Hello! Linda - I will try to briefly explain (to the best of my knowlege) why declawing is an operation that should _not_ be performed on a ferret vs. spaying/neutering which should be performed (if you do not intend to breed your ferret). Descenting will also be addressed. First, as I discussed in a previous post, declawing a ferret is NOT like declawing a cat. A cat has _retractable_ claws. A ferret has nails like you and me or like those of a dog. While I am not crazy about declawing cats, this operation can be performed with somewhat less intrusive damage to the animal. (Vets, help me out here; I've never declawed a cat!) Removing a ferret's nails would be comparable to removing your finger nails and finger tips. This operation would be a pretty horrible mutilation. You don't hear about people declawing dogs, do you? (If people are actually doing this, I don't want to know.) A female ferret _must_ be spayed or she will almost certainly develop a life-threatening disorder called aplastic anemia (sp?). As for males, neutering is arguably less necessary. To quote from the ferret FAQ: "Ferrets intended as pets must be neutered or spayed. Neutering drastically reduces the odor of a male, prevents him from marking his territory with smelly slime, and makes him less aggressive (males in season may kill other ferrets, even females). Spaying saves a female's life, since once she goes into heat she will need to be bred or she will almost certainly die of anemia." Descenting, on the other hand, is considered unnecessary. Discussions here and elsewhere have indicated that descenting does _not_ decrease the day-to-day odor of a ferret. Rather their anal scent glands are only used as a defense mechanism. Even then, they do not "spray" like a skunk, and the odor does not linger long. Furthermore, descenting, if incorrectly performed, can be damaging to a ferret's nether parts. Hopefully, I have helped to explain why two operations (declawing/descenting) are unnecessary/undesirable and why neutering or spaying are more necessary (albeit no more natural!). Gina and Paleface (I like my toesies just where they are! How else could I dig in the dirt?) [Posted in FML issue 1366]