Hello Gang! I've been lurking the list since my last post of the Pathology report on Farrah. As those of you have followed the story may know, the findings are turning out to be even more inconclusive to support a diagnoses of ECE. The gut tissues were too rotten to run the test that would have given a more concrete answer. So while the mystery may never be solved, I am determined to turn this tragedy into a valuable learning experience. In the wake of the loss of my fur family I found a wonderful shelter mom just an hour away from here (which by Wyoming standards is just around the corner) and we finally got a chance to visit Frontier Ferrets last weekend. We spent nearly 9 hours playing with all the kids in shifts. I believe she said she had 29, and she knew them all by name! We would wear them out in waves and while one bunch was sleeping it off we would be introduced to another. I can't remember when I have had such a WONDERFUL time!!! I'm not sure who had more fun in the rice box, my daughter (Britt) or the ferrets! Thank you Neen!!! We are hoping to come over again tomorrow for a Sunday afternoon romp! Being able to hold and love and play and just watch them has given me a very therapeutic kick in the butt! It motivated me to get the cage cleaned 3 times, all the bedding and hammys washed twice with the stuff we got from the shelter, and all the walls and non carpeted floors washed down with the antiviral cleaner I found after reading the archives of the FHL (Broad-Cide) Next, its on to the carpets and furniture. In the meantime, Britt and I hope to get over to Diamondville as often as possible to play with the Frontier ferrets and help their mom out anyway we can. I have been asking everyone, on every list I have found, what is a good amount of time to wait before adopting any more ferrets. As you might have guessed, for as many people who answered I got just as many different answers. I've heard everything from, "As long as you don't have any live shedders you're good to go" to "I would wait at least a year to be safe". That one was the hardest one to read! A WHOLE YEAR! Uuuuugh! If that's the case we will need to rent a room from Neen for the weekends! I want more NOW! Sheesh, now I know where Britt gets it from! Spoiled brats we are! We want what we want when we want it! The things I have been thinking about since a vet from the FHL told me he didn't think it was ECE, are these: Do I treat it like it was ECE or what? What looks like ECE but isn't? What else would cause those neon green slimeys Farrah and Spaz had? What would cause the baby to go from fine to dead in less than 48 hours? I sure was hoping to have a lot more answers by now, but I am learning to understand that this is not my, nor the vets fault. That it just happened and I may never know why. Shoulda', Woulda', Coulda's do nothing but discourage and depress me, so I'm done with all that! What I 'can' do is prepare the way for new fuzzies by continuing to read everything I can get my hands on, find ferret knowledgeable vets, and give as much love and support to all the kids over at FF as I can, until the time comes for us to adopt a couple. The input and support I have found within the online ferret community has been terrific! Thank you for being here and reading my sometimes frantic and shrill posts. I have yet to see any of the flames some of you mention. In fact I haven't even smelled any smoke. (KNOCK ON WOOD) Cindy - In Memory of Farrah, Spaz, and Trooper (Sorry for the long post) [Posted in FML issue 3717]