I awoke this morning due to a variety of stimuli. There was the cat fight outside over the bowls of food and water I leave out. There was much yowling, and thundersome running, and slamming of bodies into glass by my two cats at the outdoor intruders around 3 A.M. There is the gentle persistent tap, tap, tap on the face Baby Blue gives me when she wants under the covers, where I must butt scratch and head massage about 4 A.M. most mornings. Then-just as the first rays of light appear-along comes the herd: to romp gaily over my body, to fight on top of it,scratch my side harder and harder for a stinky ferret treat I keep safely by the side of the bed, to carefully inspect my feet with little whiskers and sharp little teeth, and to gaze into my eyes and nose. Sometimes, all of this activity goes on at the same moment. I am a human jungle gym. This morning, as is my want, I tried to sleep for a few hours so I could try to function as a human being. Silly me. A noise I found disturbing came from the bathroom and prompted me out of bed. Sunny stood proudly on the vanity. My deodorant lay in the toilet. I think it was floating. After applying my face in the dark-major shocks could kill me-I reached for the toothpaste. There was none. I looked under my bed-where Chewy loves to stash it: no toothpaste. And I cannot be late for work. After a full day of work and an hour at the gym, and no toothpaste touching my once pearly whites for over 24 hours: my research project is conclusive. ++++++Owning Ferrets leads to bad breath and body odor.+++++++ I am thinking of publishing my work in the next ferret medical journal. But no one will get close enough to discuss this with me. Lisette [Posted in FML issue 3120]