I would like to share a story with everyone in the hopes that it helps you think about the simplest thing...hairballs. Sox, Bandit and Doyle came into our shelter October 16, 2002. They are all around 4-5 years old. We noticed that Sox was real tired and would just lay down out in the open. We thought maybe it had to do with his age but upon feeling his stomach we felt something there. He was eating and drinking just fine though. We gave him some ferret tone to see if that would help and he just threw it up. Oct 17 they all went in for their vet appointment. An x-ray was done on Sox. The vet found a hairball. We decided to do surgery because we felt that he would not pass it on his own. He just seemed to get weaker. On Oct 18 he had surgery to remove a 2 inch hairball. His stomach had expanded so much to accommodate it and some food that it was stretched to it's limits. He came through the surgery just fine and is now bouncing around like mad. Bandit also slept a lot but didn't seem to be "sick". We kept an eye on him and gave him ferret tone and hairball stuff. We figured it was because of his age or that he was a little sad. But after watching Sox act the same way we decided to feel his belly and found a "lump". What also started us worrying was in the last day he hasn't been eating. He has been throwing the food out of his bowl and "searching" for something, like treats. Something that was easy to eat. So, off to the vet he went. He is there now as I write this. He had an x-ray done and the vet thinks he also has a hairball. She is putting a lot of fluid into him in the hopes that it passes on it's own. If not, then tonight or tomorrow he will go in for surgery. These two came in "looking" healthy. Their coats were great and they were well taken care of (except lack of time out of cage). We were lucky...we had warning signs. We try hard to watch the ferrets and any change that may happen with them. Sometimes it is the small things that we see that let us know something could be wrong. Please, give your babies hairball treatment and ferret tone. Maybe as they age they have a harder time processing things, or maybe it just builds up. Either way, make sure to pay attention to them and the small warning signs that they can put out. Zorro taught us that. He came to the shelter and within 3 weeks he had crossed to the bridge. He had lymphoma and it was in the advanced stages. We pay close attention to those that come in...and those that are already here in the hopes that this never happens again. We might not have been able to save Zorro....but we have saved several since his short visit to us. Any other hairball stories out there that you would like to share with the FML? Joanne Ferret Corner Shelter www.geocities.com/ferretcorneraz [Posted in FML issue 3979]