on the two occasions that i have been deeply puncture-bitten by a ferret, both became slightly inflamed and irritated, but the inflammation died down after a day or so, and the soreness only last three or four days-- didn't do anything special, just washed the bite with anti-bacteral soap and water (if that--i have a tendency to shrug off what i see as minor wounds). when i am bitten by a cat, i have much the same reaction, i think it's a result of my slight allergies to them. not a big deal. my attitude with bites is to complain about them and grumble about my bad ferret/rat/mouse/cat/hedgie/whatever bit me. complaining and grumbling makes the discomfort less, i think. ;) the most bizarre animal bite i think i've gotten was from a ball python--bizarre in the it popped my right on the lower lip, and i didn't have it near my face at all. i had a little bit of a ble puffy spot for a week, but nothing major. i thought it was kinda funny, actually: "What happened to your lip?" "oh, i had an adolescent snake get a bit testy with me." "a snake bit you?" "yeah, i got a fat lip from a python." *shrug* as you can see, i'm not one to be overly concerned about a bite, s'long as it doesn't remove a quantity of skin that i need. -kat- [Posted in FML issue 3469]