Ferrets who have been altered or spayed almost never need the descenting
surgery.  An infection calls for it, of course, but those are not very
common and when they occur they happen not only in ferrets who have never
been descented but also in those who had some scent glands that got
missed.
 
If there isn't an infection then put the money you were planning for this
toward future health needs or into a ferret charitable cause, Nancy! :-)
 
In terms of age and surgery: three years old for a ferret is only like
being thirty-something for people.  We have had 8 year old ones who have
had major surgery and there are others who have had surgeries on ferrets
who were older than that.  Whether a ferret is up to surgery depends on
the ferret's health far more than on ferret age.  As a ferret gets older,
though, it becomes more and more important to have presurgical testing so
that an unspotted health problem does not make the surgery unnecessarily
dangerous.  A CBC with Chemistry Panel always makes sense, and often a
heart x-ray makes sense.  For some older ones we have had ultrasounds
before -- especially of the chest to be sure that there isn't a cardiac
problem.  Age and surgery is a topic that comes up a lot so you will find
multiple people's experiences and opinions in the archives of both the
FML (Ferret Mailing List) and FHL (Ferret Health List on Smartgroups).
(See one of my other posts today for those addresses.)
 
Whizbang is having Whizzie-only time right now -- dashing around keeping
the front of our small 2 bedroom condo safe, putting crunchies into a
stash under the trunk that is at the head of our bed, rearranging the
toys under the top half of Steve's side of the bed and the bottom half of
my side of the bed.  (Don't expect me to explain why that is...) Every
once in a while she comes out to sniff the cool breeze blowing in through
the screen door.  All things which of course also help her Mommy to
degrees only she can understand.
 
Ah, Steve just traded her for Hilbert so I am putting my feet back down
for the coming "Hello!" bumps.  Hilbert loves edible flowers!  I actually
have to remove the blooms from non-edibles inside so he won't eat them.
Right now his breath is the best in the house: edible annual violet, rose
petals, and a J.  sambac tea jasmine flower (This NOT the same as the
poisonous jasmine types, but is instead the one used for teas and other
culinary uses.).
 
Does anyone else have a culinary flower eating ferret?  (Now you know one
of the reasons plants are placed high here, and I'll bet you can guess
others.
 
Tom just arrived to see if an easy fix works on our brand new water
heater that isn't heating.  He bangs downstairs and Hilbert bangs back
at our one low return air vent (The rest are in the ceiling.)
 
Okay, that got boring so Hilly is now dragging a water all over the
kitchen.
 
Oh, oh, I just read Alex's post.  U! U?  Has Lily -- with the help of
her ever guilty mom, Alex, installed hovering capabilities in the
tractor?  "Up"?  Have they installed tunneling capabilities?  "Under"?
Have they installed advertising capabilities?  " Until you do/get this"?
Have they installed teleportation hopping abilities?  "Upon"?  Do they
have a Star Gate?  "Universe"?  Is there an energy field holding in
useable air?  "Underwater"?  Time travel in to the past?  "Undo"?  WHAT
HAVE THEY DONE TO THAT TRACTOR?  My brain fails me.  U?  How many "U"
words in the dictionary may apply?  Maybe the setting finds everyone
named "Ursula"?  Ferrets on a tractor cause major mischief.  Last time
the Oracle's original hovercraft and her cauldron were stolen, then Todd
was stuffed into the cauldron and kidnapped.  I am worried.  I am very,
very worried... Still, as long as it isn't ferret ukulele... ;-)
[Posted in FML issue 4863]