well.  One or two more
will be coming up in the next few months.
[Posted in FML issue 3422]