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Spot The Difference: Poodle Or Ferret?

An Argentine man received the shock of his life after he discovered that a pair of poodles he bought were actually ferrets on steroids. The man, a retiree from Catamarca, purchased the animals at Argentina's largest bazaar - La Salada. Check out these unbelievable photos that we've sourced out! Can you tell which is a poodle and which is a ferret?

By Melody Oei — 09 Apr 2013, 04:06 PM — Updated almost 11 years ago

Cover image via

Toy poodle or ferret? Which is which? Can you tell?

Can you tell which is the toy poodle and which is the ferret?

Image via geekologie.com

Ferrets on steroids sold off as poodles

An Argentine man who thought he bought a pair of poodles at an outdoor market in Buenos Aires brought them home to the vet only to be told they were actually ferrets on steroids.

The retiree, duped by the knock-down price for a pedigree dog, became suspicious he had bought what Argentinians call a 'Brazilian rat' and took the 'dogs' to a vet for their vaccinations.

He was told by the vet that they were actually ferrets on steroids.

How did these ferrets come to look like toy poodles?!

The veterinarian informed the retiree that the ferrets "had been given steroids at birth to increase their size & then had extra grooming to make their coats resemble a fluffy toy poodle."

Here's what a ferret is supposed to look like:

Ferrets pumped with steroids to look like poodles.

Image via animalsandenglish.com

Ferrets pumped with steroids to look like poodles.

Image via wallpapers5.com

Ferrets pumped with steroids to look like poodles.

Image via blogspot.com

Ferrets pumped with steroids to look like poodles.

Image via critternook.com

Ferret pumped with steroids to look like poodles.

Image via hubimg.com

Ferrets come from the same family as badgers, wolverines, otters, mink, weasels, black footed ferrets and polecats.

Ferrets typically have brown, white or mixed fur and are around 51cm in length - which includes a 13cm tail.

Although pet ferrets have similarities to pets like cats and dogs, ferrets have very specific needs unique to their species.

Compare those pictures to these toy poodle photos:

Poodles.

Image via dailypuppy.com

Poodles.

Image via puppydogweb.com

Toy poodle.

Image via coolspotters.com

Toy Poodles are dogs with Einstein-like smarts and make excellent family dogs. Most of them don't have the runway styling of a show dog, but do need professional grooming.

The Toy Poodle has a small but graceful frame with a rounded skull, a medium-length head and muzzle, dark oval eyes and wide, close-hanging ears; they can live up to 15 years.