Ferrets?

[satomi325]

I must be lucky. I haven't had any problems with my personal ferrets yet other than my first ferret and a foster ferret, which was a rescue. And ferrets can definitely live several years with Insulinoma and Adrenal. And both are more common than Lymphoma.

I honestly don't worry as much about Adrenal any more. They do have 'treatments' for them now. You can get your ferrets implanted with Deslorelin(Suprelorin) Implants. Depending where you are they run about $120-200. And you have to implant your ferret yearly after confirmed diagnosis of Adrenal.
The implants look like pet ID microchips and are administered to your ferret in the same way. They are devices that suppresses the endocrine system. It prevents the production of hormones. It's basically a chemical castration. It is typically used to cancel clinical symptoms of Adrenal like hair loss, lethargy, etc. But in recent years, its been seen to actually halt and/or reduce adrenal tumor growth if Adrenal is caught early and not in advanced stages. It hasn't been proven yet, but people and some vets have been using them as preventatives and start implanting their sterilized mill ferrets annually at age 1.


My first ferret was a 3 year old male who was picked up off the street by animal control. He was surrendered to the Ferret Shelter I foster for. He got Adrenal at 5 years old. But we got him the Deslorelin implanted immediately. His hair loss and lethargy disappeared. He had more energy and acted like his old self again.
We implanted him yearly.

He got Insulinoma at 7 years old. I was expecting him to get it. I'm guessing he was fed junky foods in his original home because he was a fiend for trying to steal junk food like chips, bread, candy, etc. I never let him eat them, but he was constantly trying to steal and eat them. And since ferrets imprint on food, its a pretty good indicator that he was fed these foods. None of my other ferrets have ever done this. But anyway, he got Insulinoma.

It's the combination of Insulinoma and Adrenal that is pretty bad because the Implant does naturally mess with the blood glucose levels, which Insulinoma already does.

I worry more about Insulinoma than anything. A ferret's quality of life can be improved with the implant. But you have to give Prednisone to Insulinomic ferrets. And you have to monitor their blood sugar levels very carefully. If they drop too low, the ferrets will go into seizures.

I had a foster ferret. She was supposedly 7 years old. Her owner's house caught on fire and needed someone to watch her while he got back on his feet.
She was by far the worst case of Insulinoma I have ever seen. Her owner said she hasn't been eating in a few days and he had no idea she had Insulinoma. Kibble eaters need to eat constantly to keep their blood sugar up or they might have a sugar crash. It's because the kibble does elevate their sugar levels to an abnormal level constantly and does make ferrets hypoglycemic. But anyway, this ferret was emaciated and elderly. She eventually started having seizures at my house. By far the worst, I've seen. Before I could reach her, she was thrashing around her cage, slamming herself from one wall to the other. She was screaming throughout the entire episodes. We started her immediately on Prednisone to stabilize her. She started eating baby food from a syringe and was showing improvement. We had a vet appointment scheduled later in the day. But before the appointment she had another crash and had another seizure fit and passed immediately after it.

She was the worst we've experienced
.
My boyfriend had a female that also had insulinoma at around age 5-6. She was given Prednisone twice a day. But about a year later, he decided to put her down because she had no quality of life and the Pred wasn't doing anything to prevent her seizures any more.

But other than that, our current ferrets(ages 4-6) are doing well. They're all on a raw diet except for the one kibble eating male, who is probably going to get Insulinoma. He is no where as fit as the others, who are still going really strong.

I am expecting adrenal to pop up among my crew since they are Marshalls and in my experience, the majority of Marshalls ferrets will get adrenal.
However, we keep them on a natural light cycle, so hopefully that helps.



Ferrets are worth it, in my opinion. They are very fun, loving, and rewarding pets. My males are cuddlers and all my ferrets will give me kisses and want to play with me. If you're sad, their quirky antics will make you laugh, no matter what they are doing!

-Reduce chances of Adrenal by going to a private breeder who sterilizes their animals at a later age. Ask them about the health history of their breeding lines and look to see if any have ever had adrenal.
- Reduce chances of Insulinoma by feeding a raw diet from the get go.

Like I mentioned before, privately bred raw fed ferrets can live 10-15 years with no issues.




Wow Postal! Adrenal by age 1 and Insulinoma by 4?! Shocking. That is probably the youngest I've ever heard of an Adrenal case.

Satomi - what do you think about a ferret kibble called EVO... that's what we feed as a vet recommendation but may switch to one of the brands you listed if we can get the little buggers to try something new.

EVO was known as a top kibble equivalent to Orijen, after Wysong.
But most people have stopped using it because they constantly have recalls. And they have been bought out by Proctor & Gamble, which are the producers of Iams and Eukanuba. (<-- probably the reason of all the recalls)

[satomi325]

I forgot to talk about tumor removal, surgeries, and other stuff I forgot to mention.

Adrenal disease surgery is not worth doing. Don't pay $1200+ for an adrenal surgery because the tumors will always come back. And the surgery is hard on the ferrets. The better option is to get the Implants.

Some vets will want you to do annual blood panels(~$200). But it's not required.

And depending on your vet, they may want to do an ultrasound to diagnose Adrenal. But its usually not necessary if the clinical signs are already there: hair loss, females with enlarged vulvas, males suddenly aggressive, etc etc.

My first ferret cost me $1000+ in vet bills. He had adrenal and later insulinoma, but he was also generally a sickly ferret who needed vet treatment constantly. He also got a chordoma growth the size of a marble on his tail that needed to be removed. And that procedure was only $70.

The ferrets I raised from a younger age(currently 4-6) have never had any health issues yet. No ER vet. Just basic vet for vaccines and annual check ups. I do expect some to get adrenal in their elderly years since they are all Marshall Mill ferrets. So there would be the cost of those implants. But I don't think it is totally unreasonable cost wise. Ferrets are expensive pets. But not more than a dog or cat, in my opinion.

Do research. Know the signs of health issues.
Read a lot of ferret forum or facebook page posts. You can learn a lot from more experienced people that are usually more helpful than some vets since finding a ferret knowledgable vet can be difficult.

My first ferret vet was an amazingly knowledable lady. She unfortunately moved. I tried out a new vet and she wasn't good at all and I don't agree with some of her decisions.
I suspected one of my older rescues had stomach ulcers, and she wouldn't prescribe me meds until she confirmed ulcers 100% through surgery. I thought that was unbelievable. I am no way going to put an elderly ferret through such an invasive surgery like that because stomach ulcers isn't a huge deal. Some liquid meds and antibiotics on a 2 week trial would have told me whether or not it was effective or not. And my older vet and several other experienced ferret people agreed with me when I talked to them. Surgery option was totally unnecessary and I was able to get meds from a different vet and guess what? The ferret got 100% better.

My point is find a knowledgable ferret vet. Research about all the health issues so you can make educated decisions whether or not a treatment is necessary. Get second, third, fourth opinions.

[GoingPostal]

Wow Postal! Adrenal by age 1 and Insulinoma by 4?! Shocking. That is probably the youngest I've ever heard of an Adrenal case.

Yeah it was odd, she started getting more aggressive and her coat got coarse and sparser, since she was so young we ran a Tenn Panel and did surgery on her. When she got ill at 4 she was already in advanced insulinoma and had a big tumor from the lymphoma in her belly. She made it a month on high doses of pred. Being our first she got all the crappy treats and food before we knew better. And most of mine came to me older, with previous cruddy care so that hasn't helped issues. I really can't understand getting a pet and not being willing to treat their issues, as covered the common ones except for lymphoma are manageable for years and if under control aren't causing any pain. Now my last male has popped up with a small mct, just another thing to keep an eye on.

[angllady2]

I have been blessed to own one ferret. He was a mill ferret, of course. I adopted him after he was returned to the pet store because he was born deaf, which is a common problem in mill ferrets of certain colors.

He remains one of the best pets I've ever had. He adapted quickly and easily to my household of cats, and firmly believed he was a cat. He had none of the destructive and dangerous habits most do. His big thing was hiding stuff. We did our best to ferret proof things, which really wasn't hard since we already cat proofed. We fed him kibble of course, although I also made and fed him treats based on recipes in the Ferrets for Dummies book, which he loved on occasion.

We were very fortunate in that he didn't get Insulinoma that I knew of. He did get one of those tumors on his tail, which was easy and inexpensive to remove. Since I do not know for sure how old he was when I got him, I go by the time I had him, and I had him about 6 years. Not really old I grant you, but for a mill ferret I consider it pretty good. When he became sluggish and unresponsive to his daily routine, we took him to the vet and he was diagnosed with something whose name I cannot remember. Since the sickness was fast moving and already far advanced in a short time, we made the decision to put him to sleep.

I still miss him.

Gale