In regards to the comments about natural photoperiods as another cause of cancer in ferrets, I guess I forgot to mention it in my diatribe about American ferrets and cancer before, but this is one of the things that I think in addition or in combination with other factors such as genetics, early neutering and improper diet, that may contribute to the high cancer rate. Yes, most other countries that I communicate with keep their ferrets outdoors and we keep ours indoors under artificial lighting that varies in intensity and spectrum from natural sunlight. Ferrets are very "endocrine oriented" and tuned into photoperiods. I do not think that this is all of the reason, as American ferrets have been kept indoors for many years and the high rate of cancer, at least in my practice experience of 17 years didn't become a big problem until recently. Also, some ferreters I visited in England who had perfectly healthy older animals kept them outdoors, but in dark sheds that didn't get a lot of natural light. I think that there are several factors, but genetics and early neutering get my vote as a practitioner who has seen well over 3000 ferrets as the tops on the list. Susan Brown, D.V.M. Regarding the ferrets with bloody rectums after defecating: We have seen several cases of mild rectal prolapse after defecating which can lead to bleeding. In ferrets that are preneutered at an early age we have seen it as a consequence of the anal gland surgery, where possibly there may have been minor nerve or muscle damage at the time of the surgery. This requires a minor cosmetic surgery to correct. It can also be seen with chronic diarrhea or colitis, but you said that the stools appeared normal. In colitis, there may be blood streaked in the stool with a lot of mucous. The condition may respond to antibiotics, your vet may want to do a rectal culture, or even an intestinal biopsy if the condition persists. Unfortunately we have also seen three cases of lymphoma in young ferrets with persistent rectal prolapses. I would highly recommend that you get a CBC on your ferret and check its lymphocyte count. we diagnosed it on our three cases by a 2 consecutive complete blood cell counts that had elevated lymphocytes and then a lymph node or intestinal biopsy. Bottom line...the condition is not normal and you should have it checked out. Two very good ferret vets in California are: Dr. Doug Mader in Long Beach California and Dr. Jeff Jenkins in San Diego California (check the last issue or two for phone numbers...I keep repeating their names...) Good Luck Susan Brown, D.V.M. [Posted in FML issue 0771]