For all the folks I've seen post recently about wanting to get a set of
scales but not wishing to spend the large amount of money to get a digital
one....
 
I got a 5-lb kitchen scale at Walmart for about $7.  It's spring loaded and
can be zero'd out.  It comes with a detachable small bowl.  I started out
removing it and using a much larger tupperware bowl instead (& zeroing it)
but more recently I'm just using the smaller one.  I use nutri-stat or
other favorite treat as a bribe to get them to hold relatively
still...while they are gobbling from the tube in my hand, I quickly get a
reading.
 
As it's a springloaded scale it's obviously not perfectly accurate, but I
can generally get pretty good reading to within 20-40 grams.  I have no
real confidence that I'm getting their true weight, but it works to show
me changes in weight over time, which I'm more concerned about, anyway.
 
On a different note: This morning I finally discovered the answer to why
the front floor-area of my cage has been soaked in what I thought was
urine, for about a week running now.  (Causing me much woe, scrubbing and
cursing, I might add!!!)
 
The cage is in my bedroom; I woke up to an odd noise and rolled over and
turned on the light to discover... my little girl Satinka (7.5 week old
kit) with her face completely buried in the water bowl and digging away
furiously at the bottom of it, and water going *EVERYWHERE*!!!  I laughed
my head off...it was all I could do.  (What can I say...she is my first
water-ferret!)
 
I didn't think that Onyx (my 1.5yo dark sable sprite) *had* a winter coat,
until she abruptly, almost overnight it seemed, came out with her SUMMER
coat.  (In January no less... *weird*.) Anyway she is even darker than she
was before, and her fur is so short, especially on her head, that I keep
thinking of the buzz-cuts that new recruits get in the military.  Gonna
have to start calling her Buzz!!  (And for those who might worry, her coat
is still /very/ thick and plush, just really really short!)
 
peace to all of you going through hard times...
 
(WA-state) Megan and
Grover - I'll do anything you want, just gimme a treat!
Onyx - I'm so sleek and svelte in my new coat! *pose*
Loki Gabriel - *POUNCE* *KISS*
The Inimitable Satinka Silvertoes, Queen of All She Surveys - And for
        my next magical trick, I shall flatten the AlphaBoy!
Cinnebar the cat - Make a lap, Mom.
[Posted in FML issue 2550]