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Some ‘facts’ about ferrets get repeated so often, even in text books, that they just become accepted as being true.

Ferrets are related to skunks

Both ferrets and skunks used to be classified as belonging to the family Mustelidae, but recent evidence has suggested that skunks began to evolve far earlier than had at first been believed. As a result, skunks are now considered sufficiently different to justify having their own family. Skunks are now generally classified as Mephitidae and so are no longer members of the mustelid family.

No drugs are licensed for use in ferrets in the UK

In an article published in the December 2003 issue of the National Ferret Welfare Society newsletter, vet Matthew Fry BVSc. MRCVS stated that “As is well known nothing, I repeat nothing, is licensed for use in ferrets ... Even Delvosterone (sic), the ‘jill jab’, is not licensed ...”
‘The Veterinary Formulary’ states quite clearly that proligestone, marketed in the UK by Intervet as Delvosteron, is licensed for use in dogs, cats and ferrets in the UK.

Putting a few drops of Frontline™ into your ferret’s ears is a good way to control ear mites.

An article published in the August/September 2003 issue of Ferrets First magazine, written by Jeff Lewis,  claimed that ‘... a drop or two of Frontline in the ferret’s ears is very successful at clearing earmites’.
Introducing Frontline™ into any mammal’s ears is potentially very dangerous. Neither the manufacturer, Merial, nor any competent veterinary authority, advocates using Frontline in this way.
Safe, effective and clinically established treatments for ear mites in ferrets already exist. Frontline is not licensed for the treatment of ear mites in any species in any country, so why use it on ferrets?
Find out more on our Frontline Facts pages.

Once a jill comes into season she should be allowed to have one litter before being spayed

This ill-informed nonsense results in many unwanted litters of kits every year. A jill is not disadvantaged by not being bred from, and unless it’s planned to breed from the jill she should be neutered even if she is already in season.
Vets will not routinely carry out the operation while a jill is in oestrus, and so normally a ‘jill jab’ is administered initially to bring the jill out of season before the neutering is carried out.

It’s illegal to de-scent a ferret in the UK

It’s certainly unnecessary, but it isn’t illegal.
Veterinary surgeons in the UK are regulated by the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons, which, amongst other things, provides guidance to practising vets as to their responsibilities to the animals in their care. The relevant section says that ' ...a veterinary surgeon must not cause any patient to suffer ... by carrying out any unnecessary mutilation'. It’s the view of the vast majority of UK vets that de-scenting a ferret (the removal of its anal glands) does little, if anything, to reduce any odour and so falls into the category of 'unnecessary mutilation'. But it will obviously be a matter of judgement in individual cases.

Ferrets are the third most popular pet in the USA

An often made claim, but it seems at least as likely that ferrets are the seventh most popular pet in the USA, behind cats, dogs, rabbits, horses, hamsters, and guinea pigs, just ahead of gerbils.
Admittedly, this analysis was produced by the California Dept. of Fish and Game, who themselves labour under the delusion that ferrets are wild animals.