Hi, Wayne. (This is a response to a cc I received of a new post on this subject.) Thanks for the very interesting info. I have learned a lot since acquiring fuzzybutts. I'm sorry you had such a hard experience with your jill. That's sad. I did clarify my position (just now, in fact!) to the FML regarding bleeding to death. I do know that aplastic anemia is the most common cause of death in such a case, and I know what that is (I have read extensively about it, and I am in the medical professional world for a living); I know it is not bleeding to death-I don't think I ever said it was, and if I did. that was an error. However, from what I have read and learned, there is more than one way that prolonged estrus can ultimately kill a jill (like a car accident will not be listed as the cause of death in a human, but rather any one of a number of injuries that may have resulted from it): It is possible that a jill can die of infection, can die from being in a prolonged state of high hormone levels, and, in some cases, prolonged blood loss. I did reverify this latter possibility, and actually, one of the people in disagreement with the possibility that a jill can bleed to death then quoted a source saying "Hemorage [sic] is the most common cause of death" (in a jill in estrus for too long). Hemorrhaging IS bleeding; so one of the people saying a jill can't bleed to death then said that they did; apparently they didn't quite know what the term "hemorrhage" means. (I don't mean to sound as if that person is an idiot-they're not!) I'm not just trying to be argumentative here-I really do appreciate your information and respect your opinion. I do feel, however, based on all I have learned and read that it is a possible outcome for a jill in heat too long to bleed to death. Also, I guess the biggest thing is that Matan doesn't seem to understand what to do; I thought that knowing that there is even a possibility that she may bleed to death might get his attention and encourage him to consult experts beyond the FML for help, or give up on the idea of breeding her until he learns more about what is involved and is better prepared. Bleeding to death probably sounds worse than "she'll be exposed to high hormone levels" or "have trouble producing red blood cells" or anything else, no matter how life-threatening those probabilities also are. (Not that I'm trying to mislead him, but as I said, I do believe that bleeding to death is an option for her.) The IMPORTANT thing here is that none of us is a qualified vet that has answered so far and even if we were, we're not there to monitor this specific situation, and I feel at this point that it is imperative that this jill be taken to someone with professional experience with ferrets and breeding and health care. No amount of reading or speculation or personal anecdotes is going to ultimately solve this problem if it is not dealt with physically at this point. Anyhoo, no hard feelings-just a disagreement of some semantics. I hope all of your fuzzies are doing well! (I promise this is my last word on the subject, barring some fantastic event.) ;) Respectfully, April [Posted in FML issue 3351]