Ferreter writes >It is natural for ferret kits to pile weight on during the winter months; >probably goes back to the ferrets' wild ancestor, the survival of the >fattest during the lean times ahead. The kits lose the extra weight in >the spring, and, in my experience, never again reach the weight they >attained during their first winter. That makes sense and explains my Buttons. From a private breeder, he was born in spring and neutered at 6 months. His first winter he went up to nearly 4 lbs and I thought I was going to have a porker. But he went way down the next spring, and has always been on the thin side since then, running around 2.75 lbs. Buttons, now 5 1/2, is a cinnamon blaze with Wardenburgs syndrome, deaf as a post! One of the less common symptoms is the inability to open the jaws as wide as normal. It makes eating kibble difficult, and he spends longer at the food bowl that the others. I supplement him regularly with Bob's chicken gravy. Linda Iroff Oberlin OH [Posted in FML issue 3973]