One thing I did decide on this trip is that on the rare occasion I see non -Marshall ferrets, I’m not descenting them. Here it’s illegal (considered mutilation like ear cropping, declawing, etc). And I’m inclined to agree. Desexing helps A LOT with smell because a lot of them smell is in their skin. And desexing is necesssry for females (if they go into heat and don’t breed they can get estrogen toxicity and die) and provides the same benefits to males as we see in cats and dogs. Of course adrenal disease is the big concern I’m desexed animals, but we can manage it with prophylactic deslorelin implants. Plus, there is a lower incidence with later age desexing. I’m fine if males are kept intact (if people want to deal with the stink) but obviously females should be spayed. It’s questionable if you could do chemical desexing with deslorelin, because it’s not technically approved for that but it’s kind of a grey area. But owner compliance is an issue too because it has to be done every year or so.
The other thing is that ferrets shouldn’t be releasing their anal sac contents regularly. The anal sacs are what we remove to descent. Just like dogs and cats, it’s released when they’re stressed, or if they have problems. But no one is prophylctically removing dog anal sacs in case they get an impaction. Sure, take them out if there are chronic issues but otherwise deal with it. Don’t get a stinky animal if you can’t handle stink.
