TIMMY Alright! A celebration is in order. We are so happy to hear that Timmy has received a clean bill of health. It's a miracle. Are you going to continue the herbal treatments even though he seems to be cured? And, we we're so sad to hear of your baby, Squeekie, passing away. Perhaps you should write a book on dealing with a pets cancer. I know when our ferret was diagnosed, we were at a real loss as far as finding any written material on treatment or coping. We were only able to find literature on people that addressed both issues and we read them anyway but I think it would be wonderful for you to share your experiences, medical (alternative & western) and emotional, in a formal way. I think it would be applicable to people who share life with all kinds of animals. I have a friend who's cat recently died of cancer and her experience seemed very close if not identical to what I went through with a ferret (even treatmentwise) I'm sure it would be likewise with any other. With your experience, it seems you would be more than qualified... TO DALE I have heard of ferrets with enlarged spleens for no reason and once the spleen is removed voila! No problem. But, then an enlarged spleen can be indicative of a lot of diseases too. I suppose you really won't know anything until you go to the doctor for x-rays and blood work. Good luck. We'll be thinking about your little ferret. HI FELLOW TWINCITIAN Well, when I read your post about trying to find 8 in 1 ferret food I tried to remember where I had seen it. I have gotten other 8 in 1 products from Fish & Pet on 66th & Penn, and so I called them and asked if they had it. No, they don't. Although they do get other 8 in 1 stuff like the ferret treats and ferret vitamin paste. So, then I called up Vivarium/Twin Cities Reptile (the most educated retailer of ferrets & ferret products I've found yet in the Mpls/St. Paul area - do you agree?) and when I asked "Yes, could you tell me if you carry or are able to get 8 in 1 ferret food?" I GOT THIS MOST AMAZING TIRADE OF HOW TERRIBLE that food is. The owner went on and on, low protein, a lot of soy, barely any meat, not enough fat, sugar filled raisan gravy, never never never feed this to your ferret, only feed them Totally Ferret or Marshall Farms. I was truly amazed. She was so adamant - that 8 in 1 food is worse than grocery store cat food she said. I told her I had heard that some ferrets really liked it - and she said NO NO NO - not EVEN palatable. Hmmm, I just wanted to share this opinion of someone that I *think* usually knows what they're talking about. TO GARY KASKEL I know the issue is closed - but I agree with you. Stay passionate and don't apologize. ABOUT BYPRODUCTS/BONE FRAGMENTS I used to feed my cats and ferrets cheap canned cat food as a treat now and again. BUT NOT ANYMORE. One of my cats ended up having surgery to remove a stomach full of bone fragments. He had been wretching quite a bit for a couple days - I brought him to the vet - they did an x-ray and thought that his stomach was filled with a mouse because so many bones showed up on the x-ray. They decided that the mouse wasn't going anywhere and needed to be removed. When they opened him up they found a bunch of canned cat food and a whole pile of BONE FRAGMENTS. So, needless to say - no cheap canned cat food anymore for the cats or ferrets. I only feed Iams now. About, Freddie, my cats only howled for a couple days before settling into the Iams routine. Tell your mom to resist - it's worth it. (No more weekly barf to clean up either). Charlene [Posted in FML issue 1152]