Because it sounds like two people here need this in relation to some recently encountered people. Symptoms include but are not limited to: 1. thinking that love is enough 2. not providing veterinary care 3. having more animals than they can care for 4. thinking that no one else can provide as good care (with some even destroying the animals instead of placing them with others due to this delusion) 1 and 3 are mistakes or problems that can happen from being young or having sudden changes in circumstances (family illness, accident, loss of income, etc.) but notice how very, very, very serious 2 and 4 are! Like anything else some hoarders are worse than others. Info: http://www.tufts.edu/vet/cfa/hoarding/ http://www.psychiatrictimes.com/display/article/10168/54031 http://www.avma.org/onlnews/javma/oct02/021015a.asp <http://www.hsus.org/pets/issues_affecting_our_pets/behind_closed_doors_the_horrors_of_animal_hoarding.html> Sukie (not a vet) Recommended ferret health links: http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/ferrethealth/ http://ferrethealth.org/archive/ http://www.afip.org/ferrets/index.html http://www.miamiferret.org/fhc/ http://www.ferretcongress.org/ http://www.trifl.org/index.shtml http://homepage.mac.com/sukie/sukiesferretlinks.html [Posted in FML 6182]