Greetings everyone!
 
First of all, Daisy, would you mind sending us a translation of all your
abbreviations?  Some of us slower people are a bit bewildered.
 
Secondly, okay, I *know* descenting is a sensitive subject and so normally I
keep my mouth shut, but I fear poor Phil may be a bit mislead by the
statement `Descenting doesn't change the smell of the ferret!!!!!'.  (No
offense Chrissy)  You did go on to say that it doesn't change the *daily*
scent, and that's true.  *Unless* like me, you have a ferret who expresses
her scent glands daily.  Sometimes it can be a real problem, since the smell
sticks to wherever s/he expresses her anal sacs.  Spaying/neutering does
often help, but not always.  Tribble was only 3 1/2 months old when she began
spraying several times a week -- it seems like whenever she got the least
little bit excited she'd do it.  And it was really a pain.  I was working for
Dr. Kawasaki at the time, and he discourages descenting, but will do it,
suggesting that only if the ferret expresses his/her scent glands more than a
couple times of times a month is it advisable.  He still hates to do it, but
he does it because he'd rather do it than have someone else charge an arm and
a leg (and probably do half as good a job).  (Which is why I'm surprised
Chrissy, living so near Dr. K, would say most vets either won't do it or it's
expensive.  Granted, Dr. K's not most vets.)  Anyway, I hated to have it
done, having seen the operation before and thinking it looked *really*
uncomfortable.  But I deemed it unfortunate but necessary and went ahead; I
don't regret it, but I must admit recovery can range from no problem to
fraught with complications and occassionally  permanent damage (i.e. fecal
incontinence), and Tribble's was definitely not a piece of cake.  But it's
over now, after about a three week battle -- she's been pretty much normal
for a week or two now.  Anyway, obviously I'm not disagreeing that descenting
may not be necessary and should be avoided if at all possible; it definitely
doesn't change what the ferret smells like when s/he's not spraying.  But it
can be a problem and can't be discounted as a possibility if necessary.
Incidentally, here in the States ferrets are sold descented/spayed/neutered
in the pet stores.  I'm not sure whether that's true in Scotland or not.
 
By the way, did the ruckus about Canadian ferrets coming down here to pet
stores with botched descents make it to the list this summer?  Dr. K had to
correct one of their surgeries this summer.  It was a real mess.
 
To the person with the dilemna on the blind/deaf ferret: please tell us what
happened (gulp) I think we're all really curious.
 
Phil:  Where in Scotland are you located?  I spent a year in Newcastle (not
quite Scotland, I know, but definitely up there). (why aye, man) :-)  Have a
pint of McEwan's Scotch for me please!  (Don't panic fellow Americans --
that's an Ale, not a whiskey!) :-)
 
Dave:  Aren't you going to introduce yourself?
 
Right, I've gone on forever as usual, so I'm outta here!
 
                                        Laura
 
Laura L'Heureux, Trella, and Tribble, too
U. of Illinois Vet Med Class of `96
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[Posted in FML issue 0573]