For only the second time in our over thirty years with ferrets we have had a youngster with JL. As a few friends here know, we lost Arian on Monday, two weeksshort of her first birthday. Juvenile Lymphoma is blessedly rare. It is a disease that is thought to have a genetic trigger and it almost always strikes the young ones, and ravages them in very short order. To date noone has successfully treated it and often the first symptoms begin whe the ferret isclose to dying, and when that is not the case, when It takes longer -- weeks instead of days -- then it tends to invade the spinal cord. In Arian's case it went fast so this has beena huge shock but kinder to her than having it go to the spinal cord as happened to Helix long ago. Those who have encountered this version of lymphoma rather than the other slower types which are more often experienced will know what I mean. Even one with this illness is too many. It is lightening fast and it takes the very young. Ari had a distinctive personality. She loved water to the point where she would ask us to turn on the shower or the tub tap and would get herself soaking. She'd use Steve as a pier and go swimming in the bathtub while he was bathing. Ariane also liked to be entertained while she ate so she would move a meal, piece by piece up the pillow ramp to the top of the pine trunk that is next to the window and would enjoy her food as she watched the cars drive past. She alsohad true appreciation for a goodbelly kiss. Her second favorite toys were tubes to dash through as her tail wagged, and almost empty bottles of citrus seltzer which she would drag and roll everywhere. Her favorite games wereany she played with us like her favorite toy which was a stuffed cloth mousie on a "fishing pole", or any games played with the other ferrets. The others are still looking for her. We are heartbroken. I am going to ask people to NOT send us sympathy messages. We know you care, and we have already heard from people, but this loss is still to raw to have a lot of notes right now so Steve and I have to just deal with this together. [Posted in FML 7422]