Hi- Thought you'd all enjoy this story. My Ethyl (3 weeks post adrenalectomy) likes to climb on a neighbor's cage during playtime. This has become a ritual -- she climbs up, looks down the hall where I am working -- and her eyes say "ha-ha. I'm where I'm not supposed to be again. Now you have to take down the baby gate and climb over to put me on the floor, 'cause you know I might jump down." And, being the good human, I do as I'm supposed to, "scolding" her the entire time. This morning, she appeared on top of the cage, as usual. However, she seemed agitated - pacing rapidly back and forth, anxious and irritated. I followed my routine - removing the baby gate and walking over to the cage. She just about leaped into my arms, madly kissing my face (also unusual for her). She wiggled to get down - pointing in the direction of her snack bowl. I turned, to let her head off in the direction of a snack. Then I saw it. Fred, my blind ferret (who was fairly handicapped by his blindness and constantly needs help and guiding), was standing near the bowls, frantically pawing at his mouth. As it turns out, he had gotten a piece of kibble firmly wedged in the roof of his mouth! Being carefully supervised by the entire crew (Ethyl, Lucy, and Ricky), I scruffed Fred to remove the offending piece of kibble (stolen cat food, in fact.....). After inspecting that all was once again ok, Ethyl marched back to continue her playtime. Ethyl couldn't help Fred dislodge the kibble - but she sure knew the fastest way to bring help in a hurry! She did what she had to do to bring help for her companion. Aren't these little guys just amazing? Hope this true story brightened your day a little....... -Sandra [Posted in FML issue 4904]