every night i make it a must to take pookie out of his cage just to hold and cuddle him. we usually watch TV together until 3 or 4 in the morning (he really likes animal planet and kids in the hall) As pookie's tumor is growing, he is slowing down much more. when i have playtime for all the ferrets, he just wants to lay on my lap or lay on the pillow in the middle of the floor. the other ferrets, especially his buddy merv, run up to him and nuzzle him begging to play. pookie will roll over and make an attempt to please his brothers and sisters, but rather lay there and chew on a toy if i bring him one (merv has also made a habit of bringing his own favorite toy to pookie and leaving it there for him) i'm worried about merv because he is showing major depression because of pookie i think. it's choking me up just to sit and write about this. pookie has started to "snore" a bit while breathing. he is eating and drinking very well still (thank you higher being) pookie has been started on liquid prednisolone (prelone) to help him breathe and take the strain off of him. rather nasty stuff to him, but i used to take the same stuff when i got bad bronchitis as a kid. so, i mix it in with his favorite, timmy's tonic, and he takes it down slurp slurp. if this wasn't the case, i'd be giving injections of the stuff in order not to stress pookie. pookie has beat the original "2-3 months" comfortable life span he was given, but i don't how much longer until "the signs" will start. the only sign of the progression of the tumor is its size and pookie's snoring (which isn't that bad, only starts after he moves around too much). *sigh* on a different note, which isn't much better, the petstore that my bro works at got in a group of MF babies. 2 were small, but bright and active, but the one i am now taking care of is pathetic. IT HAS NO TEETH AND IT'S EYES AREN'T OPEN! it has a bad cold as well and can't eat on it's own. not old enough to be weaned. so, the pet store paid to have it taken to a ferret vet. the vet made documentation that this little boy can be no older that 4-4 1/2 weeks old. he also suspects that the eyes were forced opened due to the fact that they are infected (not because of cold) and something about a film on them. so, this vet stuff was given to the pet store which in turn threatened to sue the distributor of these ferrets because they warned them about getting an more kits this size in which in turn the distributor is SUEING MARSHALL FARM FOR THE CRUEL TREATMENT OF ANIMALS. this is not the first time a young kit has been reported to the distributor and the dis. complain to MF. so, i can't wait to see the progress because i am ill from raising these babies that first off should still be with their mommies and second WERE CRUELLY ALTERED AT AT LEAST 3-4 WEEKS OLD with NO anesthesia. can't anesitize something that young with out mad complications and most likely death. i work at an animal hospital, so i researched and questioned this many times. So, i hope MF gets the point maybe, or the distributor (which is a big one for VA) cuts MF out of their business. tra la la Snookie/Sharkie/krystal has stopped biting to kill. her deafness doesn't matter as much as i thought it would and she has adjusted very well. happy happy happy because she is sooo cute and you just want to cuddle her. well, off to spoiling my darling pookie bear bear and finding exciting programming to watch. andrea and the 10 kleptos, pookie- "more raisins" merv- "what's a matter with pookie?" lucy- "i am head woman, hear me roar" Dakota- "must put sharkie into place" Sharkie- "why is mama always jumping on the floor" cybil, skrappy, razkal-"i'm cute, i'm cute, i'm a mean bastard" laverne and shirley-"kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss" [Posted in FML issue 3041]