Just thought I'd send a report on the progress I'm having with my stubborn albino, and yes, it's good news. (For those who aren't familiar with the situation, she had been fed supermarket brand cat foods by the person we adopted her from, and we couldn't get her to eat the Iams and Science Diet kitten foods we feed our other two ferrets.) Last week I went looking for samples of some of the brands Nancy Hartman mentioned in her taste test results. I mainly wanted to get my hands on some Max Cat, Pro Plan and Bil Jac since those were the ones I'd heard the most good things about. Wouldn't you know, the pet store I first went to was out of all of these, though. They did give me a sample of some brand named Eagle, and it looked like an OK food, but Tooters wanted nothing to do with it. Finally, I found another pet store that has samples available (there aren't many of those in our area), and I got some Pro Plan kitten food. She ate it a little hesitantly at first, but since then she's been eating it pretty regularly. I'm _so_ glad to finally not have to worry about what she's eating, since Pro Plan looks to be a pretty nice food. I'd still like to try a sample of Max Cat, though, since I figure if it's more flavorful than Pro Plan she might eat more often. She's kind of skinny, and I'd like to see her put on a little weight. Unfortunately, it looks like I'm having another, somewhat related, problem. Ginger, one of my other ferrets, had been getting into Tooters supermarket food quite a bit lately. Since switching to the Pro Plan, she hasn't been eating much at all. She doesn't like the Pro Plan, and, unlike what I thought would happen, she hasn't gone back to eating the Science Diet like she did before we adopted Tooters. It looks like just the month or two of her getting into the Friskies when I wasn't around to stop her has spoiled her taste for the Science Diet. (Not to mention it appearing to have an effect on her coat.) I'm hoping she'll come around and start eating the Science Diet again, since I'm starting to worry about her. I have a question regarding the relation between diet and behavior. Ginger has gotten to be very jumpy and nervous in the past two months or so, and I was wondering if it could have anything to do with her eating so much of the supermarket food recently? She was a little nervous when we first brought her home as a baby, but within a few weeks she calmed down and seemed to outgrow it. (I always figured it was just due to being brought into a new environment.) But recently, she's become very jumpy. For instance, she runs and hides at the slightest noise and on a few occasions has even literally flown out of my arms because of something (sometimes I don't even know what) spooking her. Also, I took her along with me last night when I went to pick up a friend, and she hid in my coat the entire time. Does anyone have any information on whether a poor diet could be affecting her behavior like this? Lastly, I noticed in our local TV listings for Saturday evening (2/13) that our PBS station is airing a show called "Scientific American Frontiers". Among the subjects being shown on the program, it says "endangered ferrets". I know not all PBS stations show their programs on the same date or time, but I thought I'd mention it anyway so anyone who's interested can keep an eye on their listings for it. -- Lynn-Anne Friese mixcom!ccwwcc%uunet.uu.net [log in to unmask] [Posted in FML issue 0416]