Ferretphiles, Sorry it's taken so long to reply to all the ferret owners who responded to my email regarding ferret personalitites: nature vs. nuture, etc. I was at a Sybase seminar on T-SQL (relational database for those of you who are not in the computer-related world) for 3 days. Anyway, I guess the general concensus is that Ayla is a fitch ferret and, therefore, is not as domesticated as a ferret from a Pro breeder. I also didn't get her until she was 5-6 months old so I missed that critical developement stage. Damn. Anyway, a new issue. Since Ayla's surgery (to remove her adrenal tumor) she has lost a tremendous amount of weight. When she musters up enough strength to wander around for a few minutes, you can clearly see all of her ribs and her pronounced hips. It is quite alarming. I do catch her having a lone morsel once in a while...but clearly it is not enough caloric intake. My vet made a house call this past weekend. He told me that I must start force feeding Ayla beef or chicken baby food. To put this in context, Ayla won't eat anything but Iams dry cat food. Since the surgery, she even refuses to eat her Felovite II with Taurine...she used to love it. Whats going on?? When I squirt the baby food into the back of her throat with an eyedropper, she spits it out. It's quite a battle. SHE'S LIKE A FURRY SAUSAGE WITH TEETH!! She's never eaten meat (nor anything that's not dry). Good grief. I fear that if she loses any more weight...the consequences will be severe. Final topic. Someone mentioned on "the ferret line" that they rubbed their ferret down with vitamin E lotion and it helped to restore her fur coat that was lost. Will this really work or is this "an old wive's ferret tale"? I think I'm going to get a bottle of the stuff and really lube up my ferret. At the very least, I can't see any harm in it. I'm really desperate to have her fur coat return. Once again, thanks to all your informative responses. Ayla, in her own little way, really appreciates it. Tyler Greenberg [log in to unmask] [Posted in FML issue 0431]