Hotdish wrote of her recently neutered male who poofs prodigiously.  I have
a male ferret that I got as a whole 6-month-old some years ago.  He poofed
maybe every six weeks or less frequently most of his life with us (except
when initially introduced to our home or during the pecking order shift
that happened when other ferrets were added), including after he was
neutered at about 7 months.  The stink from the anal glands was no more or
less after the neutering.  What was lessened was the hormonally influenced
smell from the sebaceous glands and his tendency to wear that favorite
cologne of whole males... urine.  In time, he smelled no different than
any of the others except right after he poofed.  Now along about the time
he was 4.5 years old, he took to poofing frequently.  He had developed an
infection in his anal glands and one of them became badly impacted.
Antibiotics, warm compresses, and manual expression helped a bit on one
side, but the impaction would NOT clear on the other.  So we had both
glands surgically removed.  It was not something I would have done "just
because", but I don't feel badly in the least about doing it when he was
frequently and without provocation (sometimes while taking a leisurely
stroll across the room) letting loose and then smearing the stench on the
carpet, our furniture, his bedding, and other ferrets.  We tried other
methods, and when they weren't the answer, surgery was.  I think maybe your
vets didn't understand what you were reporting?  I can't see an educated
vet saying that a post-neuter poof won't stink, but I suppose there's
always the chance they were misinformed?  I've never known a poofing
ferret, altered or not to not produce a fine stench!  The recovery was
quick and Thor seemed to have little discomfort.  In fact, a couple of days
after the surgery we were having trouble keeping him quiet enough, and he
went sailing off the bed... only to yet out a little yelp when he hit the
floor and whip around war dancing and looking for whatever had bitten his
hiney!  Try the conversation with the vets again, including an exam-- an
impacted gland will feel firm to hard when palpated.
 
Debra in Fort Worth
[Posted in FML issue 2883]