Hello everyone, Well, like many states, it seems that all the Maryland ferret shelters are full and over loaded. Many of the shelter moms and dads do it all alone - from daily cage and floor cleaning, meds, soup, exercising each ferret, ears, nails, vet runs, website management & posting, the phone calls that occur all day long and into the night, making sure the shelter is supplied with all the necessities (food, litter (which usually means hauling in anywhere from several hundred pounds to a ton of it at a time, etc), constant laundry, ADV testing, toy rotation and networking. How would any of you do with fifty ferrets of your very own? Could you keep up and not pull your hair out? I know I couldn't. Some shelter operators even have full time jobs ta boot! There are a few shelters out there that actually have enough regular volunteers to get the job done. But most do not. I would respectfully ask that everyone out there consider volunteering one day a month at your local shelter. These people have selflessly dedicated their lives to helping our homeless ferret friends and I think volunteering a couple of hours each month isn't asking a lot. Ask a person running a shelter out of their home when the last time they had a vacation was - or what year was it the last time they felt that they could do all their shelter work AND run their households? Or maybe the last time their husband got a hot meal for dinner.....(too bad he doesn't eat duck soup.....). How many people that run shelters actually end up getting divorced? I'd venture to say probably most of them. Think about THAT for a moment. You'd not only be helping the shelter, you would be directly helping the ferrets! And possibly making new life-long friends too. A few hours of your time means more to the shelter people than you could ever imagine. Volunteering.....it's good for the heart and soul. Please do consider it. On another note - I used a product this weekend called MisterMax Anti-Icky-Poo on my carpet "unauthorized potty spots". It worked really well - WAY better than resolve. And since I have a whole male in the house, the carpet was extra-stinky. Just thought I'd pass it along because I know there are many others with the same problem. I bought a quart at the vet - it's pretty expensive, but surfed the net and found a gallon for $29.99. It worked great in the carpet cleaning machine too. Lisa [Posted in FML issue 4902]