Well, here's yet another post from Cassidy's new dad. I feel like I'm hogging the List lately. I was kind of embarrassed to see I had issue 351 all to myself. Anyway, on with our story... Yesterday I had a bit of a scare. I've been re-arranging things around my place lately. There's a box of styrofoam packing popcorn that I normally keep on top of a tall bookcase. Well, the bookcase was one of the things that got moved, and I must have carelessly put the box within ferret reach, because around 10am I found the box tipped over on the living room floor and popcorn strewn about. I was immediately worried that my 'kids' (as I call my ferrets) might have swallowed some. I know from the list how serious intestinal blockage can be for ferrets, and how fast they can deteriorate (my belated condolences on Bear, Steve). The first thing I did (other than berate myself) was examine the popcorn to see if any of it looked chewed. Ever try to determine if a few pieces in a box of popcorn have been chewed on? Good luck! Then I cleaned up the popcorn and gave each ferret a bit of milk to act as a laxative. Was this a good idea? Buddy and Cassidy sure thought so! (like most/all ferrets, they *love* milk :). Then I separated them so I could keep track of their leavings. After this I searched the living room for any additional pieces of popcorn that they may have hidden away (didn't find any; hope I was thorough). Since then Buddy has pooped 4 or 5 times (the first two were pretty liquid, and apparently somewhat explosive; I wish I had put newspaper behind the litter pan :), and Cassidy has pooped her usual numerous amount of times (8? 10?). It looks like they were lucky this time. Still, this served as a reminder to me to that their somewhat fragile lives are in my hands, and I have to be careful. Another thing. I currently have a cold, and naturally I don't want my 'kids' to catch it if at all possible. I've been trying to remember to wash my hands before handling them or their things. Will this help? Are they likely to catch my cold anyway? An update on Cassidy (as if you don't get enough of them already :). She's 10.5 weeks old, and up to 1 lb, 2 oz. She's gaining about half an ounce/day. Her baby fur is gradually being replaced by courser fur, with guard hairs coming in thicker (she almost seems to be changing on a daily basis). She's still quite a bit lighter colored than Buddy, and still looks quite 'babyish' (especially with that completely pink nose of hers :); will that get splotchy when she's older?). As for litter training, maybe I just lucked out with Cassidy, but she seems to be learning litter training quite quickly from Buddy; she usually seems to go where she sees him go (with one exception; under my bed is also a favorite spot for her to go, and naturally I don't keep a litter pan there). A final note: I'd just like to welcome Lorene Turner, my U of S email pen pal (or keyboard pal) and fellow Trekker to the List. Hope you enjoy it as much as I have, Lorene. John, Buddy, and Cassidy [Posted in FML issue 0354]