We have made arrangements with funds from SOS to test our ferrets for ECE and coccidia in the coming week. The results -- the exact lab documents -- will be posted on our website, as soon as we receive them from our vet, regardless of the outcomes. The Ferrets at Heart ferret population is doing well as a whole. A few members still have stool looser than normal, but all, barring one, are eating a goodly amount, drinking plenty, and gaining their plump ferrety figures back. The ferrets seem greatly relieved to be able to get to their corners or paper to potty, rather than being controlled by their "runs" anymore. Seeing playful attitudes again has been a blessing along the lines of "my cup overflowith". We hope to accomplish more at this vet appointment than pass over fecal samples for testing. Holly needs a renal panel to get an idea of how much kidney function she has left. A couple of ferrets need exams, one for possible heart issues. Antibiotics will probably be purchased to wrap up any lingering secondary infections here at Ferrets at Heart. If you can contribute to this venture, please PayPal to [log in to unmask] or pay our vet by credit card at 440-774-4542. Thank you to everyone who offered advice, financial assistance, and physical items during this crisis. I hope I sent out all the thank-you, but, if I missed yous, it wasn't on purpose. I was sleep walking through the beginning of June. I remember kind people calling with encouragement, but I have trouble recalling their names. Doing the every two-hour force-feeding schedule on my own left me brain-dead. Mom got some more than bad news this week. The lung cancer has sprouted seeds in three of her left ribs and her left adrenal gland. At this point, medications can only be used to help her body slow the growth and the constant pain. She's leaving us. I'm broken. How many children never fight with their parent as a teenager? How many are truly best friends? I came from her body. She took a blind child and taught her to make it in the "sighted" world -- high school Valedictorian, etc. She made me. I am strong for her, but, knowing she doesn't read the FML, I can say I'm lost. So that's the update. Please help us take as many of the ferrets as we can to the vet. I know I'll have to be traveling to North Carolina again soon, and, though the vet is good there, he isn't our Dr. Douds. Pray for Mom, and, if it doesn't sound selfish, pray for me too. With the recent ferret illness here, the weeks of no sleep and then finding out that asking for help only got me "in trouble" for bringing in a disease... Now Mom's controlled cancer has blossomed. Add in that I'm probably getting a divorce, and you can imagine my lack of sanity. All I have to hold on to are the ferrets, and they slip away so easily. With respect, Lori of Ferrets at Heart Huron, Ohio (419)433-6016 http://ferretsatheart.com/ [Posted in FML 7464]