To Joanne : Our family sends their condolensces to your family for Baby. As of yet, we have not lost a ferret, but we did have a scare back in December. We would just like you to know you will be in all our prayers tonight. And for all those looking for a new ferret to adopt: Last night we got a visit from the ferret-fairy and 3 new ones landed in our back bedroom. We are here at Purdue University in Indiana and saw that a student in the CS dept. was trying to sell his 3 ferrets (he had them for a year and did not have the time for them anymore). Well, he seemed to be in a mess with his landlord as well, and I contacted him (of course). Basically, I said that I would not mind babysitting them for a month or two, until he could move. Well, he said fine and dropped them off. And it turns out that he would like to find new homes for them, because "I just don't have the time". Well, fine, but I have never seen ferrets in such bad condition. They stunk to high heaven and their fur was so coarse. We gave them two bathes and they are still dirty and smelly. Apparently he did not realize to bathe them in the past year. Also, he did not know anything about Linotone, treats, or good food for them (they were eating some cheap cat food). ALSO, the female is pregnant. Gosh, what luck !!! :) Anyways, I am excited about watching her give birth in February, but we can not keep them for long. The family consists of a fixed male (very sweet, with extremely long toes! we call him Freddie, and he is a sweet cuddler), then there is the unfixed and quite manly BIG BOY (he really is not that big, smaller than our fixed boy), and finally a tiny female (who we are calling Daisy. She has been in heat and this will be her 4th litter this year. Is this normal?!?) They are all around 2 years old. Anyone out there interested or know of anyone who would like the brood? We are getting them back on the healthy track with Science Diet kitten food, Linatone, and will be giving them Nutri-cal when we get it today. We have given the boys 2 bathes and the girl only 1 (we don't want to upset her too much). Anyone have any other suggestions on getting them healthy? Thanks a lot in advance, Susan, Darel and the fuzz-balls (Sparky, Roo, Boing and the new ones -- Daisy, Freddie, and Big Boy) [Posted in FML issue 0701]