Dear Jen >The bad news comes from my sweetie, who is not very fond of ferret perfume >and has politely asked me to seriously reconsider descenting Teresa and >the baby. My vet does not promote descenting, but I wanted to get some >opinions from anyone who has been through this - good and bad.... Jen I am a strong proponent of not descenting. While this is not a common problem in the states,as most pets come from ferret farms whcih normally descent kits at 4 weeks, descenting older animals can lead to serious complications, which generally increase in proportion to the age at which the animal is descented. AS the animal gets older, more and more fibrous tissue is present around the anal sacs, and the surgery is more difficult, and the incidence of complications rises concomitantly. Possible side effects are mostly variants of incomplete removal, in which portions of the sacs are left in the animal, with no ability to vent their contents to the outside. AFter the incision heals over, the remnants continue to secrete into the surrounding muscle and you end up with a nasty draining tract and little hope fo surgically finding the source. Or you may have dehiscence, in which the suture line breaks down, and fecal matter gets into it (as it is in close apposition with the anus). I've even seen worse disasters, one in which there was a very sloppy job of descenting, and collapse of the anus inside the pelvic canal, peritonitis and death. Non-descented animals fairly rarely express their anal sacs - the fleeting unpleasant odor is far more preferable than taking a chance on a long-term complication. With kindest regards, Bruce Williams, dVM [Posted in FML issue 3218]