To the Killians: I have 4 BEW ferrets and they can all hear. I have silver mitt with a blaze, a cinamon mitt with a blaze, and some of their offspring have blazes, and they can all hear. I know that they do because they come when called; and only the ones I call come at any given time, so I know it's not a fluke (I'm very proud that all my ferrets know their own names!!) To Kevin Woodyard: Don't give Casper up!!!@! Did you have them sign a release when you adopted him? When we take ferrets in at our Shelter, we always have the ex-owner sign a release; that way, somewhere down the road we're covered if we need to be. (In the future should you adopt privately, get a written release.) For now, since you have invested all this money in this ferret and 4 weeks have passed, I'm sure you're okay. Did you pay the previous owner or did they give him to you? Isn't possession 9/10ths of the law or something??!! I don't think you need to feel guilty for keeping Casper. Sounds like he's doing better with you anyway. When you switch over to Iams, be sure to mix the Iams with whatever you're feeding now. I get so many phone calls from owners wanting to switch to a better food but say the ferret won't eat it. No, they usually won't if you just put down a bowl of new food. Ferrets fix on whatever food they've eaten as a kit, and it can be difficult to get them to switch. What I do is start with 80% old food, 20% new food and see how it goes. If they eat it right away, then I gradually change the percentages of mix until the old food is gone. If they don't seem to take to the new food at first, then go slowly; keep the ratio at 80% to 20% until they've accepted it and then gradually increase the percentage of new food. Butter??!! I don't know....Might cause diarrhea because of milk content. Pine- apple is ok in small quantities. Any fruit is ok if not over done; fruit is fiber, ferrets are carnivores with a very short digestive tract and they don't digest fiber well, but it's ok once a week (1/4 tsp/fruit). The phone number for TOTALLY FERRET IS 1-800-843-1738. Dr. Tom and Trish Willard are great people and will probably send you samples if you ask, as well as literature. They also have a newsletter; ask to be put on their mailing list for the newsletter and new info as it surfaces. Debbie Riccio WNYFLFA [Posted in FML issue 1141]