I accidently left on my signature line (my old one, too, with the old FHL addy) under the post about the Ferret Health List moving, but it is from ALL of us: MIke Janke, Pam Sessoms, Dr. Bruce Williams, Troy Lynn Eckart, and me. So, for a while I get to have the signature lines like the one below. Then I can shorten them once again. The recommended resources are STILL THERE for those who use my signature as a linking mechanism (and many have told me that they do) but are near the bottom. On the rates of aging and malignancies: yes wild animals often die young enough to not be able to look at rates of aging but in zoos one could. Also, ironically -- by entirely different mechanisms -- malignancies increase with *advanced* age. BTW, if we consider humans to be domesticated apes (Some here won't but I do.) we DO typically have very different and slowed rates of aging compared to those apes who share almost all of our DNA. (One of the greatest changes, but not only between humans and chimps is in which of those shared genetic material are turned on in the different species.) It would be interesting to see if neotany does tend to be accompanied by slower rates of aging and more non-elderly time of life malignancies. Anyway, the recently found link between slowing rates of aging and increasing rates of early malignancies is an intriguing one which may prove a useful route to new approaches. If nothing else at this stage it can make those of us who complain about thickening waists, greying hair, and faces sliding south onto our necks feel better about ourselves and our health. Sometimes careful scientific study packs some real surprises; I think the link between slowed aging and increased malignancies outside of extreme old age is an example of that. Shirley, Yes, ferrets are resistant to several dangerous food borne pathogens. They *can* still get them, though, and when they do those illnesses can be fatal, in fact, some of them, like bovine mycobacteria, always are fatal one way or another. It's just that they usually don't get the sicknesses. Bill, I loved your note explaining the difference between the FML and FHL which included >Ferret Health List is all about ferret health (duh!) and ONLY ferret >health. It's a great, focused, electronic list and highly recommended. Thank you so very, very much. Thanks, too, for thinking about those who might confuse the FML and FHL. Sukie (not a vet) Reminder: THE FERRET HEALTH LIST IS MOVING. To join, click on the joining link at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ferrethealth and then follow the directions. OR just send a blank mail to the automated joining address: [log in to unmask] and then follow the directions. Recommended ferret health links: http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/ferrethealth/ http://ferrethealth.org/archive/ http://www.afip.org/ferrets/index.html http://www.miamiferret.org/fhc/ http://www.ferretcongress.org/ [Posted in FML 5418]