Carol wrote about two 9 year old ferrets:
>She was feeding them Dad's cat food.  And they are Marshall's ferrets.
>Amazing, isn't it?
 
I can recall some older ferrets from earlier decades (including some 14
year olds) who were early neuter and were on cheap cat foods (I don't
know anything about the food you mention.).  I also know of farm ferrets
as well as non-farm origin ones who have reached old age.  Very old age
is a tricky thing.  First off a person has to make sure the claim is
real.  Some are estimates, some are confusion between two ferrets, some
are just over-estimations of how long the ferret has been around.  Large
amounts of exercise and a decent bit of space in which to get it seems to
crop up as a characteristic of homes with ferrets who often definitely
reach a good old age.  Careful vet care is also important.  Of course,
as someone whose family has included those with very hard years before
and those with a lot of deformities, there is a lot more to health and
longevity.  For some ferrets who have too much going against them 6
years can be getting them more time than anyone thought they would have.
Still, I can't say that I was surprised by the origin or the food because
I've run into that sort of thing too many times before as categories
which can't be excluded for the ferrets who get very old.  Sometimes,
I think, the standard voiced opinions about some things get rather
exaggerated, making normal presentations (like having these ferrets among
the 9+ year ones) seem more unusual to list readers than they actually
are.  (Ditto for the short lived ones whose medical conditions are often
discussed but the impacts of other factors may not be.  BTW, for part of
that check into the past posts in Ferret-Genetics in Yahoogroups.
 
Susan's offer to become a Lazy Susan ride for ferrets:
LOL!  But can we put you on a table or a linoleum floor and have the
ferrets spin you?
[Posted in FML issue 4860]