My point about descenting is that I believe everyone should have the right
to decide for their own ferrets.  There ARE good reasons to descent and it
is not always and automatically the work of Satan.
 
I've had a "ferret-intensive" practice for over ten years and I treat about
1300 ferrets a year.  That's a much larger statistical base than 600
ferrets.I have seen three cases of anal sac cancer, and that's more than the
number of complications from descenting.
 
The argument that we don't remove adrenal glands even though they cause a
lot of problems is not a parallel to removing anal sacs.  Adrenal glands
perform a very valuable service for the body; anal sacs do not.  No one
objects to spaying as a preventive for all sorts of problems.  Why not?
Isn't that also inherently "unnatural"?  We spay them because we make a
rational judgement weighing the benefits vs the negatives, and such should
be the case for deciding whether to descent.
 
I'm not avidly "pro-descenting." I just think people should not be flamed
for making a decision to do the procedure.  There are benefits.
[Posted in FML issue 2204]