Is Pet Sensations Dry Ferret Shampoo safe to use on ferrets daily or 2x daily?

Question

She smells really bad and I do eveything I am supposed to be doing. She is eating a good ferret food with high protien, no fish, and no animal bi-products. She is on bi-odor. I scoop the litter box 3 times a day. I throughly clean her cage and change her bedding and litter every three days. I give her a bath every month. She is fixed. She is descented. I keep the area around her cage clean. I clean bowls and water bottles every day, and keep her toys clean and wash/replace them when neccessary. I also give her clean t-shirts in her cage every day and I know she smells, not the cage.

Anyway, the dry shampoo seems to do a good job of keeping her from smelling when I give it to her every day or two times a day and it says it is safe to use as often as needed, but it says it absorbs dirt and (whitch is good) moisture, whitch it also known as oil; and I know it is not good to stripe the furs of their oils but I'm not sure if it is safe even though it says it is. And my mom thinks its safe and says that even if it isn't safe that she'd rather her skin be itchy and flaky that to smell her and I could'nt keep her if she smells, (because we live in a really nice house). And I would really appreciate any advice about how to keep her from smelling and an answer to my question.

P.S: The smell when she is not using the shampoo isn't just mild, it's horrid.

Answer 1

Ferrets smell.  Some people dont mind it some people cant stand it.  I think it smells cute.  I think you are doing everything you can do to tone it down.  Maybe she is just extra stinky.    

Answer 2

I have had ferrets for years and never had that problem. I do have a question was she descented when you got her. You may need to make sure that the glands were removed if she smells that bad. At one point we had 5 Ferrets and the smell was never Horrid. We would also give ours a good bath about once a week. A good shampoo and rinse once a week was fine for them. The build of the dry shampoo could do some damage to her skin and if she is to itchy she could scratch her self to the point she has sores and they could become infected.

Here is my suggestion. Give her a good soap and water bath once a week and use the dry shampoo in between once a day. See if that helps. If it doesn't take her to the vet and see if her glands were properly and fully removed. If they were not that could be part of the problem. Ferrets do have a bit of a smell to them but it should be as you described as horrid.  

Answer 3

The problem is the bedding you are using. Do not use this stuff or any kind of bedding like it the ferret smell seems to magnify.http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/pr...

You have to use blankets. I used old sheets and baby blankets. You can buy nice fleece baby blankets at the dollar store for yup a dollar.You fold them to the size of the cage and the ferret will not use the bathroom on it because its like a real bed to it nice and cozy and ferrets won't use the bathroom where they sleep. They save you money because you wash them once a week and you have to scrub the cage out with warm soap and water. Or you can use thishttp://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/pr...

Or this (what I use)http://www.ferret.com/item/natures-mirac... I want to get thesehttp://www.ferret.com/item/natures-mirac... Also what kind of litter are you using? You should be using paper pellet litter like one of these.http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.js...

http://www.ferret.com/item/marshall-ferr...

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/pr...

Now on to the topic of bathing this link will cover that. I do not bathe mine (3 of them) more than once or twice a year and you cannot tell I have ferrets at all they have no smell. I do not give them that horrible bi- odor stuff either. Do not use that dry bath stuff on your ferret it isn't good for its respitory system. you keep using it and shampoo your ferret will continue to smell worse. http://exoticpets.about.com/od/ferretcar...

So for your schdual you need to put all hammocks in the wash on warm setting. If you cannot get all natural landry detergent (what i use and reccomend) Then just do not use fabric softner it irritates their skin and makes them itchy.

You need to stop using the bedding and make sure you use paper litter. Scoop the litter box whenever it uses the bathroom just make sure to replace the oldest p**p with the new p**p to remind your ferret it is a bathroom. I have 3 like I said they do not stink at all I change their litter box and clean it out with hot soapy water. rinse well. Wash everything the ferret has. Do this and I promise you won't have a smelly ferret. Now here are pictures of my ferret cage. What a ferret cage with a loving owner like I should look like. There are before and after pix of what it looked like when I used sheets and blankets I have since ordered a custom bedding set and my ferrets are all 100% litter box trained in the cage. http://holisticferret.proboards80.com/in...

This is where you can buy this cage other than ebay which is cheaper. It is also the easiest cage to clean. And the best in the world.

http://www.ferret.com/item/ferret-nation...

Edit: Good thing she has a ferret nation. what you want to do is wash everything like I said once a week. Take the pans out and spray natures miracle or clean cage on there and whipe it off. Get rid of the litterbox with petfresh bedding in it. Mine have one large square ferret litter box in there cage and use it every time.

Answer 4

It sounds like you're doing a lot of things right and you've definitely done your research, so good job on that! =)

I have five ferrets right now and notice very little smell. Let me tell you what I do to keep the smell down (most, if not all, are things you already do, but I need to go through my list to see if there's anything you're not doing that might help):

*wipe down pans/shelves of cage daily (I do mine once, in the evening, if you have time to do it twice a day, go for it). Use something with vinegar, orange, or something slightly acidic (let me explain why real quick - the odor issue came up on a ferret forum I'm a member of and a ferret-owning, science teacher suggested using an acidic cleaner because it will help neutralize the high pH of the ferret smell and urine). Or you can just use a 50/50 solution of water and vinegar - cheap, natural, and it works.

*scoop litter box(es) at least twice a day

*wash food and water dishes every day

*wash and change all bedding (blankets, hammocks, etc.) at least once a week. Use warm water and about one cup of vinegar (white, but apple cider works, too). Again, the low pH of vinegar will neutralize the high pH of the ferret smells and the bedding should come out smelling great (but your washer might smell funny for a little while).

*completely empty and wash litter box(es) at least once a week

*thoroughly clean cage at least once a week (take out pans/shelves and wash well with hot water and soap or the vinegar solution and I also wipe down the bars of the cage)

*bathe your ferret as little as possible! I used to do the once a month baths, too, but after doing some reading, I cut it back to only one or two baths per year. Since cutting back, I think my ferrets smell less. They don't even need that many baths. The only time they *need* a bath is if they get into something that isn't safe for them to l**k off - they are very clean animals and are constantly grooming themselves. (So, to answer your question, I say no to using the dry shampoo every day.)

*wipe down walls around the ferret's cage (again, use the vinegar solution)

*shampoo carpets or mop if you have hardwood or vinyl floors

*wash fabric toys at least once a week (mine have a lot of blankets and stuffed animals they like to play with)

*wash all other toys on a weekly basis, too

*check around for any pee or p**p spots that might have missed the litter box - your little fuzzbutt could have left her mark somewhere that you can't see, so check around.

*feed them a good diet (check the ash content, too, a higher percent of ash can cause a ferret to smell more)

*check and clean ears - some say to clean their ears once or twice a month, but they really don't need to be cleaned more than once every two to three months (unless they have an excessive production of earwax). Also, smell the ears, extra stinky ears can be a sign of a problem and should be checked by a vet.

*smell their breath - bad breath can also be a sign of a problem and should be checked by a vet.

*neutering will help cut back on overall smell, descenting will not (which you already know, but thought I'd mention anyway for anyone else that might be reading this)

I know you said you already do most (if not all) of those things, but hopefully you spotted something you haven't tried and will make a difference. I strongly recommend trying the vinegar for washing their bedding and cage pans - so many people have tried it with great results. And I also recommend cutting back on the baths. Also, you and your mom could just be extra sensitive to the ferret smell. She might not actually smell as bad as you make it seem, it just seems that bad to you. Some people like it, some can't tolerate it at all. I personally like their natural scent, but I only notice it when I stick them right under my nose.

One other thing, how long have you had your ferret and how old is she? I notice that ferrets from pet shops tend to smell more for a little while, but it does wear off. Also, I notice when my ferrets are nervous (like when I take them to the vets), they smell a lot more.

Good luck with your fuzzy and I hope you figure something out. Hopefully you won't have to give her up because they really are so much fun.

EDIT: One other thing I wanted to ask, what did your vet think about the way your ferret smells? Did he/she make any comments about her smelling more than normal? I'm asking because, again, it could just be you and your mom are more sensitive to the ferret smell. Do you know any other ferret owners in your area? If so, do you think they smell horrid like your ferret or do they seem to smell less?

EDIT: Well, if your vet said the smell seemed normal (if he has a lot of experience with ferrets then he should have an idea of what the "average" ferret smell is), then it's most likely just you and your mom being extra sensitive to the smell. There's not much you can do about that. Also, she's still young and since you just got her recently (I'm assuming from a pet shop), then it could be that pet shop smell, which usually wears off. All I can say is try some of the things I mentioned above that you haven't tried yet and please don't bathe her everyday (even with the dry stuff). It's just going to make her smell worse and could be part of the reason why she smells so much now. Just let her go for at least a couple months before giving her another bath. I'm telling ya, ever since I cut my ferrets' baths back to once a year, they smell less than they did when they were getting a bath every month.

Answer 5

use it as often as you need to.  

Answer 6

You do not want to shampoo every day. The more you shampoo a ferret, the more productive their glads will become and produce moe od the "musky" order. Ferrests should be bather about every 2 weeks.

Answer 7

Try something other than dry shampoo. Bathing once or twice a day isn't necessary, because sometimes stripping the oils from their skin can do more bad than good. Try bathing her once a week with a different shampoo, and give her an actual bath. As for the shampoo, try one with no scent and one with a very heavy scent. Sometimes heavily scented ones do no good, and the unscented shampoos are actually the miracle-workers. If you keep everything clean, then all that's left to do is experiment. It takes a while to get it right - in the meantime, talk to your mom and let her know what's going on so she doesn't jump right in and make you get rid of your pet before you can figure out what to do.

Answer 8

I am owned by five ferrets and I do ferret rescue. It sounds like you are doing mostly every thing right. I am kinda going through the same thing with my newest rescue who i maybe keeping.

First of all i know it seems like frequent baths seems like a good idea. However as you said it strips them of oil and they will produce more oil to replace what is stripped, this will make them smell more not less. the dry shampoo will have the same effect, as will wiped and deoderant or perfume sprays.

Next you did not mention cleaning your ferrets ears or teeth. Your ferret may need it's ears and teeth cleaned, as well as nails clipped. If cleaning them dose not help your ferret may have ear mites or even and ear infection or gengervitis. Please get your ferret to a vet to have it's ears and teeth checked.

The last thing is, it is possible the scent glad was not completly removed. If and when you take your fuzzvutt to the vet have them ceck that too if they can and ask about descenting it again.

Hope this helps