Cheryl--It sounds like you have a seriously ill ferret on your hands. Please get him to the vet TODAY! Pale gums and lethargy are symptoms of several serious problems, including anemia, heart problems, internal bleeding, and lymphosarcoma. You vet will be able to evaluate your ferret and get him on appropriate medications and supplements to make him feel better, and possibly save his life. Angie--Some ferrets are just skinny by nature. Take a look at Cleo's tail. Is it long proportionally to her body? Compare it to Mocha's tail. Also is Cleo's face longer and more "pointy"? If both of these are the case, she is a "whippet" body style, and should be on the thin side. I'm assuming that she eats, drinks, plays and acts like a normal healthy ferret? As long as this is the case and she's been seen by the vet in the past year for a general examination, I wouldn't be terribly concerned. Ferrets have different body styles just like people do :) You can try to fatten her up a bit by offering some "Duck Soup" (there are a variety of recipe's on the Internet, the one I use is one jar lamb baby food, one can Vanilla Ensure, a long squeeze of Nutrical, and equal parts water.) Trijntje--Without doing a biopsy you can't rule out cancer. If it were my ferret I think I would have one of the lumps removed and sent out for biopsy. That way you know if you are dealing with cancer (thus they will all need to be removed) or something else. If they aren't solid then the vet should be able to do a much less invasive needle aspirate. In all honesty they possibly will grow large enough to become an issue even if they are benign, and early removel is generally what the vets suggest in a case like this. Also, how was adrenal disease ruled out? Samuel--You need to give more details. How old was your ferret? When was the last time it had seen a vet? On the symposium--regretfully I won't be able to attend this year, we are in the process of building a house, and cash and time are both tight as a result. I just want to let everyone who is "thinking" about going know that you should GO! This will be one of the most interesting, educational, and inspirational few days of your life! It's with very heavy heart that I can't make it. I definitely plan on going to the next one though! The symposium is especially wonderful for you newer owners. you will not only get a lot of information, but get to meet other ferret owners and learn from them as well :) So don't think that it's not for you even if you have only been owned by a ferret for a short period of time. You might learn something that will some day save your ferrets life! Anne [Posted in FML issue 4197]