Dear Lisa My deepest sympathy at your los of Opera, She must have had a wonderful life with you to reach the age of 10. I think that this might also be what trigged the nasty remarks you received. Ferrets seldom reach more than 7 anymore. So please feel very proud of the life you gave her, she must have been a much loved and pampered ferret and there are not many people who can say, my ferret was ten years old. Despite all the operations and medicine given, I sometimes wonder if we are helping the older ferret when we put them through weeks of pain and misery with operations and medicines for just a few more years. I also once decided not to have a ferret operated on for insilnomen. We all need to take the circumstances into consideration. That does not make me a bad ferret mom, just one that has the ferret's best interest at heart. So remember your little Opera with love and know she loved you too and you did the right thing for her, not for the ferret community. Sincere regards Stephenie Netherlands [Posted in FML 5995]