Hi all. It has been a long while since I have had time to write, but here I am. I actually have found that I am in need of some good advise for my liddle biddle - Helena. Helena is a champagne, Marshall fert. She is approximately 1.5 pounds, soaking wet. She is coming around to 3 years old this November. Normal weight is MAYBE 2#'s on a good day. What is my issue? Approximately 2.5 months ago, I noticed that the already pencil thin fuzzle was growing thinner. ( I wrote back then to the Digest and you all gave me some wonderful advice) I had been watching her alot as of late - and thought that perhaps there was an issue that she had, due to a dead upper left canine. I say that because when she eats, she gets a few good chomps in, and then tilts her head sideways and "tongues" that particular tooth (or so I thought). Upon further investigation and advise from ya'll, I brought her into the vet. Well he poked, and he prodded and he twiddled and could not come up with anything concrete. He did say her spleen felt a little enlarged, but that was about it. He wanted to draw blood, and I allowed it. When the tests came back, he stated that her liver enzymes were outta this world, but he could not say why. He stated that it appeared to him, that she was in chronic liver failure, and probably would not last too much longer. He gaver her 2 weeks - tops. He also stated that the "tonguing" she was doing with her tooth, seemed to be a central nervous system reaction, as opposed to uncomfortableness from a dead tooth. He also thought it was a "pain" reaction, meaning she is doing this because it hurts.....? I am still pondering on that one, but hey, I'm no vet right? He at that time said this could all be caused from an infection, and hooked me up with some pretty hi-potency antibiotics. He added a smidgen of pain reliever (at my request) and off we went. This seemed to work well for a while - and I combined it with my own "get fat" efforts at home. Well, me, being - uhm, me - noted that she wasn't eating her kibble, no matter what I did to it. She WOULD however, munch on cat chow. I know - I know - shouldn't let her right? Well, I decided that she needed some hi-calorie, mixup of some good stuff. So here is what I did. I went to Petco - purchased a can of ferret food (rather like cat food it is). I went to the grocery store and picked up the following: Kitten chow, (Iam's), Gerber graduates - meat sticks, gerber chicken/chicken broth (level 1, whatever the hell that means) - gerber sweet potato souffle (don't ask, please, don't ask....) - gerber apple-chicken (God am I glad I am not a baby in today's world....) - and a few other miscellaneous babyfoods, to hold onto for flavor, later. I took the hard kitten chow - and soaked it in milk until it "melted" away. I meandered over to the blender (which my husband swears we will never use again to make his favorite malts....*grins*) and dumped it in. I added meat sticks, apple-chicken, sweet potato souffle, 1 can of ferret food, and dash of salt, a squirt or two of ferretone, and one "glop" of ferrevite. Punched high and sat it out. After a few minutes, we had a "treat" fit for the Ferret God. The best part? She took to it like a bee to honey. I did this AFTER I saw how much it would be for that damn duck soup at Petco......even with all I bought - it did NOT cost me $14.00, as duck soup does. I made it a point to feed her once a day with this conglomeration, (as much as she wanted to eat) - and then let her free feed still. She quickly packed on the pounds. Blew my mind. She went up to about 2.5, almost 3 #'s. BUT she looked odd. Skinney, almost skeletal upper body, big ole round tummy. As she got thicker, she got more fat on her ribs, as well. I thought she was coming around great, and decided that she would continue getting this once a day treat. She was doing good - but you as well as I know that ferret's get "bored" with the flavor. Hence the other jars of babyfood, for "flavor changes". Why the long windedness? Because she is dropping weight again, rapidly. I have changed her flavor, back to the original one that she gladly glopped up. She won't eat more than a couple mouth fulls. I have done everything from eye dropper, to putting it on my ownlips (and GACK is that not GACK?) - she as a kit - would constantly "lap" at my lips, and I figured, I am hard up - how could it hurt me, right?. Now you can all see how hard up I am to get her to eat more. She IS munching on the cat food still - but not nearly enough. I see her maybe take one mouthful and dash away. On Sunday, I picked her up and noticed she was getting dehydrated - and so I spent the day, watering and watering - whenever she popped out - she was fed, and watered....(they are free roam ferts - and have water/kibble stationed throughout the house - but she wasn't going to it for some reason). I am at a loss now though. She just doesn't want to eat - so I implemented what I call a "watch" schedule. That means, we "watch" to see when she gets up - wait til she has "done her business" - then whoever is closest, snags her, and does the feed/water thing. At least this way - she is getting ALOT of "little" bits - and I am hoping that it helps. Does anyone have any advice that they can give me? I did take her to a second vet - who agreed with the first vet - that her liver was failing, but what noone can seem to tell me is WHY. Thanks for allowing me to be long winded. Please, if anyone has advice, don't be shy. I would appreciate anyone's input at this point. Say a prayer for her kidlets. Kim and Her Army of Idiots. Kimberly Gorman IT/Telcom Analyst - CSSC Gap, Inc. [Posted in FML issue 5041]