Amy, You will want to check into Fox at MIT Comparative Medicine. He has been looking at a possible Aleutians -lympho connection, and his book (though now dated) is the typical general ferret veterinary guide. Re: the melatonin question: the mechanisms are new postulations and I know of no one who has connected this to any cancers in ferrets, but some are following up possible links to human breast cancers -- basically the studies are of factors which are estrogenic or which modify the cellular treatments of natural and imposed estrogens and estrogen-like compounds. Look in Science News 7/3/93, vol. 144 for an over-view. Gather there's much more in the August Environmental Health Perspectives with studies from 5 separate medical centers leading in the same directions. (If you get a hold on that I'd love a copy of the pieces.) (Would also love to know if there are lower rates of any of the breast cancers in those with SAD.) Some folks mentioned in Sci News piece: Devra Lee Davis of Dept of Health and Human Services, John A. McLachan of NIEHS , H. Leon Bradlow of Cornell's Strang Cancer Prevention Center, Richard G. Stevens of Pacific Northwest Laboratory, Scott Davis of Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, David Blask and Steven M. Hill of U. AZ in Tucson, Dzhemal Sh. Beniashvili of Republic of Georgia's Ministry of Health, Wolfgang Loscher of School of Veterinary Medicine in Hanover, Germany, Robert P. Liburdy of Berkley, any of which may be sources of reprints. One problem: the cancers seen in ferrets tend to get lumped into very general catagories by diagnostic labs with many types just plain being called lymphos so it can be hard to look at differences between them. Yes, inbreeding is a severe problem, which is why some breeders are bringing in foreign sperm or breeders. The most commonly heard of: lympho (of many possible sites, and with different prognoses in young ferrets which often have it expressed in lungs and untreatable or (without symptoms till death or near-death) in spleen which bursts, and in older animals which show enlarged nodes and spleens and have health changes noticed by owners leading to what can be effective treatment (see Ann Jeglum's lympho protocol for cats which saved ferret, Bandit), insulinomas, and adrenal adenocarcinoma. Again to the individual with the ferret which is partly bald and having orange skin secretions: What is the underlying problem? Ferrets don't go bald to an extreme extent without a reason (some not any big deal, but others life threatening), and secretions themselves could be related. If they are what they sound like to me your ferret could have a problem Hjalmar had when his adenocarcinoma caused him to go bald -- without hairs to wick away his skin oil he got ozzy blackheads which itched like crazy. The answer was oiling him well and regularly with baby oil and then carefully and VERY gently to draw my thumb nail (newly cleaned) along them from head to tail to dislodge the worst ones. He found this a great relief, but again you need to know WHY your ferret is going bald. Anon with the hard of hearing ferret, We also have one with a limited range of hearing, and have heard of 3 or 4 others, we're also among those who have reported that our ferrets understand about 50 or 60 words and simple subject-verb-object sentences. Even 'Chopper who is partly deaf and Ruffle who is retarded (and also has physical problems from acrondoplasic dwarfism and many allergies) have reasonable comprehension if we use the right pitches and repetition. Your's may have a far worse hearing loss than our's. Try banging floor to get attention --- that's what parents I know do with deaf human kids. Re not exactly kissing cousins: Canada now has BFFs in the Toronto Zoo. In the fall the U.S. National Zoo will begin public display of some and there will be releases for re-introduction in several states. A few of the breeding zoos have had problems this year, with one losing many of the kits and the reason or reasons still unknown, but others such as WY Fish and Game's breeding sites have had a strong reproductive year. Go see your furries and get some kisses and hugs, Sukie, Steve, Meltdown, Ruffle, 'Chopper the ferret helicopter, Spot, and Meeteetse [Posted in FML issue 0526]