There is absolutely NO TRUTH to the rumour flying about that I'm going to be the next president of the AFA. I am not even a member of the AFA. I am helping with ADV research fundraising in a joint effort with them as my time allows. Carrie wrote about being ferret parents while in the military: Carrie-- As a shelter operator, I can certainly see both sides of the picture. While it sounds like you are a great ferret mommy, regretfully you seem to be an exception to the case. You brought up some valid points about this being a mobile society, but, regretfully once you are in the military, you are more or less "owned" by them. Military folks are generally rotated every four years, and don't have much of a choice as to where they will go. They get "orders". People who work for private companies are generally allowed to turn down transfers, job offers and such. The likelihood of someone in the military being transferred overseas is markedly higher than that of a private citizen becoming an ex-pat. While some bases will allow ferrets, a good deal of them won't. Granted, off base housing is sometimes an option, but not always. Anyone stationed at Patuxent River NAS right now can tell you about that. I don't think I've ever gotten an adoption request from military folks, but I get lots of calls for turn-ins from people stationed at Dover and McGuire. Just from that perspective alone, it's not a good track record. Yes, you can always opt out if your orders are to HI or CA, and you can't get them changed. But, if your husband was 16 years in, and was ordered to HI for his final tour, would you walk away from it for the ferrets? Would you really and truly give up the pension for that? Perhaps you would. But the majority of military would not. It's just a fact of life. I'm sorry that regretfully you are lumped in with everone else in the military. There are some really fine people who serve this country. But there are many who are not so fine when it comes to taking care of their animals. Regretfully, that's the way it is :-( I am certainly not judging you. You sound like a very concerned and caring ferret owner. But you must look at it from the perspective of the shelter owner as well. When we place a ferret, we carefully think about the long term effects of the placement. Yes, sometimes problems do come up. But we try to take steps to make sure that ferret will be where we place it for the rest of his life. It's really heartbreaking to adopt out a 2 year old ferret, only to be called when the ferret is 5 1/2 and told "I'm bringing it back" for whatever reason. That ferret is now pretty much unadoptable, and will spend the rest of it's days in a shelter. It's not fair to the animal. I know it's not the answer you wanted to hear, but I hope maybe it helps you to understand a little better as to where the shelters are coming from. Thanks for being a good ferret person. BTW- you *might* want to try this tactic--volunteer at your local shelter for a few months. Once they realize how serious, caring and concerned you really are, they might change their minds :-) Stephanie wrote about giving a ferret meds: Have you tried the liquid Prednisone? I've found that with some ferrets, the liquid of anything is easier. I slide the syringe down into the corner of the mouth with ferret scruffed and the head tipped up, and squeeze. I then keep the head up and stroke the throat, causing an involuntary swallowing. Follow with a treat. I haven't found one yet that I couldn't get a least most of the dose into that way. You might also want to talk to your vet about using an injectable of some sort. Anne [Posted in FML issue 3209]