Hi Everyone sorry for all those who have crossed over and prayers for the sick. Yesterday Sukie wrote: >I can't help but think that everything would be greatly simplified if >people just used the long-existing adjectives for such body types used in >comparative mammalian anatomy for any types of critters: "gracile" ones >are the slender ones, and "robust" are the bulky ones. Boy do I agree. There is nothing more confusing then several terms applied to mean one thing, size/body type. It gets worse when someone is calling to adopt a ferret and uses a slang or unheard of term to refer to a body type, insisting it's a breed, and the hotline person has no idea what they are talking about. The funny thing is, when they are kits I don't think the average person can determine how big or small they are going to be when they are older. I think I will just stick to the basics. BIG, medium and little. My two cents on the common disease issue in our furries...I think it may be a combination of all the things people have brought up. Food and housing variations, environment, combined with the early spay/neutering. I don't think that one factor predicts one result or we would have the answers to some of these diseases by now. Just a thought. Kathy and the Ferret Collective-philosophy amateurs [Posted in FML issue 3318]