What a difference a word makes:
 
>And there is more.  Last night she even ate some kibble instead of
>just hand-fed soup.  We got excited that Hilbert who was watching
>went to their bowl of food outside the cage and carried a piece of
>kibble to the barrier between the master bathroom where Chiclet is
>and our bedroom and offer it up at the barrier -- a food gift.
 
Should read "We got SO excited that Hilbert who was watching".  About
Chiclet's eating we got excited; about Hilbert's gift we got a major
attack of  "Awwwwwwww...  so sweet".
 
Thanks goodness that the soups kept her alive while she fought this and
sh eis still mostly getting her nutrition from them but she is improving
on several fronts (like not being over 105), and I really finally think
that after -- what, 10 days? -- of high fevers that she is going to get
beyond this and make it.
 
Old fun news link:  http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/low/uk_news/582123.stm
 
James, MF is more a scapegoat than anything else with the worst reports
being incredible exaggerations or just plain falsehoods.  I can't recall
the addy for the USDA inspection results site but if you search in the
FML Archives at http://listserv.cuny.edu/archives/ferret-search.html
you'll find it and then you can compare actual up to date results with
the reports.
 
Honestly, all the farms have room for improvement and MF isn't the one
with the most room for improvement the last time I had data on any of
these myself which is probably about 2 years ago.  I doubt things have
gone downhill terribly in that time so suspect that you ran into a
scapegoating site.  Reputable private breeders who keep good health and
longevity records for all offspring are still the best.  It may surprise
some people but farms are not the worst by a long shot.  The worst are
disreputable breeders, commonly termed "backyard breeders" in the ferret
community.  Farms in general fall between those two.  Please, DO search
the archives for more info.  MF is not the only place, group, business,
product, or individual who has suffered scapegoating in the community;
that is very sad but unfortunately it is true.  Some reports about
groups, products, practises, etc.  are valid, but some sure not or are
exaggerated, so it always pays to verify, verify, verify...
[Posted in FML issue 4178]