I know that this has been discussed in the Ferret Health List so you should be able to find it in the FHL Complete Archives. These should help: http://fhl.sonic-weasel.org/browse.php?msg=YG356 http://fhl.sonic-weasel.org/browse.php?msg=YG5562 I have found a certain conversation to become circular. If folks won't check the resources and if folks assume that anyone who has mentioned some ferrets in their lives who have gotten along perfectly well with rabbits, mice, rats, chinchillas, etc. can't possibly be telling the truth, then what is the point of repeating just because they haven't run into it themselves? We know that there is stock that hunts readily, but that isn't a universal situation. If it is assumed that even though after hundreds of years with ferrets in the U.S. that they will still go feral when they simply haven't, then what is the point? Heck, I could release a pile of chihuahuas around here assuming that since we have coyotes in our part of New Jersey that other canids would easily go feral, but I doubt we'd get colonies of that little dog. Domestic species can vary widely and certainly ecology does so why assume that the stock or conditions here well enough match those elsewhere? Variation is prevalent. The conversation was useful while new folks were being introduced to information which is useful for them, but for my taste (and my choice whether to participate) it is bogging down right now with the same old things. Lumps: Terry take the ferret to a vet to be checked for things that inflame nodes such as systemic infections or lymphoma. The only way to know if it is lymphoma is to do a biopsy. Blood tests are not diagnostic; there had been a hypothesis that it could be but that has been disproven. In a healthy ferret who is never-the-less overweight such lumps can also be fat, but your vet needs to check. It is hard long distance to know what a person means in a description but this grouping: enlarged nodes or fat around the nodes is among the things for the vet to check. [Posted in FML issue 4027]