Jill Died Last Night

[HuntandFish 31]

I awoke around 2 to a ferret screeching last night and feared the worst an open run and a dog that had sinned, It turned out neither was the case my Jill missy a 2 year old that I bred and have bred from my own stock for three generations was having a seizure she was screeching and jumping all over her run she seemed to have lost her sight and was in distrees she later slipped into a coma and died. I have been keeping ferrets for about 13 year and have been failry lucky wih health problems unitl recent years. I carried out some recent research and found the likely cause is insulinnoma i had list missy father tiny and her mother fudge to what i believed was hind leg paralysis but i now wonder was it insulinoma, the research suggests it is caused by poor diet on dried ferret food which i thought was good stuff I have had two failry light seasons and not stored much meat for the freezer so had been buintg dried food, I think this will be a turning pint for me and time to get the remaining hob sheldon back on a natural diet of rabbit and fresh meat and carcasses full time. Has anyone else experienced this. Oh and I have had ferrets at vets before but they generally know less than I do or have never seen a ferret I live in northern Ireland . The research seems to be led by pet owners in USA and Australia, My ferrets are kept for hunting rabbits.

 

http://www.2ndchance.info/insulinoma.htm

 

That missy on the left and sheldon on the right the last ferret in my yard.

[Outlaw Pete 2,224]

I have been keeping ferrets for about 13 year and have been failry lucky with health problems unitil recent years.

 

I carried out some recent research and found the likely cause is insulinnoma .....

 

The research suggests it is caused by poor diet on dried ferret food which i thought was good stuff .....

 

I think this will be a turning point for me and time to get the remaining hob sheldon back on a natural diet of rabbit and fresh meat and carcasses full time .....

 

The research seems to be led by pet owners in USA and Australia, My ferrets are kept for hunting rabbits.

 

My sympathy, mate. I tried, for a couple of f**king decades, to alert others to this shit.

 

But, no. The septic inspired. Middle aged. Middle classed ..... Here I just close my eyes. And try to blot it all out .....

 

Anyway; This is their pyrrhic f**king victory.

[norseman 424]

sorry about the outcome huntandfish

 

:hmm:im interested in what you've said about dry feed, as mine are fed on dry all summer. your right about the vets here too, most never seen a ferret but will happily operate on one

[Furittus 35]

Sorry to hear about missy, I lost a cracker this year myself, .

[The one 8,463]

Bad news that mate , the guy i bought all his locators and collars from had the same a couple of rubbish season and was buying the cheapest asda or tesco pet so called pet meat sausages to feed his dog and ferrets and wiped them out from 12 to 2 , If i run out of rabbits during the summer i feed mine on chicken carcasses and pigeons

[rabbit demon 302]

Sorry to hear about your wee Jill, Did notice after I ran out of rabbits one of my hobs went very thin when eating just dry food, had to put him on wild mice, birds, chicken carcass and the odd sardine to get him back to himself.

[Guest vin]

I lost my Vasectomised Hob a while back from insulinnoma . . . But He had never eaten Dry food of any type..He would not touch anything that resembled biscuits of any kind and would only eat flesh. . . I had him on a good and varied diet but he still lost the battle. . he was'nt young though so he had a very good life .. in fact he had a great life the lucky bugger.

[northern lad 2,292]

Sorry for your loss pal,I feed dried exclusively all year round,and have never had this problem.You mentioned both parents died of this too,its probable that your line is more susceptible to it....seems hell of a coincidence Start afresh with a couple of new kits

[Conor W PG 0]

Sorry to hear about your lose of a good working jill I feed mine dry food from asda is it good to give to my ferret our shall I look for better dry food for them

[Furittus 35]

Welcome to the forum Conor, you will enjoy it here, full of characters all educated at the University of Life .

[mhopton 807]

Or so they think lol

Sorry for your loss mate I just had two stolen put £50 reward up still nothing

The two I've got left if I breed your welcome to one ATB mark

[HuntandFish 31]

some good points made and I will definitley be putting in a fresh bit of blood, thanks for offers of kits too. I will be returning to my old feeding plan and completing my new court asap.

[onthehunt 40]

Heard about this insulinoma and most if not all US/Canada members on Facebook aggressively push the raw diet (just meat no dry food). I would agree that whole prey or meat is the best for them but the bulk of my ferrets' diet is dry. they love it! but they also get a lot of raw once a week.

[onthehunt 40]

some good points made and I will definitley be putting in a fresh bit of blood, thanks for offers of kits too. I will be returning to my old feeding plan and completing my new court asap.

Could the disease have been adrenal? 99% of cases are seen in neutered/spayed ferrets. I know a lot about this problem which is why I have never neutered. ever and won't despite the smell. Although if you said your ferret was having a seizure, this does sound like insulinoma.

[mad4it 694]

sorry to hear about your loss, ive always been warey about dry food but thought that is was made for zoos and labs please post if you find out about the research