HI All, The other day someone in the military responded as to why they don't like ferrets in base housing, citing odor and damage to housing others have to live in. Well, I will probably get some flack from this but IMHO, cats are much worse than ferrets when it comes to leaving urine odors and damaging furnishings, etc. I have two cats and two dogs, besides my own ferret and the shelter kids. I have had cats most of my life. Cats originate from desert country, which is why they have highly concentrated and smelly urine. This urine continues to stink long after the spot has been wiped up. To anyone who has ever lived with a "sprayer" you know just how smelly it can get despite your best efforts. I LIKE cats. I am not putting them down. But they also have this deep need to scratch, and many, many owners do not know how or care to, train them to scratch only on approved items. Ferrets on the other hand, do have a personal body odor, which is definitely sweet. IMHO. When ferret poop and urine have dried, I can detect no odor at all. When ferrets have moved on to another home, Febreze can take any lingering odor right out of carpets and furniture. Try that on cat urine. Right, still there. Ferrets do not do half the damage that a determined cat can, especially an un-neutered male. A little ferret proofing on the owner's part, and furniture and rugs are safe. Dogs, whom I also love, are smelly. Some of them drool all over the place. When they are puppies they pee and poop all over the place, until they are finally housebroken. The odors are left in the rugs, etc. Dogs chew on furniture. Ferrets are litter-trained easily, to either papers or litter boxes. Male dogs, especially if there are two in the house, may continue to water the furniture all their lives. Now, military housing person, how can you possibly state that ferrets are worse than dogs and cats? Yes, there is an odor while they are living in the housing, an odor that ferret owners find quite pleasant, (except for poufs) and that odor is easily removed after the ferrets have left. How many pieces of furniture have had to be recovered after dog and cat damage and how many rugs have had to be replaced due to dog urine stains? I rest my case. Cheryl of the Critterpen [Posted in FML issue 3487]