alli Posted January 9, 2009 Share Posted January 9, 2009 I've been wanting to get a cat since I moved back to IA & got an apartment with my bf 5 months ago. I really want a cat, but he really doesn't want one right now for various reasons. Our apartment isn't very big, it's already full of furniture & my iguana's giant cage, stuff for a cat to knock over, fur getting everywhere, etc. And the roads nearby have a fair amount of traffic so a cat could easily get hit by a car. We were talking about getting a ferret last night as a compromise. His old roommate used to have one & he really liked it. I don't know much about ferrets. I wanted to get another pet that is a bit more soft & cuddly than my iguana is. I mean, my iguana is great, but in a different way. And I heard ferrets are smart & can be trained, so maybe they are like a combination of a cat & a dog. Does anyone have experiences with ferrets? What do you think? Any advice? We were considering getting a couple sugargliders once until we read up on them & saw they are nocturnal & like to fling their crap everywhere! Ummm.. nevermind! Link to comment
Snoopy24 Posted January 9, 2009 Share Posted January 9, 2009 I've never had one so I don't know off hand, but I found this: top ten reasons ferrets make good pets link removed Link to comment
Ac143 Posted January 9, 2009 Share Posted January 9, 2009 I had 2 ferrets - that I was babysitting then all the sudden the guy never came back for them. They were older & I had no experience with ferrets. They are cute & smart (if you train them) All I know is the ones I had sunk up my house, pretty bad. They were very active & wanted to play all the time. They make great pets for anyone who a lot of time to spend with them - training, playing and making sure you ferret proof your home - they get into everything & I mean everything!! lol. Link to comment
alli Posted January 9, 2009 Author Share Posted January 9, 2009 All I know is the ones I had stunk up my house, pretty bad. Yeah my main concern is the smell as they have scent glands. I'm kind of a clean freak & I will not be happy if my home smells gross!! I think we would just get one so maybe that would help keep it from smelling bad. Link to comment
MollyElise Posted January 9, 2009 Share Posted January 9, 2009 I've known people with Ferretts and they always really stunk and I haven't known them to be very 'cuddly' they seem to be more independent to me. My hubby is allergic to cats and dogs are too much for us right now, we compromised and have indoor bunny rabbits. We had to do some bunny proofing, but they are great, they have a cage they spend most of their time in but also run around the first floor of our house. Link to comment
BellaDonna Posted January 9, 2009 Share Posted January 9, 2009 Cats are my favorite- I think they are the easiest pets. But I was actually going to suggest a rabbit over a ferret too. link removed link removed Link to comment
alli Posted January 9, 2009 Author Share Posted January 9, 2009 Cats are my favorite- I think they are the easiest pets. But I was actually going to suggest a rabbit over a ferret too. link removed link removed Bunnies are cute but I don't really think they are my thing. I had a friend that had one & it seemed like it frequently had accidents. It also seemed rather skittish & not very interactive. But maybe it was just scared of the stranger present (me). Link to comment
Ac143 Posted January 9, 2009 Share Posted January 9, 2009 Im not sure if having 1 instead of 2 would make a HUGE difference in the stinky department - if you are a clean freak and need ur home smelling great all the time - having a ferret might not be for you. I know it annoyed the crap out of me - one of them passed away and I ended up with 1 for a few months before he too passed away but that didn't change the smell much. I think they are fun animals but I would never get one again because of it. Unless you absoultely LOVE ferrets (& who knows you might after you have one) I wouldnt suggest it. Link to comment
BellaDonna Posted January 9, 2009 Share Posted January 9, 2009 This site might help answer questions about the ferret smell people were referring to link removed The few people I've known who had ferrets adored them, but I don't know much about them personally. Link to comment
alli Posted January 9, 2009 Author Share Posted January 9, 2009 Im not sure if having 1 instead of 2 would make a HUGE difference in the stinky department - if you are a clean freak and need ur home smelling great all the time - having a ferret might not be for you. I know it annoyed the crap out of me - one of them passed away and I ended up with 1 for a few months before he too passed away but that didn't change the smell much. I think they are fun animals but I would never get one again because of it. Unless you absoultely LOVE ferrets (& who knows you might after you have one) I wouldnt suggest it. Well, my home doesn't have to be perfectly clean, but you know how sometimes you walk into a person's house & they've got crap everywhere & the place smells like cat urine? I refuse to be that person. I just don't want it to be bad enough that people walk into my house & think it smells gross & that we are dirty people. And I also don't want to take a big wiff of something unpleasant everyday when I get home from work! Thanks for the links BellaDonna!! Link to comment
Ac143 Posted January 9, 2009 Share Posted January 9, 2009 I had them in my bedroom & all there things (cage, food, toys etc) in my master bathroom - I let them out to play all the time around the whole house but that was their main room for sleep n such. No matter what I did - that room/bathroom really really stunk. When they ran around the house (hours a day) they didn't stink up the house...it was just their main living area. So I dont think anyone would walk in the house and say it stinks unless all their things are kept in the living room or whatever room is the main room you want into your home. Link to comment
HealingHandsWarmHeart Posted January 9, 2009 Share Posted January 9, 2009 cats are WAY easier then ferrets. Ferrets smell... they like to "go" in corners... they steal things... brushes, shoes, boots, clothes, socks.... and they hide them. They are also amazing escape artist... they like to nibble your toes...and to be honest .. they are too long and smelly to really really cuddle with them. i had two ferrets at one point... one of them was appropriately named ..Stinky ... the other was Stinky jr. and we called him jr. cats.. are so much easier... Link to comment
alli Posted January 9, 2009 Author Share Posted January 9, 2009 I'm kind of on the fence about this. I've heard some people say the smell is manageable, the website I read said it is as well if you take the right steps (use the right bedding & change it regularly, wash their toys, try out different food to see which results in less-smelly droppings). That basically all animals (cats, dogs, even people) have distinct smells & people just detect the ferret smell more because they are less accustomed to it. But then your experiences here say otherwise. Did you guys have their scent glands removed? The website said that eliminates 90% of the smellyness. Link to comment
Ac143 Posted January 9, 2009 Share Posted January 9, 2009 Personally I changed the bedding, food, toys everything all the time because I was obessed about how bad my room was smelling. I even gave them baths at first (all the time) cause I had no idea I shouldnt be lol. They did have their scent glands removed by their orginial owner but still to me they were pretty stinky. I will admit... I had NO experience with ferrets when they were left with me, so it was a battle for me but they grew on me & I did love those little things. The only bad things about them is they do smell, no matter what anyone tells you. And they are sooooo hard to control from getting into things, they are very curious little creatures & want to explore. Mine got stuck in my boot one day...his nail was stuck at the bottom of the boot and I had to cut the boot open to get him out ughh poor guy. Link to comment
alli Posted January 9, 2009 Author Share Posted January 9, 2009 I can't believe the owner never came back! Did you ever hear from him again? Link to comment
Ac143 Posted January 9, 2009 Share Posted January 9, 2009 nope it was my brothers friend - so my brother knew the ferrets pretty well & I was pretty certain he would come back lol. The kid moved to an apt in nyc & said he would come back to get them. Never called or came by. My brother heard from him about 1.5yrs later and they passed away by then. Some people... Link to comment
Hope75 Posted January 9, 2009 Share Posted January 9, 2009 I had ferrets for years. They are friendly and fun, but they stink. Even though they are descented and neutered before being sold in most pet stores they still have a musky odor and need to be bathed at the very least on a weekly basis, and even then you can smell it. They stool in corners and urinate wherever, so if you let them loose they will likely defecate and urinate in your house (litter box training is marginal at best with these guys, even in a cage.) My friends told me when I had them that they could smell them immediately upon coming into my house, and I was fastidious about cleaning the cage (complete change every 4-5 days and baths twice a week). If you are not a fan of odor, I recommend a cat- much cleaner and just as friendly. Link to comment
Hope75 Posted January 9, 2009 Share Posted January 9, 2009 But then your experiences here say otherwise. Did you guys have their scent glands removed? The website said that eliminates 90% of the smellyness. All my ferrets were descented and they still stunk, even with regular bathing and cleaning. Link to comment
alli Posted January 9, 2009 Author Share Posted January 9, 2009 All my ferrets were descented and they still stunk, even with regular bathing and cleaning. I actually read that bathing them too often dries out their skin & causes them to over-produce skin oils, making them smell worse. I take it you don't have them anymore since you used past tense? urgh I don't know. I wish we had an extra room that I didn't care if it got smelly. Link to comment
george237 Posted January 9, 2009 Share Posted January 9, 2009 Don't do it. If they get loose in your house you won't find them till they want to be found plus they stink like crap. Link to comment
coldplay. Posted January 9, 2009 Share Posted January 9, 2009 Ferrets are my favorite i think ive had 7 all together. Ill list some pros and cons from my perspective. Cons: Kind of stinky as you must know, but the smells is something you become used to, its not necessarily bad, also can be managed. They are curious as all hell so you need to ferret proof your house, unfortunately along with their curiosity they tend to die pretty tragic deaths, in pretty bad ways if your house isnt prepared. They stash things, not really a con, but dont be surprised to find 10 piles of random objects, favorites being dog food as well as basically anything else. They poop in the corners, like every corner, its really annoying. PROS! They have the most unique personalities of any animal ive ever had! Ive never had anything else brighten my day more than seeing 3 little hunchbacks come flying through the room wrestling eachother and as soon as they get there they are gone! Their play fighting is epically amusing, We had three at one point, they all figured out that if they get each other by the scruff of the neck the other ferret would go limp and powerless, so that turned into a wrestling match and the winner dragged the other ferret around the house (none were hurt) Ferrets will cuddle with you, but do have very high energy levels and almost an ADD of sorts They will ambush your feet sometimes which is a pleasant surprise. They can coexist with other animals, but most of the time its the other animals that are the problem, not the ferret. I could go on forever so ill just stop, if you have any questions feel free to pm. Link to comment
nutbrownhare Posted January 9, 2009 Share Posted January 9, 2009 I've never had a ferret myself, but I had friends who did. They got their ferret when she was really young - her eyes had only just opened - and she was really, really friendly. It helped that she'd been handled so much when she was a youngster, too. I don't recall her smelling particularly, certainly nothing like as bad as a cat litter tray. She was an absolutely delightful pet, and I'd certainly look into having one if it weren't for the other pets I've had over the years - same reasons I've never owned a cat. Link to comment
Mutley Posted January 9, 2009 Share Posted January 9, 2009 They're cute...but I can't stand the smell. Link to comment
alli Posted January 9, 2009 Author Share Posted January 9, 2009 Thanks for the input everyone. I think I'm going to have to consult my ultimate source of advice. My mom. Link to comment
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