From:
sukieferret
Date: 2002-02-03 19:42:00 UTC
Subject: Re: ferret food
> Also sorry does anyone know how long the longer ferret ever lived? > Thanks for all your help. Chrissy
Hi, Chrissy, I have been been following such reports for years. Almost all of them have NO proof and are questionable, but among those with vet records was one who was either 14 or 15. I forget which. That is oldest one I know of.
One interesting thing is that almost always the very long lived individuals are sporadic ones from a variety of breeders: large, medium, and small, private or farm.
I have heard of several reports of long-lived strains of ferrets. One turned out to be reputable but the person stopped breeding years ago. One turned out to be false report (and actually was a full scam, and, yes, we lost money). Currently there is a reputable private breeder who is on Ferret-Genetics who is quietly following several generations of her marked whites because she has seen a good number with longer than normal lives so she is doing the responsible thing and following them to know if this holds.
One thing the ferret world really needs is to have breeders and purchasers put health and longevity before appearance. The marked whites mentioned above may be unusually healthy, but appearance and health do not necessarily go together. In the dog, cat and horse worlds many, many health risks and factors which reduced longevity have been introduced to get a certain look, and that is not fair to animals. We should not repeat that hazardous confusion in the ferret world.
If you are checking out private breeders then insist on seeing extensive health and longevity records for the line. Private breeders have the best chance of producing lines that are unusually healthy and long-lived IF they place those factors FIRST. (Right now almost no one places them first.)
(Can you tell that breeding for looks rather than of health and longevity is one of my pet peeves?)