Aplastic anaemia.
 
>I never used to mate my jill in the early 70s but she used to come into
>season late and drop out early anyway.  Some ferret experts (vets) recon
>only 50% of jills have problems with it anyway.  I shortened my jills
>seasons by over a month by turning the shed round to face west and the
>only light they see is natural.  I lost my old jill at just over 13 and
>a half and I only have youngsters now." (A UK working ferret owner)
 
My ferrets quarters faced west at the moment, but in the past they faced
east.
 
>You may have a line which is just genetically less likely to do it.
>About half do it from prolonged heat in the U.S. if whole and unbred,
>or not provided with a vasectomied hob, or not given hormonal shots.
>
>There are past discussions on other approaches used in various countries,
>too, including some traditional ones in." (A US ferret owner)
 
Why don't you ask these questions on the FML board, it would make for a
better discussion, instead of me having to cut, copy and paste them.
 
Take a look at the following.
http://fhl.sonic-weasel.org/browse.php?msg=SG3097
 
When I first started with my present line of ferrets in the early 70's I
kept jills only and I didnt have my own hob or the use of any hob whole
or otherwise and the vets in the UK knew very little about taking ferrets
of season with a hormone injection or using a vasectomised hob.
 
It was only after finding a vet who was interested in the mustalid family
around middle of the 70's that things like using a vasectomised hob or
hormone injections started to appear.
 
One of my hobs was the first to be done by my then vet as a trial to see
how long he would remain fertile.  This vet ended up going to Australia
to practice.
 
My jill and those of other people would come into season and go out again
twice a year with out any problems from aplastic anaemia, yet to hear
from some of the people in the UK today, if you don't have your jill
ferret done she will die for sure.
 
It just goes to show how little is still known about the ferret by some
people who like to think they are experts on the subject.
 
http://www.webspawner.com/users/ferretwelfare/index.html
http://www.smartgroups.com/groups/house-ferrets
http://www.geocities.com/houseferrets13uk/index.html
http://groups.msn.com/UKHouseFerretsSmallPetsAssociation
http://www.headway.org.uk/
[Posted in FML issue 4267]