Greetings, all! I now have something in common with Bandit -- having had laparoscopic surgery on March 9 (followup to an incomplete miscarriage in January), the first anniversary of Bandit's surgery for biopsies and splenectomy at the Animal Medical Center. For him, major surgery; for me, (supposedly) minor surgery, but it feels major to me! all things considered, I think his recovery was quicker. :-) You know how surgeons sometimes engage you in small talk to try to relax you as you sink into anesthetic oblivion? Well, there I was drifting away, talking about my ferrets! I woke up to hear someone say, "Did you know she has FIVE ferrets?" Interesting what you think about at such times... Nancy Hartman: to repeat what I said in an earlier post, the information on insulinoma that I have access to -- a handout from the AMC -- indicates that it is considered highly treatable. I posted that info on the FML about a year ago, if you still have that issue, and I will try to dig it out for you otherwise. STAY CALM. We'll get you through this! Re: silvermitt ferrets and deafness. Our Charlie is a roan silvermitt and doesn't have any hearing problems that we're aware of, but he IS developing cataracts and going blind. I wonder if silvermitts in general are more prone to such things? Is it likely that they are *more* inbred than other ferrets, in order to develop their spectacular markings and coloring, and thus more prone to genetic weaknesses such as deafness and blindness? [Possible. Toby was a Silver Mitt, and had an extra set of scent glands. He died of Lymphosarcoma leading to a ruptured spleen. Musta been almost instantaneous.] Today's Bandit story: he climbed up on the dining room table recently and munched down on a fortune cookie left over from a take-out Chinese feast. Here's his fortune: "You will pass a difficult test that will make you happier." We got a big laugh out of that. (For those of you coming in late, Bandit has been undergoing chemotherapy for lymphosarcoma for nearly a year, and has been doing very well.) GOOD LUCK AT THE EXPO, CHERE! Katie, Jeff, Bandit, Molly, Charlie, Pogo & Sigmund Small Mammals Section Leader/CompuServe Pets Forum Internet: [log in to unmask] CIS: 71257,3153 [Posted in FML issue 0436]