When is a Ferret Considered "Old"?

[littlewiseowl]

Would you say 5 years of age is considered a ripe old age for a ferret to pass on?

I have a friend who was convinced that it was just her ferret's time and I'm not really inclined to believe that...

[bluemoose]

I would say 5 is a senior but I think most ferrets have it in them to live past 5 baring any serious medical conditions.

Of course it does depend on how the ferret was cared for during those 5 years. If it was eating some terrible cat food it's whole life then 5 is decently old.

What did the ferret die from? Or is that unknown?

[Deleted]

I would consider 5 an older ferret. Not old enough to just pass from old age.

[littlewiseowl]

It's unknown and the ferret was eating 8-in-1 Ultra or Hagen's Living World Ferret Food.

She said he "slowed down and became skinny" in his last several months

[Deleted]

Was there fur loss?

[taratee]

i know heather has had fuzzies live like 11 years

[Deleted]

I dunno, Pixie is five and some change, and while you can def. tell she's an older gal, she's not geriatric ... kinda upper middle age, maybe I wouldn't necessarily agree with your friend about old age - instead it might have been a quieter disease that just didn't register with anyone.

[Sherry]

My oldest right now is likely around 7(her teeth are translucent about 2/3 of the way up), has adrenal, and is still going strong. She was just out playing for about an hour, non stop.
It really does depend on diet, enrichment, genetics, a whole lot of factors. But unless the ferret was raised under some bad conditions(food, little time out, etc), 5 is not old.

[Heather]

I consider 5 yrs to be prime age. Here's an easy equation. 1 yr=10 yrs for a ferret. I was told to look at it as each month that your fuzz lives is equal to about a year. It works about right, but it's easier to do the calcs as 1 yr = 10 yrs. At present, I've got a 10 yr old fuzz who's adrenal. Pooka is doing great as long as she gets her lupron. My youngest fuzzies are Boris and Natasha, Fun-Go and Yuri are about 3 or 4. Thor is 5. Lady B is 6. Captain Jack, Sprite and Odin are 7. Mad Max was about 10 or 11 when he passed on. Loki Bears was 9 or 10. I seem to have a hard time getting Marshals, especially the new ones to a good age Good diet helps but then look at Babushka...she was 11 when she passed on. She was a Marshals, and was fed absolute crap in a bag for most of her life. She ate raw for the last 18 months of her life.
ciao

[Deleted]

My vet told me 4 years old CAN be considered a senior ferret, but age alone doesn't determine if they are "old" or not. As others said, it depends on what they were being fed. Though if it was 8-in-1 Ultra, then I would expect it to live longer than 5. That's not better than raw but it's almost the closest best thing you can get for kibble fed ferrets.

I would say, from what I've read, it doesn't seem right that THAT 5 yr old ferret would pass on from age. It sounds like it could have had Adrenal, which is why someone asked about the fur loss. Then again, it could have had a tumor, or some other underlying disease.

A friend of mine had a ferret, Yogi (Bear), for about 7+ years on cheap kitten kibble! Needless to say, now that I think about it, I'm pretty amazed

Either way, DIP for your friends ferret.

[Sherry]

Actually- 8 in 1 ultra is a mid grade food that I'd stay away from, simply because of the fruit in it. Including raisin juice. Plus the garlic oil.

[goingpostal]

Did she take this ferret to the vet? Slowed down and got skinny could be a lot of issues, insulinoma, some form of cancer. I doubt that ferret died of "old age" at 5. I have lost several ferrets young, 4 and under, but with the exception of one who died in his sleep completely unexpectedly, the rest all had serious health issues. My current crew is all 4-5+, two are adrenal but none are slowing down really.

[littlewiseowl]

I think it's 8-in-1 Ultimate you're thinking about. Ultra is the downgraded version and it kinda sucks. lol

My old ferret years ago was fed horrible cat food (I didn't know any better at the time) and died at the age of 6-7... Now that I think back on it, the way he acted makes me suspect that he had Insulinoma. I just though he was old. ):

Also, these are Ultra's ingredients:
Ingredients
Chicken Meal, Ground Yellow Corn, Brewers Rice, Corn Gluten Meal, Animal Fat (Preserved with Vitamin E, Vitamin C and Citric Acid), Corn Oil, Dried Eggs, Cane Molasses, Beet Pulp, Natural Raisin Juice, Brewers Dried Yeast, Natural Flavors, Salt, Tauring, DL-Methionine, Choline Chloride, Vitamin A Acetate, D-Activated Animal Sterol (Source of Vitamin D3), Vitamin E Supplement, Niacin, Thiamine Mononitrate, Riboflavin, d-Calcium Pantothenate, Folic Acid, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Menadione Sodium...

Compared to Ultimate's ingredients:
Chicken, Chicken Meal, Ground Rice, Chicken Fat (preserved with Mixed Tocopherols, Ascorbic Acid, Vitamin E, Beta Carotene and Rosemary), Chicken Digest, Raisin Juice, Banana Puree, Fish Oil, Garlic Oil, Taurine, Dried Whole Egg, Dicalcium Phosphate, DL-Methionine, Potassium Chloride, Choline Chloride, Vitamin E Supplement, Zinc Oxide, Vitamin A Acetate, Dehydrated Lactobacillus Acidophilus, Fermentation Product, Cranberry Powder, Dehydrated Casei Fermantation Product, Copper Sulfate, Manganese...


Ultimate IS better but not by much.

Anyway, my "friend" snapped at me for providing her a link to a ferret food chart and nicely explaining that ferrets are already unhealthy due to overbreeding, etc and then I was called the "B" word and a "know-it-all".

I'd rather be a "know-it-all" pet owner then a stubborn, close-minded, ignorant one. She claims she can't afford better food but with her partying lifestyle, I know she could. I have little to no income and am a college student and I still feed my ferrets (and all animals) better than her's. Some people are just so freaking stubborn.

EDIT:
Goingpostal: Who knows if she did or not. Again, she stated she has little money so I sort of doubt it. She seemed sure that it was just "his time".

I thought it was my old ferret's "time" when he passed on but now that I remember his condition more, I know that he could have lived much longer if I knew about diet and insulinoma at the time.

[bluemoose]

Well she may be more upset about his death than she's letting on. Maybe she feels you're being insensitive to what's happened and that you're blaming her (not saying it isn't her fault but no one likes to feel responsible for the death of their pet).

Try waiting until some time has passed to approach her about the subject again. Maybe bring it up when/if she decides to get another ferret. Just try to keep it friendly and say something like, I have some ideas that could help your new ferret live longer, ect.

[littlewiseowl]

Her ferret died a long while back so I don't think that's her reason for snapping at me. She snapped at me long before the ferret passed away as well.

She just recently had posted a picture of all the pet food she just bought and noticed that she's feeding "Hagen" now. That's why I provided her with the chart. She's aware the food she feeds is bad but won't change it because she has no money.


After she called me a "B" and to "get off her back" (despite only bringing this up ONCE this year and once early 2010) I've decided I won't be talking to her any longer. Her hostile attitude towards me has caused me not to care what happens to her animals. I tried to educate her as nicely as I could. Even by posting Facebook status updates not even directed at her but to all my friends and family in general about proper ferret (and pet) nutrition.