Message Number: YG6836 | New FHL Archives Search
From: Sukie Crandall
Date: 2001-08-31 16:58:00 UTC
Subject: Re: [Ferret-Health-list] Spraying Ferret????

> left there. Unless you knew which ones were from breeders and which ones
> came from Marshall farm you would not know by their smell which were fixed
> and which weren't. All my breeder ferrets were spayed and neutered at around
> a year old.
...
> Charleen Schuster

Agreed for most (though not all). You really can't tell off-hand
which ones here have their scent glands and which ones don't. It
would be good if that surgery was just stopped except when a
pathology exists.

Most ferrets with scent glands only rarely spray (though I have read
of a few exceptions). Steve got royally sprayed once by a two or
three month old when he didn't put away a wheeled ski properly and
wound up unexpectedly riding one-footed across a room. Tandy's
response was not to run, though she did turn-tail first and then let
go. The smell goes away fast.

If there is an infected scent gland then it can get quite stinky. We
have had to have corrective surgery for one with an infected gland.
This was at least 17 years ago. Haleakala liked the vet but hated vet
visits and at first when she'd get plugged we'd call and drive up,
but we noticed that she would often get nervous enough on the ride to
let go of the contents of her anal glands on me, so the vet advised
that we first try a drive in his direction before setting an
appointment. Finally, she had them out without incident.