Dear Sandee, Oh my, to be asking for your greeting assistance twice in one week is difficult to bear. Earlier I asked you to greet Calvin. Today I must ask that you greet Whitey-Powder-Possum as well. I took my big handsome albino Possum boy to the vet about 6 weeks ago for some dental work and because he seemed to be sleeping too much and playing too little. I was figuring large spleen or low glucose, both of which ended up being fine. Took care of his dental work & decided to keep an eye on him. He started losing weight and this became serious. In six short weeks and and no answers in sight, he was failing fast and had developed a walnut sized mass in the area of a kidney, lost his sight and the use of his back legs. He was fighing all attempts at meds and didn't even want his "soupies" anymore. He was not strong enough for surgery. It became painfully obvious that I had to let him go, so we spent the weekend cuddling, eating anything he wanted if he wanted it, sipping warm water and getting all the neck, ear and back rubs he wanted. Mostly, he slept next to my heart and got a lot of Mommy kisses on his little head. We helped him cross yesterday morning. Possum same to us as a stray who was found crossing the street at midnight in a thunuderstorm. A lost, soaking wet little ferret. The man who picked him up was kind enough to put a "found" ad in the paper, but knew nothing about ferrets. He wanted to keep Possum if no owner came forward. Not liking the description of "most laid-back ferret I've ever seen" and "in a cage in my garage" in 95 degree summer, I managed to get the guy to let me come take a look. Of course he was laid back, the heat was killing him and he was full of fleas and ticks. $50 persueded the man to give up the ferret and was the start of Possum's life with us. His new Daddy, ever-so-creative with the ferret names, called him Whitey. His new Mommy called him Powder and eventually knick-named him Possum for "Playing Possum" by sleeping so hard he appeared to be dead. Thus, Whitey-Powder-Possum became out longest-named ferret in the household. He was a gentle boy and until lately, a good sized ferret. He loved back rubs. Possum used to hang out and share kibbles in the same baby crib as Houdini who recently crossed the bridge. I am sure that she will be happy to help you greet both Calvin & Possum. Please tell him for me that I'm sorry he was so sick and that I bothered him so with with medecine he hated. Tell him the time we spent saying good-bye meant so much to me and he will always have a special place in my heart as my little cuddle bug. I hope to hear that you find him bounding across the bridge in a nice robust body with energy he has not had in a long time. He might need some training wheels under his heavy little back end when he tried his wings the 1st time!! We've always called him "lead bottom" as that's just the way it was distributed on him! Jerri Carel The Ferret Haven Louisville, KY [Posted in FML issue 4475]