I believe that all of us who have had a lot of experience with ferrets owe it to our little ones and to those people who have helped us in the past to return the favor and help as many other ferret owners in need as we can. When my boy Neo became very sick about 5 years ago, I was lost. I knew nothing of online ferret communities, knew nothing of ferret illnesses, and was struggling to find a decent ferret vet in the area. It was torture seeing him so sick and feeling almost helpless to know what to do. Ann Gruden of FACT gave me considerable direction and help, including pointing me toward this email list, and the Ferret Health List, and I will always be grateful for the time and effort she made to help me. Once I joined this list, others quickly came to my aid with advice and support. I eventually lost Neo, despite surgery and meds, but from that time forward I vowed that Neo's life would mean something, and that it would spur me to learn as much as I could about ferrets, to help as many as I could in the future, and to eventually help other ferret owners in need. To this day, I take that vow very seriously. We all can help others in our own ways. The important thing, as Debbie points out, is that we take pride in our love of ferrets, take pride in our mutual support of one another, and extend that to as many other ferrets and ferret owners as we can. At the end of the day, it helps them, and it helps us to sleep just a little bit better in a world where there's just way too much suffering amongst animals. Jeff In Loving Memory of Neo, Trinity, Morphy, Possum, Pip, Pop, Sabrina, Minnie Mouse, Hunny, Misty, Frodo, Baggins, and Mr. Parker Caring for Luna, Baby Girl, Dozer, Boomer, and Zoomer [Posted in FML 7229]