Jim MacDonald wrote:
> I have decided to have them declawed, and buy a new sofa!
 
Please don't have your ferrets declawed.  They have nails like dogs (and
humans), not retractable claws like cats.  To "declaw" a ferret, the vet
would have to remove much of the toes too.  It must be pretty painful to the
ferret.  In addition to losing his ability to dig, the ferret also can no
longer climb well, and those "emergency scratch!" sessions wouldn't be
nearly as satisfying.
 
One of the ferrets now in the WNYFLFA shelter was de-nailed some time ago
(probably a year or more).  The job wasn't done very well (perhaps the vet
was unwilling to remove as much of the toe as would have been necessary),
and now her nails are beginning to grow back.  Some are split, and some are
growing sideways and digging into her pads.  Several of her toes are red and
look tender, and she flinches when we have to trim her nails, but there
isn't much we can do now.
 
I certainly sympathize with your frustration at ferrets who won't quit
digging in the couch, but I can't imagine declawing them as a solution.  To
make sure the nails wouldn't come back, evidence suggests you'd have to
amputate quite a large bit of the foot, which sounds rather extreme.  Please
consider keeping the old couch and letting them dig in it, protecting it
with wood or wire mesh, or buying a futon they can't dig in.
 
Thanks,
 
--
- Pam Greene
Ferret Central <http://www.optics.rochester.edu:8080/users/pgreene/>
            or ftp://ftp.optics.rochester.edu/pub/pgreene/
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[Posted in FML issue 1864]