Howdy, The Weezils of Doom are short one member. Ka-boing! has done kicked the bucket. He fought a gallant battle against a defective adrenal gland, but, inevitably, he lost. Now he's left his decrepit body behind to go on to bigger and better things. Ka-Boing! came to me through a free ad in the newspaper. His name at the time was Travis, which just didn't seem like a suitable ferret name to me. When I got him home and let him loose in my apartment, he immediately began bouncing around like spit on a griddle. Instead of the normal ferret bounces which carries them across a large area of the floor, he had the oddest habit of jumping straight up into the air. Kind of reminded me of a dolphin jumping out of the water. That's when his name became apparent, Ka-Boing. But that didn't seem to quite capture his true spirit. So I added the exclamation point at the end and Ka-Boing! had his new name. Eventually, Ka-Boing! began having the dreaded adrenal problems. It was a bum right adrenal gland and my vet could not remove the blasted thing. So I opted to do the Lupron thing. Every month for 2 years, I hauled him down to the vet so he could get his shot. But then, last month, the adrenal gland ballooned up to the size of a golf ball. Surgery was scheduled to de-bulk it as much as possible. But 2 days before the surgery, the tumor went through another growth spurt and became absolutely huge. It started drastically affecting Ka-Boing!'s daily activities. He lost control of his back legs, he wouldn't eat or drink. He was in pretty rough shape. His exclamation point became more of a question mark. He was rushed to surgery where the vet found "the largest adrenal tumor" she had ever seen. It had taken over his kidney, liver, and part of the intestines. There was really no hope for removal, so we let him go right there on the table. It was the best thing to do for him. I'm too pragmatic and realistic to really believe in the whole Rainbow Bridge thing, but I'm also not arrogant enough to say it doesn't exist. So, just in case, Sandee, if you're out there and a nutty albino ferret who likes to jump straight up in the air comes by, be sure to tell him Howdy and take him to meet Scandal and Mr. Lugnut Chains. And tell him he's earned another exclamation point. Missing Ka-Boing!!, Limejello & The Weezils of Doom http://home1.gte.net/wrenched [Posted in FML issue 3309]