Re: FLI#722 and Rochelle's msg. about her ferret with colitis. PLEASE, don't feed your ferret Tender Vittles. Go see another vet who knows something more on ferrets. My husband and I adopted a 5 yr. old ferret at our local shelter. The previous owner had fed him Tender Vittles for a long time. The food is bad enough for cats, so you know it's bad for ferrets. What happened is that Nicky developed urinary crystals from this horrid food product. He looked "fat" too. One vet, who wasn't all that experienced with ferrets, just took it for granted that Nicky's spleen was enlarged and he probably had some form of cancer. Nicky was acting pretty normal after I adopted him, but one day he was having trouble urinating and in some real discomfort. I rushed him to the vet and after discussing Nicky's history, as much as I knew from the shelter notes, our vet checked for urinary crystals and found Nicky's bladder to be full of them. When I went back a couple days later to get Nicky (they kept him over at the clinic for observation), Nicky looked like someone took a pin and let all the air out! He looked so normal! Nicky wasn't fat afterall, his poor bladder was swollen with the urinary crystals. Therefore, please mentioned this to your vet. Diet is so important in ferrets. Our ferrets get Bill-Jac pellet dry food. It's the best we think on the market. Order it through your pet supply store. It's not on any supermarket shelf. We also give our ferrets Kay-Tee brand ferret chow. In the mornings, they like it mixed with a little warm water. Phyllis Berker/Illinois [Posted in FML issue 0777]