Hi, I have been a member of this list for a couple of years. I try to read everyday, but always seem to get behind by a few weeks. We have four ferrets, all are around four years old. Mercedes, our only female has a swollen vulva. I have already had her to the vet and am planning on surgery. But unfortunately this showed up the week our Mocha was scheduled for surgery to have a lump removed. Mocha's surgery went well and Mocha is doing great. Since money is really tight, I have to save for Mercedes surgery. How much time do I safely have and what can I do in the meantime to make Mercedes more comfortable. She doesn't seem to be in any pain, but I would thing the swollen vulva is uncomfortable. The other two things that concern me are her scratching and that she seem to be awake a lot more than before. If you have any info that would be helpful, please feel free to email or post. Posting might help answer the same questions for someone else. And for the few people that become disturbed when someone has financial issue for their ferrets, please know that it was not thoughlessness on my part when we adopted the ferrets, but since then my hsuband has been diagnosed wtih cancer and our lifestyle and bank accounts have changed dramatically. But we still lover our four little fuzzbutts, Mercedes, Mocha, Lexus and Cujo and we will try to do our best for all of them. Patsy [Posted in FML issue 3019]