8/16/91 Forgot to mention in last posting that the aberrations of behavior in which neutered male ferrets begin behavior on non-ferret cylindrical objects or do neck bites and drag or try to mount females (even well spayed ones) is in the normal range of behaviors from what we have seen, just like pitiful attempts made by neutered male dogs are within normal range. Also forgot to mention that, when possible, positive reward for good behavior (in this case switching to kisses or displacing to cylindrical toy, or learning to groom Mommy -- which may involve kisses and maybe gentle grooming with incisors only) tends to have the best results, but it's hard as heck to be positive to a little guy who is trying to invent S&M. We wonder if females have many nerves in the back of the neck and upper back, partly because Frit hardly notices her twice daily subcutaneous 20 cc of 2.5% dextrose and 0,45 % sodium chloride solution (%s important for vets) If you had seen Fritter recently you would be shocked at her level of improvement since we began the injections on Tuesday night (It is only Friday morning now). She looked close to death's door and sad then, although she cuddled and had short spells of play, but this am she enjoyed serious bouts of play spaced with short breathers for 1 & 1/2 hours! She is cuddling more seriously and ravenous for kisses, demanding to be carried outside for smelling sessions, and beginning to groom again, and yesterday was the first day after 1 week when I did not need to force feed her almost every thing (exceptions included stuff like Ben and Jerry's vanilla which she gets now when being stuck and pumped up) so her sense of hunger seems to be returning. We are concentrating on loaded calories like Nutrical enriched foods, and hard boiled egg yolk with heavy cream and Brewers yeast, and they have been very useful for preventing a dangerous weight loss. When we'll really relax will be when she once again takes cat food on her own, but she has not yet reached that point. Honestly expected to lose her before, but now she's having a grand time and acting wonderfully. Amazing how much is being learned about treating cancer in ferrets; turns out they may have better survivability for at least some types than cats have -- the trick is that people just need to learn which treatments they respond well to because most of that work just hasn't been done yet. Dr. Newman at Hillsborough is just dynamite at researching, using common sense, and consulting when needed. (When my Mom had cancer it's discovery was delayed for a long amount of time -- almost two years since it's location on a major nerve started pain at a very early stage -- and proper treatments which may have saved her were delayed until it was too late to do them because her MD's ego stopped him from thinking that he should look harder and consult. For obvious reasons I appreciate professions who can say that they don't know and who then try to learn.) Sukie even more on Fritter 8/18 Fritter continues to improve. She spent much of last night eating hard cat food for the first time in a week. The amount of improvement has been remarkable. One thing we've noticed on ferret behavior is that they strongly respond to praise. The worst kind of swearing is hissing -- if one nips as a kit, you can usually make them stop dead in their tracks by hissing at them. Steve [Posted in FML 0169]