Hi All! The babies were spayed and neutered on Tuesday and they did wonderfully. The incision is so tiny on the girls, only 3 stitches and the doctor also tattooed the girls with a female sign with a line through it on their bellies. What a great idea! The babies slept until about 3 a.m. (their usual time) and then they were hoppin and boppin like they'd not had surgery! I stayed home yesterday to monitor them. They played most of the day and everyone ate and ate and ate. I've had older females spayed and it took them longer to recover than these little ones. Dr. Snyder is great. He's been working on the ferret issue here in Kansas too, only we didn't know about each other. Now we can join forces! PLEASE, PLEASE WRITE - - I've finally gotten to the absolute bottom of the kill and test issue. The NASPHV (National Association of State Public Health Veterinarians) is the culprit. The human rabies experts (ACIP) follow NASPHV recs. Rabies is not the issue - it's POLITICS. Ferrets are used widely in biomedical research. If ferrets are universally recognized as domestic companions, owners and animal rights groups will get involved and researchers obviously don't want this to happen. They went through this (and still are) with dogs and cats. Basically what this means is that even if the shedding studies are performed, we will not be any better off. They'll just think of some other excuse or fabrication. WE must put the pressure on - that means each and every one of us and our friends and family members need to write to NASPHV and politely voice our concerns. If you don't have time to write a letter, drop them a postcard with just a sentence or two. The more mail they receive, the sooner they'll take notice! Can you imagine their amazement if they receive letters and cards from just 10% of the estimated 5 million ferret guardians?! Here's the address: NASPHV Dr. Suzanne R. Jenkins Virginia Department of Health Office of Epidemiology, Suite 113 PO Box 2448 Richmond VA 23218 Telephone: (804) 786-6261 Hugs to all fuzzies! tle [Posted in FML issue 0896]