Both the kits (well, I call 'em kits but they're adult now, I guess) suffered from some congenital condition that resembled ricketts. Their bones are slightly deformed, and Fuzzbutt has an enlarged heart. Thankfully, they were the two least affected kits in the litter and their spines are OK; it's their longbones, mainly. They have what we call 'Queen Anne legs' - and yup, that is the technical term!
Anyway, Fuzzbutt's possibly dicky ticker means that he gets the shorter procedure, which is to have the 'nads whipped off. Bear is a bigger animal, stronger and with - as far as I'm aware - a sound heart, so he gets the longer procedure. In a way he gets the best long term deal, because he then gets to hunt all winter and shag all summer...
There's also the temperament question. I've found (and I know a lot of other ferret owners have too) that different colours behave differently. Silvers tend to be slightly neurotic, and I know the kit's grandfather (my beloved Foggy) has been a much nicer animal to be around - and much happier in himself - since his castration. Polecat hobs (the dark males) are fairly horrid as kits but mature into very relaxed adults.
Course, for your uber-relaxed animal, get an albino hob, but that's another story.
The poleys seem to retain a nicer nature when entire which, effectively, he'll be, even if he's sterile.
Poor Queen Anne. What a looker she must have been.... :0
In a way he gets the best long term deal
That's certainly what I was thinking!
Mark and I were just talking the other night about dogs and why don't they simply sterilize them, instead of going all the way to neutering. We did, very quickly, come to several assumptions on it: faster, cheaper, makes them less aggressive. But still...poor Jack and all the rest of them. It doesn't seem fair, does it? Makes me want to hire my next male puppy a night with a lady dog before he goes in for the The Big Chop.
But still...poor Jack and all the rest of them. It doesn't seem fair, does it?
And you're sailing close to falling into the anthropomorphism trap. It's very easy - because they share our homes, our lives - to attribute human emotions, reasoning and desires to animals. Just because they're thinking beings doesn't mean they think like us.
Dogs, hob ferrets, tomcats really don't miss the hormonally driven behaviours and desires that dog (pardon the pun) them when they're entire. On the whole they're much more chilled out, and it often seems that they can really enjoy life once they're freed up to do so. Or maybe it's just that their behaviours are more acceptable to us once they're not being ruled by their genetically-driven desire to procreate...
Admittedly, when you've spent some time watching the little bastards think their way through something (like Axl watching the cat and throwing glances at me, weighing the joy of chasing her against the bollocking he's going to get) it's very hard not to attribute human reasoning and emotional responses to them!
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branchandroot
no subject
Date: 2006-01-26 01:54 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-01-26 02:45 pm (UTC)Anyway, Fuzzbutt's possibly dicky ticker means that he gets the shorter procedure, which is to have the 'nads whipped off. Bear is a bigger animal, stronger and with - as far as I'm aware - a sound heart, so he gets the longer procedure. In a way he gets the best long term deal, because he then gets to hunt all winter and shag all summer...
There's also the temperament question. I've found (and I know a lot of other ferret owners have too) that different colours behave differently. Silvers tend to be slightly neurotic, and I know the kit's grandfather (my beloved Foggy) has been a much nicer animal to be around - and much happier in himself - since his castration. Polecat hobs (the dark males) are fairly horrid as kits but mature into very relaxed adults.
Course, for your uber-relaxed animal, get an albino hob, but that's another story.
The poleys seem to retain a nicer nature when entire which, effectively, he'll be, even if he's sterile.
Does that answer your question? *Grin*
no subject
Date: 2006-01-26 02:55 pm (UTC)Poor Queen Anne. What a looker she must have been.... :0
In a way he gets the best long term deal
That's certainly what I was thinking!
Mark and I were just talking the other night about dogs and why don't they simply sterilize them, instead of going all the way to neutering. We did, very quickly, come to several assumptions on it: faster, cheaper, makes them less aggressive. But still...poor Jack and all the rest of them. It doesn't seem fair, does it? Makes me want to hire my next male puppy a night with a lady dog before he goes in for the The Big Chop.
no subject
Date: 2006-01-26 03:23 pm (UTC)And you're sailing close to falling into the anthropomorphism trap. It's very easy - because they share our homes, our lives - to attribute human emotions, reasoning and desires to animals. Just because they're thinking beings doesn't mean they think like us.
Dogs, hob ferrets, tomcats really don't miss the hormonally driven behaviours and desires that dog (pardon the pun) them when they're entire. On the whole they're much more chilled out, and it often seems that they can really enjoy life once they're freed up to do so. Or maybe it's just that their behaviours are more acceptable to us once they're not being ruled by their genetically-driven desire to procreate...
Admittedly, when you've spent some time watching the little bastards think their way through something (like Axl watching the cat and throwing glances at me, weighing the joy of chasing her against the bollocking he's going to get) it's very hard not to attribute human reasoning and emotional responses to them!
no subject
Date: 2006-01-26 03:32 pm (UTC)