-,{@ If you have cases of this disease, please consult with your -,{@ vet and arrange to send tissues in 10% formalin to Dr. Bruce Williams Department of Veterinary Pathology Armed Forces Institute of Pathology Washington D.C. 20306-6000 Thanks! I hope we never have to use it, but it's good to know people are working on it. :) -,{@ One of our ferrets (Muthusla) goes through stages of rapid wieght -,{@ loss. We have taken him to the vet on numourous occasions, and they -,{@ can't seem to find anything wrong with him. Is this normal for -,{@ ferrets, or is there something that we should be trying to get him to -,{@ gain weight. Hi! I had a skinny ferret...that was is, Mama...she's healthy and well though. She's grown longer, but not fatter...<g> She's quite healthy. But...I don't know if it's normal to lose when they've been heavy. <shrug> ::''::,,::''::,,::''::,,::''::,,::''::,,::''::,,::''::,,:: -,{@ This seems to work well for me. I refill the bottle about every five -,{@ days or so. The little monsters seem to like it. -,{@ Todd P. Cromwell III (206) 528-5952 [log in to unmask] THANKS!! I had just taped mine up. (DUH) I had to rip the tape off to fill it. Hehehe! <----ditz. Mine go through a bottle a day..good sized bottle too. But then they run, jump and play most of the day. Who ever said ferrets sleep alot? Hehe! Mine don't. Yesterday, Coc discovered the witch hats (the pointy ones...) she thought they were cool!! Sarah's hat is transparent sorta..and mine is black, and they were stacked. Musta been the fabric because she went nuts! She crawled between them and started grabbing and shaking them...and when Sarah tried to pick them up...up came Coco with them! Hehehe!! ::''::,,::''::,,::''::,,::''::,,::''::,,::''::,,::''::,,:: -,{@ Surgery is probably pointless at her age. The best route appears to -,{@ put her on prednisone and see what happens next. The vet doesn't hold -,{@ any hope whatsoever. I'll say some prayers for you...and the vet may not have any hopes, but I had a 4 wk old pup that I had to tube feed, and the vet held no hope (distemper) but she grew up happy, healthy, and very active. Not to give anyone false hope...but I'll be praying..:') ::''::,,::''::,,::''::,,::''::,,::''::,,::''::,,::''::,,:: -,{@ i probably wouldn't have gotten around to bathing the ferrets, -,{@ but i smeared them with sweet-smelling oil so that they wouldn't all -,{@ try to kill the new one today. it didn't work. in fact, it backfired, -,{@ because then the two who already KNEW each other didn't recognize each -,{@ other and started screaming and pulling fur. ROFLMAO!!!! -,{@ you should see ferrets when they're wet. not only do they look like -,{@ lint-covered snakes--slightly fuzzy, long and skinny, with fangs and -,{@ beady eyes--but they become quite hysterical. they flop onto their -,{@ heads, corkscrew across the floor, and plow themselves -,{@ over (or through) virtually anything to get dry. like the kitty -,{@ litter. and they entirely lose their judgment. suddenly, they think -,{@ plastic runners are absorbent; the books on the bookshelf are aborbent- -,{@ -anything but the towel. I know a catalog with a neat neat super absorbent towell, if you email me your address I'll get it to you. :) Anyway...yep..they look pretty funny...one of mine loves the water. The other two hate it pretty much. The first time I saw my ferret do that with the wiggling, dragging I freaked!! I thought SURE I'd done something horridly wrong and my ferret had gone crazy! I though I got too much water in the ears or something. Hehehehe!!!! -,{@ now, as they start to dry and calm down, it's back to the status quo-- -,{@ kill the new one. Okay..here's what I did and it worked very very very well. I sprayed all of them heavily with bitter apple. I did it about 3-4 times a day. It only took a few times to get them to finally quit. At first they'd go at each other but walk away licking their chops and sneezing etc. It works...BUT that doesn't mean they were friends at first. They quit trying to kill one another...but they still remained aloof. Now, 2 monthes (time flies!) after they were getting along well. Now they are fast freinds. :) Well, good luck. :D Daisy.Lin.. And the Whackey and Wonderful 3 !! [Posted in FML issue 0621]