Hi Eleanor, Donald and the 11 ferts

Am sure many others will weigh in on your question, but having lived
with both scented and descented ferrets, and having seen the effects
of the surgery upfront, feel I have some experience to relate.

The short answer: PLEASE don't do it!

Over 20 years ago we got our first ferret a male. About the only book
available (by Wendy Winsted) said neuter and descent. The neutering was
at appx. 8 months of age, as usual with males, basically a walk in the
park. But it took poor Taz several very painful days and a couple of
weeks of discomfort to recuperate. Then and there we SWORE we would
deal with WHATEVER "horrible" odor issues there where and we would
NEVER put a ferret through that again.

Within 6 months we got our second ferret, Izzy. She was neutered but
not descented. She only ever "sprayed" twice in all those years - and
it was during fights with another ferret she did not get along with. It
was no worse than a dog passing gas and dissipated quickly. We then
realized it was unnecessary surgery and the book was wrong.

IMHO, descenting was a marketing tool. "Ferrets" were considered
stinky, and yes, they can be if not neutered. And if you think of
ferrets who were kept on farms for hunting and vermin control, they
most likely were, as they were all probably unneutered.

I love ferrets and actually enjoy their normal scent but can attest to
driving to PA from CT in the dead of winter with the car windows open
with a whole hob. Yes he STUNK! But it was his "come hither" scent, not
his defensive scent glands that were offensive. Neutering neutralizes
the former very quickly following the spay/neuter. There is no need to
descent other than to pay a vet some serious additional $$'s, put your
pet through pain along with an increased possibility of issues down the
road. BTW, many vets refuse to do it and consider it mutilation, akin
to unnecessary ear docking, tail bobing, or defanging.

The anal scent glands are very close to the animal's rectum. It is very
easy during surgery to cause damage in that critical area.

There is another important reason not to descent.

Anal scent glands are a ferret's only defense mechanism. 99& of the
time they will only "spray" when hurt or frightened. Ferrets do not
usually make noise. We had one older male ferret (a former breeding
ferret who, of course, was neutered, but not descented) get caught
behind a cabinet. The only reason we knew where he was and that he was
in trouble was that he sprayed, and when I walked into the kitchen and
smelled it, knew something was wrong and quickly investigated. Would he
have died there? That I don't know for sure - but I've had 2 different
descented ferrets get locked into a closet for 24 hours and one for 2
days and we never knew it. They do not cry out, and never scratched.

I should note, that it sometimes takes a bit of time before a young
ferret learns to control his or her little poofs. They almost all do
fairly quickly. It helps if the ferret is not being grabbed or annoyed
all the time, of course!

One caveat: Occasionally, similar to those of a dog or cat, the glands
may become seriously impacted and may need to be manually expressed; or
even removed. But that is a medical necessity and is very infrequent.

IMHO any breeder who sells a ferret should require in their contract
that the ferret NOT be descented unless medically necessary.

Do hope that helps.

Ann Gruden
President, Ferret Association of CT (FACT)

[Posted in FML 5665]