Your Cat Sucks; so get a goddamn ferret

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Pet Island > Your Cat Sucks; so get a goddamn ferret

GlyphGryph: Jun 23, 2013; Down came the glitches and burned us in ditches and we slept after eating our dead.

Are ferrets from certified AFA breeders generally healthier in the US? Or does it all come from such bad base stock they are still prone to dying rather quickly?

# ¿ May 19, 2015 20:00

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# ¿ May 2, 2024 01:53

GlyphGryph: Jun 23, 2013; Down came the glitches and burned us in ditches and we slept after eating our dead.

CompactFanny posted:

It's a combination of things, but mostly, pet ferrets in the U.S. are Marshall's ferrets. I don't personally know of any private breeders with a good reputation, but I have heard of bad ones - angora breeders!

I'm not saying a good breeder doesn't exist, they probably do and have paid to import healthy European ferrets to start it. But Marshall's outnumber them, thousands to one. And those ferrets all come from the same lovely stock.

In addition to being of terrible genetic health, Marshall's alters most of the kits as soon as they weigh enough to survive the surgery. Which probably plays a hand in adrenal disease, as it is primarily a hormonal disorder.

I had ferrets once, and I would like them again, but I'm not going to support the industry as it is. I would like to support the industry improving, and being part of the market forces shaping that is the smallest part I can play in doing so.

Ugh, though. Maybe I'll just start my own goddamn breeding program and Ferret association...

# ¿ May 20, 2015 21:00

GlyphGryph: Jun 23, 2013; Down came the glitches and burned us in ditches and we slept after eating our dead.

Why do there not seem to be any 'breeds' of ferrets like there are with dogs? Or are there in other countries, and its just another side effect of US regulations and the Marshall Farms mill system?

CompactFanny posted:

If I was going to keep them again I would adopt an oldie with cancer whose lovely people aren't willing to deal with it. Because there are LOTS of those.

The current state of US ferrets already leaves my wife on the verge of thinking the heartbreak isn't worth it, I think she'd end up crying every day if I did this. I thought it was just the way ferrets are, and learning that it's not (well, not completely) is just frustrating.

So from a personal perspective (healthier, long lived ferts!) and from a societal perspective (supporting responsible breeders breeding healthy ferrets and not ferret mills), if I get them again I would definitely want to get them from a real, responsible breeder.

GlyphGryph fucked around with this message at 21:32 on May 20, 2015

# ¿ May 20, 2015 21:30

GlyphGryph: Jun 23, 2013; Down came the glitches and burned us in ditches and we slept after eating our dead.

CompactFanny posted:

Importing them is probably possible, but I would expect it to be difficult and costly.

There are only breeds of dogs because of thousands of years of dog people selectively breeding them for different types of work. Ferrets have only had to do one job, so multiple types weren't needed.

Cats only have one job to do too and there's a bunch of those.

# ¿ May 21, 2015 16:09

GlyphGryph: Jun 23, 2013; Down came the glitches and burned us in ditches and we slept after eating our dead.

Sorry for your loss. Sounds more like a chemical problem than disease, though, like they got into something poisonous.

# ¿ May 23, 2015 22:21

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