To those of you who have read my postings yet, my name is Randy , the ferret guy from Especially Ferrets Inc, Colorado's only licensed ferret rescue and shelter, and apretty large and active shelter at that. I am not a vet or even a vet tech, but am well versed in ferret medicine and treatment by the many vets that take care of all my shelter kids. I hope with posting to offer some valuable info to those that don't know yet what I'm about to write. First, my heart goes out to all of you who lost your beloved fuzzies on the fml today. As a no kill shelter and hospice for the dying, I deal with the pain on a regular basis. I cry for everyone we lose here and promise to see them again at the Bridge. I even feel your pain and hope it will go away soon. To Paula Frederici, I sorry for your loss of Guido. I have seen what your vet describes a couple dozen time in the last couple years. A certain breeder in NY alters their babies at 5 days old. Their endrocrine system isn't even fully developed nor are their eyes open yet. They go through life sorta normal on the outside but inside, their endocrine system is working overtime. There is a study out that was in the JAVMA Vol. 216 NO 2 dated Jan 15, 2000 that leads to the conclusion that early age altering causes hyperadrenocorticism in ferrets. The study doesn't say that it causes other tumors in ferrets, but after seeing thousands of ferrets with tumors , ones that occur in an early age, involving, the pancreas, liver, or basically all parts of the endocrine system, many believe and refer to these particular ferrets as tumor factories. Don't get me wrong, as I love them as much as the next fuzzy as they can't help the lot they have been dealt in life. But I have had many, even as young as one year old, vibrant and healthy in appearance and activity, just drop dead, from a growth on the vena cava or other major vessel, which would weaken the walls of the vessel andf cause it to rupture, causing death in minutes. Hopes this can put your question to rest and maybe help others. These tumors are not palpatable, and difficult to see with x-ray or ultrasound. Next question I would like to answer goes out to Jen Ott and her bunch. Your fuzzies butt is suffering from a prolapsed rectum. Depending on his age and where he comes from, it could be the result of A) damage to the nerve controlling the sphincter muscle during altering, B) prolonged diarrhea. Using a sterile glove, apply some Preparation H on his rectum 3X a day. If it is bleeding, it is imperative you take him to vet right away. My prayers to you and your fuzzies, hope all is well soon! There were some questions on Giardia and It was said that there aren't many postings on the subject. Well, Colorado is especially notoriuos for Giardia. It was discovered here in Colorado by guess who.... Dr. Giardi from the University of Colorado. It is a one celled protozoan parasite, something like a omoeba, and affects different animals to different degrees. It is primarily the densest in mountain springs and rivers, but is also very common in some municipality drinking watersheds. I had several discussions with the water dept in my own county as we had constant Giardia problems here at the shelter when we first started out. I was informed that the water treatment system does not filter out Giardia, that they are aware of the problem and that they aren't responsible for its removal from the drinking water system. They sent me several pages of scientific info on the subject and told me if I didn't like it, use bottled water. Well ever since then, all our taps have water filters on them that state they are good to remove 99.9% Giardia. We double filter the water all the kids get here at the shelter. Sometimes some kids that we have adopted out will show up for their first checkup with Giardia and we go through the whole shelter and replace all the filters again to make sure we are safe. We also advise all new family that they must use bottled or filtered water for the kids. For treatment medically, you should be using Flagyl at 100mg per ml in suspension at a dosage of .30 mls per lb of body weight along with the amoxicillin at a dosage .25 mls per lb of body weight. I would also reccommend that you keep maalox around in case their tummy gets upset as sometimes they won't eat and the acids in their stomach can get strong enough to cause ulcers and I mean some bad ones in the stomach and intestinal tract. Also, some antibiotics can suppress their appetites and that along with the fact that they already feel lousy can be a dangerous situation. A regimen of twice a day for 10-14 days should do it for the Giardia organism. We have a sign up in our sick room that says, please pay attn to med schedules, missed meds can kill. Once you start your poor sick little fuzzy on meds, please do not miss meds, you can cause the organism to become resistant to the drugs, then it's really a serious uphill balttle. Also, switch to bottled water, as you will continue to reinfect your fuzzies with Giardia. Last note, Giardia can only be transmitted from the water and from foot to mouth( stepping in bad stool and licking feet) Also if your fuzzy is not eating like they should, force feed,and make sure that your fuzzy is getting 60ccs of fluids every 24 hours. If any one has more questions on Giardia, e-mail me and I will send the same literature that I have from Dr. Giardi Hugs to all the the fuzzies from the ferretguy [Posted in FML issue 2998]