Vasectomized versus Speying

[lorelei0922 2]

Hi,

 

I've got three ferrets, two jills and a hob. I've been made aware of possible dangers of leaving a jill in heat etc. and i know some of the options are Jabs, Speying, and using a Vasectomized hob to bring her out of heat.

 

I'm wondering what the pros and cons and opinions on these options are?

 

I've been told that most vets will only jab once in a jills life as its too dangerous of a chemical mix or something ?? bad info ??

 

and that using a Vasectomized hob may not be good either as it can result in phantom pregnancies which i guess are somehow bad for the jill as well? and can result in STD's or somesuch.

 

Now bare in mind please that most of my info has come from a forum that definitely promotes spaying and neutering ALL ferrets, so i suppose such a site may have a biased opinion.

 

In the process of trying to make informed decisions i like to get all views of the subject at hand

 

Thanks

[redmoor 0]

Our Practice policy is to vasectomise the males and leave the Jills intact..the injection given to Jills is Delvosteron and isnt recommended to be given time and time again, it has the potential to cause womb infections etc if used on an ongoing basis. Vasectomising the males is a quick and short GA procedure, also less expensive than spaying..spaying any female of any species is a large and more complicated, if routine operation. Hope this helps.

[stubby 175]

cost is the main factor....

 

do the hob, leave jills intact, only 1 payment instead of 2

had our hob castrated, rather than the snip, cos have heard that sometimes the snip aint 100% so for the extra £'s castration seemed the better option,

once the jills are in season, (6 off) I'll either pair them with an extra small hob outcross I have, or put them with the hoblet and go with the false pregnancy, would much rather this, than leave them in season all summer, have had a jill die many years ago due to being in season, and dont wanna see that again....

[COMPO 54]

Vasectomy is a small operation compared to speying which is very intrusive and has a higher risk factor.

 

Get the hob vasectomised and made a hoblet, in my opinion its the cheapest, easiest and most natural way to bring the jills out .

 

Also it keeps your jills entire so that when you need a few extra ferrets you can breed from your best jill using someone elses hob!!

[fin h 0]

Make sure they give your hob the snip .If they castrate him he won't do the job

[COMPO 54]

Make sure they give your hob the snip .If they castrate him he won't do the job

 

 

Thats actually a very valid point ensuring that the vet understands what you want and why you want it, try and find a ferret friendly and knowledgeable vet, preferably one who has done the op before.

[higgins 75]

personally,if you have the time and patience for your ferrets,you would separate the hob and only put him with jills @breeding time,vets are a last resort either because you can't be bothered with separating them or because they all live together in the same hutch.It's usually best practise to keep all

same sex ferrets together and introduce males when the need to breed arises,so mostly it's a case of keeping the sexes apart,vets are there for illnesses,why spend extra money on castrating/speying/neutering when all you really have to do is separate them into males and females

and house them accordingly,remember once you have the males 'doctored' and the time comes when you want to breed from him,then it's usually a lost cause!Separate them in the long run,it's a cheaper process,the price of an extra cage?

Higgins.

[Neal 1,853]

I have all three of mine, two hobs and a jill, de-sexed completely. The drawbacks are of course cost and definitely no potential to breed but on the other side of the coin, finding new ferrets isn't too difficult and I can keep mine together all year round with absolutely no problems at all. Not the ideal scenario for everyone but it works well for me.

Edited September 16, 2007 by Neal

[Coneytrappr 30]

I have all three of mine, two hobs and a jill, de-sexed completely. The drawbacks are of course cost and definitely no potential to breed but on the other side of the coin, finding new ferrets isn't too difficult and I can keep mine together all year round with absolutely no problems at all. Not the ideal scenario for everyone but it works well for me.

 

Same deal with mine.

Come breeding season there are kits everywhere around here so when I want another I just get one of those.

[COMPO 54]

personally,if you have the time and patience for your ferrets,you would separate the hob and only put him with jills @breeding time,vets are a last resort either because you can't be bothered with separating them or because they all live together in the same hutch.It's usually best practise to keep all

same sex ferrets together and introduce males when the need to breed arises,so mostly it's a case of keeping the sexes apart,vets are there for illnesses,why spend extra money on castrating/speying/neutering when all you really have to do is separate them into males and females

and house them accordingly,remember once you have the males 'doctored' and the time comes when you want to breed from him,then it's usually a lost cause!Separate them in the long run,it's a cheaper process,the price of an extra cage?

Higgins.

 

 

Higgins

 

the reason mine are all together is that i dont believe in leaving the jills in season for health reasons, so i had my hob vasectomised so he could stay with the jills and when they come into season he takes them out, he stays happy and they stay healthy and well

 

Compo

 

I have spare hutches for ill ferrets etc..

[Kay 3,709]

Vasectomy is a small operation compared to speying which is very intrusive and has a higher risk factor.

 

Get the hob vasectomised and made a hoblet, in my opinion its the cheapest, easiest and most natural way to bring the jills out .

 

Also it keeps your jills entire so that when you need a few extra ferrets you can breed from your best jill using someone elses hob!!

 

I agree speying is a higher risk to the jill anasthetic wise

[Kay 3,709]

Make sure they give your hob the snip .If they castrate him he won't do the job

 

Yes good point i have spoken to quite a few people who have asked for vasectomy & got a castrated hob back

[Herdsman 0]

It is known that 75% of vasectomy's reverse so it's not that safe. It is also not a very nice experience for the jills you also have the risks of infections.

 

Jills can be jabbed each year no problem, although all of our jills are speyed after the first year. All my working hobs are castrated and it has not been detrimental to their abilities to hunt. It also makes them smell better and reduces that seasonal need to fight each.

 

I deal with many rescue animals each year and these are often the result of unwanted pregnancies, yes if you are going to increase working stock then great, but do you really want to have that large a stock.

[COMPO 54]

It is known that 75% of vasectomy's reverse so it's not that safe. It is also not a very nice experience for the jills you also have the risks of infections.

 

Jills can be jabbed each year no problem, although all of our jills are speyed after the first year. All my working hobs are castrated and it has not been detrimental to their abilities to hunt. It also makes them smell better and reduces that seasonal need to fight each.

 

I deal with many rescue animals each year and these are often the result of unwanted pregnancies, yes if you are going to increase working stock then great, but do you really want to have that large a stock.

 

 

thats bollox (excuse the pun) where did you get the figure 75% of vasectomy's reverse themselves???

 

 

jill's shouldn't be jabbed ever year, there are side effects with that

[bill88 6]

Had our hob vasectomised earlier this year.Must admit i wasn't to happy about the £50 vets bill,but i don't fancy the idea of having jill's jabbed.Our hob was in and out the same day,with no complications.We let him service one of the jills 5 weeks after the op,and another jill 7 weeks after.No kits and the jills came out of season within days.