Ok so I chatted with this MSU researcher. That had over 30 ferrets for research purposes, and they had intact males and females. They never bred the females and had no issues of anemia or death. In fact the only issue they had was the swollen vulva's did get bacterial infections time to time. But this was rare also. They had these ferrets for years. Therefore anything is possible. Nobody should ever own intact ferrets in general due to over populating and inbred issues. Only educated licensed reputable breeders should have intact ferrets. These ferrets weren't crossed with any other species either. People need to be aware of the possibilities in every case. What happens to one person doesn't mean that's the norm. Education is a very powerful thing. In fact it teaches people not to jump to conclusions and take in all considerations. This in nature were dealing with and no one can make anything for sure. For all the posts I received, thank you for your stories and thoughts. Andria Ludwig Department of Animal Science Michigan State University [Posted in FML issue 5197]