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Post by miamiferret2 on Jan 9, 2013 21:53:27 GMT -5
I remember when the Marshall Farms pamphlets (the ones that they gave you when you purchased an MF ferret) used to read that their average lifespan was "8-12 years"!! [img src="http://i1105.photobucket.com/albums/h352/JW_2012/Emoticons/ i1105.photobucket.com/albums/h352/JW_2012/Emoticons/0_0.gif"].gif[/IMG] Notice they dont post THAT anywhere anymore!
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Post by Heather on Jan 9, 2013 21:57:30 GMT -5
I think the biggest concern is that we seem to see fewer ferrets making it to 7 - 8 years these days.
-jennifer
I'm inclined to agree with that statement. The diseases that we're seeing, are occuring much younger. I've one play group that falls very much into that catagory. Truthfully, they should just be falling into the illnesses that plague our guys....instead they're at the end of their lives. Boris is just coming up to 5 yrs, but he will be lucky to see 6. Fun-Go is almost 7 but has already been ill since 5. Minion came to me ill....he was a kit of 4 months. Atreyu will be lucky to make 6 yrs. Azrael has more problems too and he's only about 3. I could say that I've just had poor luck, and they are after all rescues but all the others were rescues and these previous rescues did make 7 and 8 and a few 9 and 10. I don't see our farm ferrets meeting that or even close any more. It's heart breaking. Will importing from stronger healthier lines help, I'm hoping so. If it doesn't then we're going to have to look at how we care for our ferrets a whole lot closer. If we import from healthy long lived lines and we're still getting low survivals ages then we're doing something wrong. ciao
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Post by Deleted on Jan 9, 2013 22:21:22 GMT -5
Speaking from a US-perspective only now..... The other thing that I think is VERY interesting is that MANY of the oldest ferrets I have heard of are the mill ferrets. I have two competing theories (really just speculative guesses) behind this.... 1. Many of the ferrets that live to be 8+ have been adopted from shelters Many have been treated like crap, and many appear to be according to the owners, who lied? ? Maybe not...maybe the owners are telling the truth and these ferrets really ARE the age the original owner reported - tough years. My Sabre ferret looked worse at 2 year than he did at 6 due to his illnesses. Anybody who saw Sabre at 2 would swear he was 5. He was REALLY only 2. 2. The other possibility for longevity in mill ferrets is that the genetics may actually be that the mills do not seek to develop the fine-tuned and very consistent "controlled results" because they do not care if animals lack the "pet temperate", they do not care about colors, patterns, etc. From what I've read, they do track lines to avoid excessive inbreeding. So, what am I saying? Since the results of the litters are "less predictable", it's more likely to produce kits that are "less consistent" in "gene content". You're more likely to get an "oddball" in a farm ferret that comes from a less-homogenous litter. The oddball, in some cases may actually be a ferret with a very strong constitution that live to a ripe old age. The bottom line on all this is that we should be loving our sweet babies instead of worrying about how long we may have them. QUALITY of life is MUCH MORE important than quantity. Whether or not they we have them for 6 moths or 6 years, we love them and strive to give them the best we can. -jennifer
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Post by Heather on Jan 9, 2013 22:25:34 GMT -5
So true It would be nice if they did live a bit longer ciao
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Post by katt on Jan 9, 2013 22:27:42 GMT -5
Hi I have too many to mention my average is around 10 my oldest was 15 but I have lost odd ones who came into my care as rescues ( via vets or dumped ) who only lived to be approx 6-8 not knowing there true ages or what they were fed on prior to coming to me or how they were housed I am a raw /whole prey feeder I think you need to take a lot of other issues into consideration too breeding , lighting conditions ,age when fixed age of parents /siblings when they passed ( if possible ) diet are they indoor out door ferrets there are so many things to look at take care bye for now Bev Very true. Unfortunately there are far too many variables to factor in to get an accurate idea, but it would still be interesting info.
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Post by katt on Jan 9, 2013 22:31:25 GMT -5
Just to add in to the young ages for getting diseases...while I have Thankfully not lost a baby yet, Koda was diagnosed adrenal at about 18 months of age. 1.5 years, that's all it took. Kenai so far seems to be in good health *knock on wood* but then he is a mitt, so I suspect he will have his own issues given time. He is only 2.
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Post by Heather on Jan 9, 2013 22:39:02 GMT -5
I think the thing that bothers me the most is the early onset adrenal. This was a disease that never showed it's ugly head until 4 or 5 in fact Loki Bears (before he came to live with me) was considered an anomaly by requiring adrenal surgery at the early age of 4. The thing that makes me wonder is did we not recognise it for what it was and that having a greater understanding of the disease meaning we're recognising it earlier ciao
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Post by miamiferret2 on Jan 10, 2013 8:08:26 GMT -5
I think adrenal has alot to do with it. they used to be adrenal by age five or six. and that is when the issues would start to creep up. They are so sensitive to stress (we all are). Stress makes us sick. It lowers your immune system and makes you susceptible to many illnesses and diseases. Adrenal ferrets are always in that "stressed" mode. if you have seen how a full blown adrenal ferret behaves, you will know exactly what i am talking about. I really do not think that those energy saver bulbs are good to use around ferrets. Turn the lights off when they are out playing. It is bad enough that they are kept under artificial lighting at the mills and neutered very very young. But on top of that, we keep them under artificial lighting. So now you have 3 things working against them : 1) MF genes, 2) early neutering and 3) artificial lighting after sundown. Recipe for disaster.
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Post by miamiferret2 on Jan 10, 2013 8:12:46 GMT -5
and Jennifer is right. Sometimes you get lucky. Sometimes you get an MF ferret that is virtually indestructable. Lol. well, not indestructible, but you know what i mean. Lives to an old age with no real health issues. I am increasingly hearing of many private breeder ferrets dying at less than 6 yrs old and mostly from lymphomas. So they are not so different. It is the luck of the draw. Love them while you have them. Be good to them.
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Cynde
Junior Member
Posts: 237
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Post by Cynde on Jan 10, 2013 9:23:04 GMT -5
Hercules is now almost 8. Bonnie was my oldest MF ferret at 7 1/2. However her brother went to the bridege at 18 months (cancer). I found that 4-5 years was about average for MF ferrets. Hercules is my first breeder ferret. Also back when I had my MF ferrets, there was not a lot of information. Most of us were under the impression that raisins were a treat, before we knew how dangerous they are. Ferrets were fed cat or dog food. My vet recomemded that I feed my ferrets Tender Vittles. All that grain, and food coloring. Really a lack of knowledge . That was in the 90's I had ferrets since 1985. There was not much out there information wise. It was not until around 2000 when the internet came to be and boards were developed that information became more obtainable.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 11, 2013 2:34:47 GMT -5
Thanks to everyone who answered, I definitely didn't expect to get so many results. Also I agree with hurricanekat that this definitely doesn't give a perfect mathmatical average. If anyone ever does a poll on this I would love to see the results!
But still, these answers gave me a good general idea on how long modern ferrets are living. I had no idea that ferrets 10-20 years ago used to live much longer and hopefully some GOOD research will be done on current ferret diseases and genetics to make this trend stop.
It seems from the answers that the average lifespan is around 6-7, but with ferrets starting to develop illnesses around 4-5. Also, mustelidmusk made a great point to worry about quality and not quantity of life. Honestly, since these 3 are my first fuzzies I have been worried lately on how much time I have with them- especially when I have been reading of so many awful losses on this forum. Luckily, my ferrets are around 3, 3, and 2 so I should have a good amount of time left with all of them. Thanks guys!
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Post by miamiferret2 on Jan 11, 2013 8:15:27 GMT -5
I just wonder if it has anything to do with the fact that, while they were also afflicted with adrenal disease and other illnesses 20 yrs ago, it did not seem to strike as early as it does now. adrenal did not occur until they were 5,6 yrs old back then. so around age 6-7 used to be when they began their slow decline . And now you see them go adrenal very young so it seems that everything just happens alot earlier than it used to. It really sucks.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 11, 2013 10:58:05 GMT -5
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Post by kpaz on Jan 11, 2013 13:19:48 GMT -5
So far I've had three ferrets.
Ellie died at 2yr. from what we think was a heart condition, it was very sudden. She was MF, I had her from a kit, fed Marshalls, then zupreem, then blue buffalo wilderness kitten, then raw.
Pippin died at 2 yr. He was adrenal and had a large mass between his liver and lymph nodes. He was an MF, but I adopted him when he was 5mo. old. He was fed Marshalls, then blue buffalo, then raw.
Goomba will be 3 years old this summer, he is MF. He is at a healthy weight and is active, but he has hypoparathyroidism that if left untreated leads to really bad seizures and dangerously low calcium levels. Hopefully he will be with us for a long time though.
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Post by crazylady on Jan 11, 2013 14:13:13 GMT -5
Hi thats an interesting read from bob church but what jumped out at me was the word kibble when I was younger no one fed kibbles it was not invented the closest a ferret got to grain was a slice of brown bread dipped in milk and egg as a treat but not as part of the daily diet take care bye for now Bev
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