Thought I'd throw in my two cents worth since I'm currently at NIH. For proper animal studies to be done, the control set of animals much resemble as close as possible the experimental group. Ideally, twins, triplets, etc. would work best. Hence I am not surprised that inbreeding may be a problem since for animal studies one wants as genetically similar animals as possible. A valid question then is how many ferrets are sold as pets versus the number sold for experimental purposes. Just as breeders want certain colors, traits, etc, so do the experimenters. Just providing info, not trying to start debate on animal research.... As far as spaying/neutering goes, follow common sense. Fool with Mother Nature, Mother Nature will fool with you. Hormone balance would ensure normal development of the ferret, I am somewhat concerned about my ferret since he was "fixed" at an early age. Perhaps this is the cause of the tumor/cancer rate in ferrets, maybe a vet who deals with a large sampling can enlighten us (cancer rate "altered" vs. normal). Another side note on cancer which may/ may not be relevant - my ferret has the disgusting habit of eating insects. Insecticides are well known to cause cancer, so I watch him like a hawk when he starts pouncing around. Time to move to a better apartment. To the person with Buddy, the ferret that misses the litter box - might try a larger litter box. Spud never misses on the big one but messes up occasionally on the smaller one. Poor aim! :-) Also, Buddy may smell the butt-wiping(tm) and think that is the plcae to go. Cures for that have been discussed. If anyone would like info on the ferret research, let me know and I will post what I can find out. Basically ferrets catch similar diseases as humans (ex. colds) so they become "models" for research. I'm a biophysical chemist here at NIH so I'm no expert but I do have access to information if anyone is interested... Mark Chavez [log in to unmask] [Posted in FML issue 0382]