First off, thanks to all who took the time to write and send e-cards. It's nice to have a well-meaning community like this to fall back on when times are rough. Right now, things are kinda rough for me. Aside from Sprinkles' issues, I'm also taking care of my mother's four ferrets -- including one (Snowy) who requires regular feeding and medication, just like Sprinkles, although Snowy is otherwise quite healthy. And I'm taking care of mom's ferrets because my mother fell victim to a stroke a couple of weeks ago, so she's busy recovering and starting her physical therapy. So times are not exactly happy right now, and your well-wishes are appreciated. An update on Sprinkles... I put Sprinkles in the cage last night, tucked in and warm. Sometime around 8am this morning (4/13) she pooped on herself pretty badly; her back leg was covered in it. I woke up shortly thereafter and cleaned her up (which was pretty easy, considering), dried her off, and gave her morning medicine and duck soup. I put her back in her bed and then left, returning at 3pm to find that she'd pooped again -- and had moved out of the bed, all the way across the room (~12 feet), and fallen asleep in another bed (a tent, actually). I gave her afternoon medicine and duck soup though she was VERY tired; she was practically falling asleep with her nose in the soup. She ate about half the bowl, then I tucked her in and put her (and the tent) on the windowsill so she could watch the day. (One bowl of duck soup, by the way, is a glass ashtray -- yes, it's clean! -- with one melted ice cube's worth of duck soup plus a couple tablespoons of Lactaid to thin it out, served warm.) She is still painfully weak, which is disheartening, but her bowel movements have significantly improved. Previously she was releasing a few drops of diarrhea and would bleed from her anus from the strain of pushing it out; now she has some fairly solid movements and no bleeding. I'm trusting that this is the Kaopectate doing its job. (And before anyone asks, yes, we had an ultrasound done awhile back and there are no foreign objects in her intestinal tract.) So, she's still with us, and I'll be making fairly regular updates on her progress for those interested. Again, thanks for all of the kind words and well-wishes. PS: For those interested, she's medicated three times per day. In the morning she gets prednisolone (.5cc), flagyl (.1cc), and Kaopectate (1cc), then about five minutes later she gets duck soup thinned out with Lactaid. Early afternoon (about 2pm) she gets Kaopectate (1cc) and more duck soup. Late afternoon -- if she wants it -- she gets more duck soup. In the evening (typically around 9pm) she gets a repeat of the morning routine. A few people have suggested melatonin (one person emphatically so). I intend on calling my vet tomorrow to ask her opinion and may add that to her regimen if the doctor thinks it won't conflict with anything. [Posted in FML issue 4117]