http://www.smartgroups.com/message/readmessage.cfm?gid=1423922 &messageid=5740&startid=5744 Author wrote: >Please help I am new to this site and no vets in my area will see >ferrets. He was playing the other >day outside his cage running >around, but when i found him he does nothing but lay there and >breath >heavily. I know its not poison since I blocked off that >part of the house from him. He's not even a >year yet. This is really something that should be seen by some vet somewhere. I find it difficult to imagine that any vet will turn away a sick animal - they may not know a lot about ferrets, but most vets will see them if pressed. Where are you located? The signs are very non-specific at this point, but Uli's remarks about juvenile lymphoma are certainly a possibility. However, I could not rule out the possibility of heart disease, distemper, and a number of cardiorespiratory diseases. Even a foreign body or GI ulcer causing abdominal pain could cause a ferret to breathe heavily. Time to get on the phone and find someone to see him. With kindest regards, Bruce Williams, DVM [Posted in FML issue 4237]