Hi Kez, our ferrets don't like the smell of these ear cleaners at all. We now use a Q-tip dipped in normal salad oil, it helps to loosen the caked dirt, the ferrets like the smell and behave a little better when getting their ears cleaned. It's also good for the skin and - the ferrets love to lick the rest of the oil from each other's ears - so they clean each other! How's that? Greetings Karin Guinness, Black Velvet, Twister, Estrelle, Danny Boy and Shadow [Posted in FML issue 3478]