Hi Emily, I have 28 ferrets in residence at the moment each with their own scent glands. Honestly, I can go for weeks and never smell a "poof". The time that I'm almost certain they will disgrace themselves, is when I have visitors. :-) Years ago, I had a ferret who would do "overflow poofs", even in her sleep. The condition righted itself without any treatment after a couple of weeks. A friend had a ferret with the same condition but it wasn't cured until it had completed a course of antibiotics. I've heard of this only a few times in over 10 years. Here in West Oz, only once have I heard of a ferret who needed to have his anal glands removed because of chronic impaction and inflammation. If I was in your position, I would probably suggest to the vet to prescribe a course of antibiotics and only resort to surgery if all else failed. Shirley From Western Australia where we don't descent. [Posted in FML issue 4672]