To Tracy, Re the hacking ferret... We had some trouble with this. A couple of possible (but by no means an exhaustive list) causes are: (1) Litter: our Winston got nasty runny eyes and a bad hack from some kind of "scoopable" litter, and then again from some litter with amonia or something in it. Got a good litter and lost the hack. (2) Could be a cold of some kind: since he's eating and playing normally, this seems unlikely. (Don't worry about the PLAY! [Lie Down] PLAY! [Lie down] thing: perfectly normal behaviour) (3) Hair-balls. If the ferret is shedding or if you notice a lot of loose hair around the house, he might be getting it stuck in his throat. Try a hair-ball laxative made for cats. Any other ideas, hack-hack? Love, Otter [Posted in FML issue 0687]