To anyone who may be considering declawing their ferret!
 
I ask that you reconsider this course of action.  Declawing involves the
amputation of the end of the toe bone in order to remove the part of the
nail that is responsible for regeneration.  And although I have never had a
ferret that was declawed, I have looked after cats that were.  It's sad to
see these animals go through natural behaviours without the benefit of
claws.  Have you ever watched a declawed cat try to scale a 7 foot fence?
It is quite pitiful.  Now, I'm not saying that a declawed ferret was unhappy
because he was declawed - animals learn to adjust to pretty much anything.
I'm just saying that declawing takes away a part of their natural lifestyle
behaviour.
 
One of the problems I have personally with declawing (aside from the obvious
amputation part) is that, unlike humans who are aware of their loss after
having an amputation performed, animals learn about their loss.  I have
seen 3 legged dogs and cats.  I have even seen a 3 legged porcupine that
ended up using its tail as a replacement leg.  They all got around very
well.  That is the extreme when it comes to amputation - the actual loss of
a an entire limb or limbs.  Having claws is as important as having whiskers -
each plays an integral part of the ferrets physiology.  Now, you may think
that having or not having claws is minor but consider this: when I look at
my little guys running around, I can see that part of their ability to run
very fast is based on them digging their claws into the carpet, or grass,
etc., to gain purchase and aid them in getting to where they need to go in
a hurry, even if it's only to get away from each other.  When I see our
ferrets climb, I can see that their ability to do so is mostly based on the
use of the front claws.  They way I look at it, furniture is replaceable,
my ferrets are not, nor is their happiness an issue to ever be sacrificed.
 
In terms of having your ferret declawed because he won't stop clawing at
the cage... I can sympathize.  Back when we had Vincent, some 12 years ago,
one of his most annoying habits was clawing and scratching at the cage.  He
would even go so far as to overturn his litter boxes.  It was a time that
seemed to go on forever!  One by one we tried to deal with each thing he
threw at us - we wired down the litter boxes, we carpeted the cage entrance.
Eventually we learned that if we could put up with the scratching for a few
minutes, eventually he would stop.  For Vincent learned that if he was
persistent in scratching, eventually we would come and give him more
attention - good or bad, so he always got what he wanted.  But we persevered
and eventually he only scratched for a short time.  This time became
progressively shorter as he grew older.  We did balance it out though, by
allowing him more time out of the cage with more energy directed games,
(chase the ball and tag were two good ones) which seemed to tire him out
and left him more satisfied with his time in the cage.  Eventually we ended
up letting all of our ferrets have free run of the house or at least free
run in a room to themselves.  So now only our water fountain (which is made
of that nice soft foam - the kind that ferrets love to scratch at!) gets
dug at.  It's annoying, but they do love it so!
 
We now understand fully that the scratching comes from a) trying to be with
us more, b) trying to get in an area that has more room to run and play, c)
being able to find a new sleeping spot that's not in the home base cage, d)
outside of the cage has better hiding spots, e) doing so gets them to a new
place, and f) fun stuff to eat is just on the other side of the door!.
There are a many, many more reasons and these are just a few.  Perhaps in
looking at it from a ferrets' point of view, and not from the view that the
scratching is an annoying sound, you can learn to deal with it a little
better.  Sometimes, just seeing things from a different point of view is
all that it takes.
 
Betty and Her Blur O'Fur
[Posted in FML issue 2461]