I have two ferrets, one with soft fur, the other with a rougher coat. Here is a brief description of each: Chloe: age: 1 yr, 8mos. Chloe was neutered and descented at 8 weeks (?) of age. I got HIM from a pet store Sabrina: age: 1 yr, 9 mos. Sabrina was spayed but not descented at 6 months of age. They are both fed Iams Eukanba chicken and rice mixed 3:1 with Totally Ferret. I have been given many theories as to the difference in coats including gender, age at neutering/spaying and descented or not. I have noticed that Chloe's coat improved this winter after I switched to Iams Eukanuba (from Iams kitten). (I must have the only ferrets on the planet that don't like ferret-only foods.) But, I do not have the definitive answer as yet. Thus far, the only correlation I can find with age at neuter is that Chloe, as a male, only weighs 2 lbs. From what I have seen this is a little on the light side for male ferrets (Sabrina weighs 1.5 or so). But, I am sure many others out there don't have this experience with their pet store ferrets so who knows. -Courtney [Posted in FML issue 1867]