Just wanted to write this in hopes that someone doesn't have to go through what I did with my ferret that I purchased from Carolina Ferrets in North Carolina. I've heard about puppy mills before, but I didn't think that there would be "ferret mills" out there too! Not that I'm accusing Carolina Ferrets of being a ferret mill, but I truly do have to wonder. I purchased a female, who I named Matti, from there back in October of 2004 and paid for her to be transported to my home via the airlines. She didn't appear to be handled very much, if at all. It took quite a long time for her to realize that I wasn't going to hurt her. I'm sure that the plane ride had a little to do with it, but not all. She turned out to be a good little ferret, however, didn't like to be held much and/or cuddled. Long story short, she was 2 1/2 years old and started breathing pretty heavy one Sunday afternoon. I immediately took her to the emergency vet and after an initial examination and a few x-rays, I was told that she had a very large mass in her abdomen and another one in her chest. The vet showed me what a "normal" x-ray of those areas should look like and then showed me Matti's. I broke down in tears! I was absolutely horrified! The masses were so large you couldn't even see her heart, nor could you see her intestines or anything else in her abdomen. The vet told me that she more than likely had lymphoma and the best thing to do at this point was to put her to sleep. I was so taken back by this because I just couldn't imagine that a ferret could have developed cancer at such a young age....she was only 2 1/2 years old! I came home and e-mailed Kathy Jordon, owner of Carolina Ferrets, and told her what happened. Her response to me was "I have only had one other case of lymphoma ever reported back to me, and that ferret was an albino male around 4 years old. I do not see it in my stock, so I do not know an answer for you." She also said that, "I will treat it as an isolated incident, since cancer is such a universal problem in all animals." She asked that I e-mail her about what type of food I was feeding her. As with all of my animals, I feed them what I think is the best food possible. Kathy's closing remark to my e-mail was, "I appreciate your email, and what you tried to do for the ferret." I was really taken back and thought that she was very cold and could have cared less about what I experienced and went through. I also asked if there was a guarantee with the ferrets she sold and she said that, "What I can do is take $50 off your next purchase." Never again in my lifetime would I purchase another ferret from there. So I went on-line and did my research. I found a breeder/rescue in New Jersey and after speaking with her on numerous occasions, purchased a kit from her. She requested a reference from me in which I gave her my vet's name and telephone number. That in itself assured me that she wanted to make sure that her babies went to good homes and that she truly cared about them! It was a long drive down to New Jersey from where I live, but well worth it! [Posted in FML 5703]