Heather wrote
>on this list all I hear about is their ferrets with diseases and how many
>have died and how they have to have surgery.  Is that just how the list is
>coming across or do ferrets really get ill like that all of the time and
>you have to take them to the vet for 300-1000 dollars???  I really really
>do want one, but if they get sick all the time as it seems with tumors and
>green slime then I don't think I will be able to afford the surgery bills.
 
Hi, Heather,
 
Of course on a list like this you will hear about the sick ones, not the
well ones who play and frolic and are just fine.  That is the nature of
the list.  Do ferrets get ill all the time?  No, mostly they are healthy
and happy all the time.  Will you have to spend $300-$1,000 per ferret
on some big illness?  Over the course of a ferret's life (typically 7-9
years, sometimes a little longer) the answer is *YES*.  Ferrets are like
people.  As we get old we are prone to more illnesses and problems.  We
don't kill our family and friends who get cancer or some other major
illness, and for most of us our ferrets are part of the family, so we pay
the price.
 
We have 10 ferrets between three and seven years old.  Six of the 10 have
had adrenal disease.  Two have had it twice.  In the last four years we
have had (or are about to have) a total of 11 surgeries.  Three of the 10,
though, haven't been sick at all and never have had any of these expenses.
 
I think what you can count on is that if you take in two ferrets, at least
one of them will have a major expense sometime in their life, and maybe
both will.  That doesn't mean "sick all the time".  That does mean having
a couple of thousand dollars ready for when it does happen.  It may not
happen for a few years, and it may not happen at all if you and your
ferrets are lucky, but you have to be prepared for when it does.
 
Can you afford this?  I don't know, but if you can't, I think waiting to
get ferrets until you can is a very responsible and intelligent decision.
Chances are, sooner or later, you will be able to afford them if that is
important to you.  It just may not be now.  It sounds like that when you
decide you are ready to have ferrets you will probably make a great ferret
mom.
 
All the best,
Caity
[Posted in FML issue 3599]