Hello all, Tara pulled through surgery yesterday and made it through the night. The vet said "she had probably been used as a football" in order for her intestines and liver to be up in her diaphram like that. We talked at length about her and he showed me the X-rays. The liver was at least 3 inches up from its normal position. No wonder she was so stressed and eating fabric. He said she must have been in a lot of pain. She bit harder than any ferret I've ever encountered in our experience in running our shelter. He said that these internal organs were ripped from their normal locations, which made it hard to put them back in place as there was not much tissue left to reattach them to. She is still in serious condition and may not make it over the next few days. The vet was very pleased that she was up and around today, but he said in all honesty she still could die. She has been up a few times today and has eliminated several times. She's been given a nice warm comfy bed, with hard food and duck soup, a water bottle and a dish and papers so she doesn't have to climb over the edges of a litter box. She's also on amoxi in the event of infection. She's not eating on her own, so I give her a bit of soup in a syringe and she takes it (not very much) willingly. If she does make it, she must live a protected life. If she falls, or is accidentally jiggled too hard, these organs may break loose again. Please keep her in your thoughts. Oh how sometimes I wish these shelter ferrets could talk so we would know what happened before they arrived here. (And then again, it would probably just break my heart to know......) Finally, Alicia mentioned to me that there were people on the list who might want to make donations towards her vet bill. The vet's address is: Fryeburg Veterinary Hospital 41 Bridgton Road Fryeburg, ME 04037 Donations can be made in Tara's name--the account is in the name of Ferret Services of Freedom. Thanks for your kind thoughts. She's a special little girl and she deserves a chance. Kelly, my half way house, wants to adopt her, so she will have a good home if she can pull through! I'll end for now as it's time to check on her. Best wishes for the new year to all you fml readers and to your ferrets from us at the shelter. Stephanie Ferret Services of Freedom [Posted in FML issue 2915]