Hi everyone!  About two weeks ago, we adopted our second ferret - Boo -
a beautiful albino female.  She is a sweetheart, but smells absolutely
TERRIBLE!  I understand ferrets have a natural odor to them, but poor Boo
just plain stinks.  We have given her about 4 baths over the last couple
of weeks.  She smells fine for about 2 days, then her odor is just
overwhelming.  From what I have read, it is bad to bathe a ferret so
often, so I am turning to you all for suggestions!
 
While we were at the vet for Boo's vaccinations last weekend, we did
discuss the odor issue.  The vet agreed that her odor was "exceptionally"
strong.  Boo was given a thorough examination.  Boo was checked to make
sure she had been descented (she has).  She was checked to make sure no
glands were swollen (she's healthy, she just smells horrible).  The vet
couldn't find a cause for such a foul odor, other than maybe her scent
may just naturally be THAT much WORSE than other ferrets.
 
Boo has a nice 4 foot cage with ramps, which I typically switch out
bedding every three days.  She religiously uses the liter box (not that
kind of smell - no habits of playing in the litter box).  Her cage is kept
very clean, so her environment is not a contributing factor.  The only
other remote possibility I can attribute the awful odor to is maybe her
diet.  Her previous owner did feed her regular cat food, but she has
since been placed on Marshall's Ferret Diet.
 
Any ideas?  Anyone else have a particularly foul-smelling ferret?  Any
suggestions would be most appreciated!
 
Thank you!
 
Mellisa (Boo and Cid!)
[Posted in FML issue 3798]