Dear Friends, I am finally in the United States, in the state of Connecticut (Farmington) (I am from Mexico city). I am the one that wanted to know if I could arrive to JFK airport with a ferret due to the illegal condition that ferrets have in NY. Fortunately I did not have much trouble getting out of customs with my baby Gigio. Gigio is getting used to his new apartment and he is doing almost fine, although in his first walk in the park he got a flea, he never have had fleas before, we were lucky that I noticed that immediately when we arrived home and was able to kill it. Now I am planning to buy this anti-flea product called Advantage just to protect him from getting fleas outside. At the moment every time we go out for a walk I make him wear an anti-flea collar, I am not sure if this will really keep fleas away from him but he hasn t caught other flea since then. Last wendsday playing with him I noticed a small lump at the tip of his tail, and from the information that this useful list provides, I already knew what it was about. I am afraid that my poor child is developing a chordoma. Saturday we rushed to the vet (Dr. Barrios in East Hartford, recommended by many of you, thank you!) and he confirmed that it was a chordoma. Gigio is going to be under surgery this Friday 12th October, this is going to be his first surgery (he is 2.7 years old) and I am very concerned about his health. I am asking you to say a prayer for him and to keep him in your thoughts. He is my precious baby, the treasure of his mother and of this grandmother too (she is in Mexico missing him terribly). I know that this is not as dangerous as a surgery for adrenals or similar, but you know that anesthesia is always hazardous and something could go wrong. Thank you for your support and comprehension, I just wanted to share this with you, it makes me feel better. Best regards, Cathie and Gigio. [Posted in FML issue 3564]