Hi All: First of all, thanks to those who sent prayers and good wishes for our Theo-dorable. Teddy is coming along nicely. Enlarged spleen and liver with high fever and lower than normal PCV had us a bit worried. He is doing very well. This a.m. I spotted him eating kibble. He's been taking his soup from a syringe and eating the moist 8 & 1 Ultimate which my kids seem to do after a serious bout of anything. Nice option for them with illness, I've learned. Ted goes back for blood values next week as I requested Doc give me a little more time to do healing work on him as well as provide helpful supplements to boost his red blood cell count. He'll accommodate us if we need to visit sooner. Once Ted had all four feet on the ground, White Bear, who has IBD had a major flare-up with bloody stool which helped my heart skip a beat. Thanks to help from our beloved Auntie Jackie, Mom got her feet back on the ground and within the morning had White Bear headed down the road to recovery. Today it appears all is well here. **Shelter Moms and Dads - know that especially at times like this I pause and say a prayer for all of you and the wonderful work you do and wonder -- how to they do this day in and day out???** I've tried to catch up on the threads running on the FML about food tastings, losses and TF. I too am sad to read the unkind words shared, but thankful for a variety of insights and support given by others. One of the things I learned the hard way was that when picking foods you have to keep your individual ferrets in mind. A few years ago I allowed myself to think I was not best serving my ferrets and changed to foods recommended by others. Was I using the best foods for my nine kids or not? Well, the short story is that by the time I got done screwing around changing foods all I had done was screw up my ferrets. Moral of the story -- "If it is not broken, don't fix it." Now, that does not mean I do not try new brands or different soup recipes. I have had some work for one and not the others. But generally if it is working with healthful results, I leave it alone, while reading and being aware. I also wanted to comment on Totally Ferret and the humans and animals behind the name. Earlier this year when the mid-west and southeast was getting hammered with tornadoes, I was involved with behind the scenes recon work for any shelters with emergency needs. Part of the networking included calls to April at Totally Ferret to see that food was sent to shelters in need. I don't know how many people on this list even have a clue how close TF pays attentions to the shelter situations, not only in times of disaster, but just day to day. Let me tell, you they had those shelters taken care of immediately! These folks have got the ferret community covered - I swear they have a crystal ball and they tune into each shelter. I fully believe without the silent donations made by this company (really the people behind it) some shelter doors would now be closed. I also learned that April knows first hand about sheltering as her Mom runs a ferret shelter. Imagine that. I didn't know, did you? Prior to my Jillie Feet's annual exam she had gotten on the computer and e-mailed Isabella Gucci Jones on Face book asking for some guidance in appropriate food selections as she was concerned that her Doc was going to recommend a weight reduction program for her future. Isabella suggested Jillie tell me to call her Mom and as often is the case, the Moms worked out a solution. In conversation with April she made some suggestions about ways to present the foods that had not occurred to me. They were successful and I find that the kids are still making up their minds about these choices even four months later. Doc did not recommend a weight reduction program sparing Jillie's feelings, but did suggest she continue her daily exercise program! I have also talked with Liz and she was quite helpful in sharing samples and expalantions to specific choices to determine which way to go with orders since we do not get TF foods or products in this area. I would also like to support the product Vivify which I ordered after inquiring and receiving rave reviews from users on the FML. Every ferret in this house will trade in an N-Bone for Vivify! I truly believe this product helped keep Teddy (emotionally) strong while taking his terrible tasting meds knowing he could get a few drops of Vivify to cleanse his pallet of the yucky tastes. I wish I had bought it sooner! Whether you opt to purchase ferret, dog or cat products from Totally Ferret (Performance Foods, Inc.) is up to you the individual. I just wanted you to be aware that this company and its employees (human and animals) do care about their customers and the communities and members they service and they do it with grace and humor --- and sometimes ghosts and pink duct tape. After all, we ferrets gotta stick together! Cathy Ryan Feed rescued animals in two clicks http://www.theanimalrescuesite.com/clickToGive/home.faces?siteId=3 [Posted in FML 6838]