To Cathy Mook who has cedar chips in the tray uner her ferrets cage:
 
        Don't be worried, Cindy.  You probably have done no permanent damage,
and may not have done anything at all.
 
        The volatile hydrocarbons in cedar chips are airbone (that's why they
are call "volatile".) They are breathed in by the ferrets or other mammals that
live in/on them.
 
        How about switching that tray liner to newpaper.  It's much more
absorbent, and if there is a little pan in the cage, usually all you are clening
up is spilled food and water.
 
       Bruce Williams, DVM                 Department of Veterinary Pathology
       [log in to unmask]         Armed Forces Institute of Pathology
       (202) 782-2600/2602                 Washington, D.C.  20306-6000
[Posted in FML issue 1073]