All 4 of our ferrets are descented.  Our original boy came with a bad
descent, leaking glandular material through his surgery site, and we had
this repaired.
 
The person whose descenting of her 2 ferrets has left her feeling opposed to
the surgery, probably just had a bad experience.  I would never, ever, have
undescented ferrets.  In fact, those of the visiting 5 who are not descented
today, may be by the time their owners return!
 
We have had stories in the past about poorly performed descent oper- ations,
which of course leave the owners wishing they hadn't done it.  I had a baby
ferret neutered/descented at 5 months, and lost him in the post surgery
hours, and OF COURSE I regret to this day, having had the surgery done.  I
would not recommend foregoing the surgeries how- ever, just because I had a
bad experience.  Any future unneutered or undescented ferrets will have
their surgeries.  Although I will be a basket case, I readily admit.
 
Some undescented ferrets probably never "poof".  I believe most undes-
cented ferrets "fart" in their sleep.  Cleaning the poop of undescented
ferrets off your kitchen floor is NOT the same as cleaning up after
descented ones!  Trust me!
 
Descenting the ferret does not eliminate musky ferret odor, but it will
improve the "output" odor, and the risk that a squabble will result in a
spraying contest.  In this house, we're pro descent.
 
Georgia
[Posted in FML issue 2196]