Good ol' Kyle gave my fiance & me one heck of a scare last night. Two nights ago, when I let the ferrets out to play for the evening, Kyle didn't come out of the cage for long. I checked on him, gave him some FerretVite, and figured he was just tired and didn't feel like coming out to play. Each of the ferrets does this once in a while. Then last night, after the ferrets had been out for about 2 hours, I went in to water/feed/scoop. I walked across the room to the cage, stepping over a sweatshirt on the floor, got the water bottles, walked back out of the room, walked back in, started scooping, etc. When I turned around again, I noticed Kyle sticking his head out of the sweatshirt. I called out to him (he usually comes to his name), but he didn't move. So I went over and picked him up. He was completely limp, but awake. I tried to tickle his back legs and make them stretch out, but it didn't work. Plus his belly felt all soft and squishy (Kyle is our resident fat man at 4+ pounds and his belly is usually firm). So I put Kyle on the floor. He immediately collapsed completely flat. I prodded him to get him up, and when he started walking, he seemed to be having motor problems. He was staggering and half-dragging his hind legs. This is when I began to get really upset. Images of both Sandy and Gizmo staggering and sluggish before they died passed through my brain. I started to massage Kyle's hindquarters, gave him FerretVite, and blew raspberries on his tummy. He started to perk up a bit and walk a little more. Then all he wanted to do was curl up in my arms. So I put him in the cage, in a fuzzy hammock. I checked on him an hour later, and he seemed better. I checked on him a couple more times during the night, and he seemed fine. When I got up this morning, everything seemed back to normal. His tummy is firm again, his legs responded to the tickling, and he followed me around the room looking for FerretVite. I stayed with him for 1/2 hour, making sure that he was really perky and his normal self. If you're wondering why I didn't rush him to the emergency vet, I have good reason. The so-called ferret-knowledgable vet, the one that prolonged Sandy's death in September and tried to soak me for as much money as possible, was the only one on duty last night. So Kyle has an appointment for this afternoon, just to make sure things are OK. ===== Aileen & the Herd The Ferrets: Slinky, Kyle, Noel, & Toby The Dogs: Rootie the beagle & Tank the GSD/basset Still missing Sandy & Gizmo. We love you. Check out the Herd's website at: http://www.geocities.com/anippy [Posted in FML issue 3331]