I'd like to put in my bid for Oldest Ferret to Have Surgery. About five years ago, Poppy the ferret, at age 11, had a heart rate of about 50 beats per minute. To make a long story short, we ran a bunch of tests and found that she was pretty healthy otherwise; she'd just pass out when she tried to do anything more than lounge around. We put a pacemaker in Poppy and she lived another two years. Not only was she the oldest ferret I have done surgery on, she was the first (as far as I know) to receive a pacemaker. She had a happy, bouncy two years and died suddenly one day with no previous symptoms. I was not able to perform a necropsy. I have fond memories of Poppy, whose worst problem after surgery was learning to do the Weasel War Dance carrying an unfamiliar four-ounce weight (the pacemaker battery) on her left side. It took her about a week to be able to do it without losing her balance and tumbling sideways. Debbie Kemmerer DVM [Posted in FML issue 2872]