Tonight as i sit here typing this to all of you, i am crying. Tonight, an innocent died in my arms. His name was Phoenix and he was about 6 years old. His owners dropped him off here because their kids no longer took care of him. He had originally come from a lady who worked at a pet shop who TRADED him for an iguana with these people. They only had him for about 8 months. When his family walked in the door with him tonight, I gasped. His belly was so swollen, I'd never seen anything like it. He could barely walk, had no energy, you could feel every bone in his head and he could barely hold his head up, he was so weak. I didn't think he would make it through the night without help and he needed a vet. Dr. Karen Regan to the rescue. She waited for me to get to the clinic, well after it was closed. Since Carla had my car running around to get things for the frolic this weekend, I had no choice but to ask Phoenix's family to give me a ride to the clinic. All of my being wanted to scream "how could you not know this animal was sick?!" Dr. Karen looked at Phoenix and saw that his belly was full of fluid from heart disease. She listened to his heart and took a small amount of fluid from his belly which confirmed it was heart disease. You could tell the poor little guy was suffering badly so together with my vet and Carla (who had heard I was at the vets and came to pick me up) I held this little innocent and helped him cross the bridge. I am angry because his parents did not research anything on ferrets before trading their iguana for Phoenix and I am sad that he suffered for as long as he did before coming to me. I wish I could have saved him and shown him love and tenderness before letting him go. Please hold your ferrets tight tonight and tell them how lucky they are to have loving parents like you who care enough to read e-lists like this and other publications to learn to help and love them better. Randy Melanie Belair President The Ferret Aid Society "For The Love of Our Fuzzy Friends" http://www.ferretaid.org Work like you don't need the money... Love like you've never been hurt...And dance like no one's watching! [Posted in FML issue 3519]