>Expression of anal sacs is not really required in ferrets as it is in >dogs, and should not be performed as a routine practice - even at long >intervals. Sandi posted that she was confused about this recent cross-post about anal sacs. I responded privately since I was who started the thread on the FHL. She asked me to post my response on the FML also. So, here goes.... I thought Emma's anal sacs might be impacted. She apparently emptied them herself the next day so all is well. But, before that happened, I asked some questions on the FHL since I have never experienced impacted anal sacs, though I have had ferrets with intact sacs before. Someone responded to my inquiry that her vet routinely manually expresses her ferret's anal sacs once a year. She was saying that this should be done as a matter of routine, like part of the annual check-up. I was concerned about the person's advice so I asked the vets to comment. I also asked about symptoms to look for when the sacs are impacted. What you saw was one of the responses (either Dr. Williams or Dr. Ruth, can't remember which one; they both responded to my questions). Notice the use of the word "routine" in the post. He/she wasn't commenting on expessing when there is a reason to do so. One former shelter operator did respond that if the sacs are very hard it's still a good idea to have a vet check it out to make sure they don't need to be removed. She may have been mostly addressing those of us who are inexperienced in these things. Hope this clears things up a bit. Katharine [Posted in FML issue 3556]