To Donna Austin - I was saddened to read of your loss of Koti. It is always hard to lose a ferret, but I think especially so when they are young. Please know that I think it takes a very loving and special person to be able to make the decision as to when it is time to let your dear one go.. My heart goes out to you. As I have said before on losses, and truly believe - your Koti will never be gone from you as long as you live and carry him in your heart and memory. Thank you for sharing his story with us - your little frog catcher. What a love he was for you. You were blessed to have him for the time you did. xoxo. Dear BIG - I have a suggestion. When someone writes a letter specifically targeting one individual on fml for criticism - anonymous or not - why not just forward that letter to the person named? I really see no point in having anyone chopped to verbal pieces in front of the whole fml, it that is the only reason for writing.. Don't misunderstand - disagreement and differing viewpoint is o.k. But smash letters serve no purpose, IMHO.. What do ya think, huh? BTW, thanks for your note - second half of Pistol Packin' mama will be written soon. Hi Barbara Carlson - I, too, have a silver mitt named Pepper. He is middle-aged now, but a wonderful ferret-person and my "care" ferret - having helped raise kits all his life. I hope your 6 mos. old Pepper will bring you as much joy as my Pepper brings to me everyday. About the gate -- well, I have no suggestions but note that others have. No gate has ever stopped my ferrets - especially the Canadians and Germans. Charlene comments on reports Canadian imported ferrets seem to have immunity to ECE. Yes, I have been tracking this for over three years now. When we had our first seige of the Greenies, all in my house were down with it in 18 hours except the Canadians. Subsequent infections of the Greenies have not affected my Canadians, or Canadians in my house new since previous infections. Also, I had one outbreak last summer soon after I brought in a Canadian kit rescue. Several of us have been tracking the incidence of ECE occurance and have linked some to the recent importation of Canadians to that area. This does not at all mean that the Canadian imports are the contagion source. Maybe, maybe not. But they do seem to have immunity. I have yet to receive a confirmed report of a Canadian with ECE. If anyone has experienced this, I would appreciate it if you would e-mail me information and the history on affected ferret for my on-going data collection on the ECE. Roger - Problem of double teeth probably solved by now - milk teeth soon drop out after the cannines arrive. It is totally normal for the permanent canines to come in directly in front of the milk teeth. This usually occurs at about 7 weeks, but also in normal time frame for 8-9 weeks. Since I always note this in kits, I have often wondered if the canine milk teeth are partially responsible for straight permanent teeth! :-) Like built in braces. Lynn - Early neutering is definitely a factor in ferrets overall adult size - Disclaimer - IMHO. High protein and balanced diet is also a factor. Another factor is genetic predispostion. Quite generally speaking, early neutered ferrets may grow to fairly large size - but are not as large boned or as heavily coated as intact ferrets. If you aquire a whole kit, I believe in delaying the neutering until the kit has achieved adult size - usually 7-8 months - or older. Krista - greeny goop noted in your ferret's eyes is sign of infection - don't think related to micro-opthlmalia, although this condition could play a role in predispostion - advise to get your ferret to the vet right away. Your question on the importance of poultry being listed first on ingredients in food, is not because poultry is the king of foods, but rather that poultry, or turkey, or lamb, or other should be listed first - because ingredients are listed in order of their ratio in the feed. Protein source listed as second or third ingredient means there is less of that protein in the feed than the first listed ingredients.. When purchasing a ferret food or kitten food for your ferret - protein source should always be listed first. Bryan - Deafness in a ferret is sometimes difficult to determine. One reason is because deaf ferrets seem to accomodate themselves very well to their environment and can get along as well as hearing ferrets. Also, it is sometimes difficult to determine whether or not a ferret can hear, because they can be "selectively deaf". In other words, they might not respond because they don't want to, or because they are busy, or because they are in such a sound sleep they don't hear. Also, sometimes a ferret can be "hard of hearing" especially to lower range sounds, but might respond to loud, or higher pitched sounds. When your ferret is awake, not busy and calm - try having someone else hold him and provide distraction. Use a loud squeaky toy, or car keys, or something that makes a loud sound - right behind the ferrets head. If the ferret does not respond - might be deaf. I have one deaf ferret and one hard of hearing. Although I am still not sure about the hard of hearing one. He sometimes responds to noise or my calling and sometimes he does not. Also, when judging at ferret shows, I will squeak a toy above the ferret that I am judging. Many times, they will not respond or look in the direction of the toy. And they are not deaf. They are either tired, or on sensory overload, or just not interested in a squeaky toy right at that moment. I probably have not helped you - but it sometimes it really is hard to determine if a ferret can hear. Chuck - My sympathy on your free-falling ferrets and on using your shoulder as a launch pad. . I, too, suffer this in my house. I live with flying ferrets who know not fear. A fall from the top of the closet is fun for these tough guys. They climb me all the time, ride my shoulders and leap if I get near a surface. My guys spend more time teetering about in high places than they do on the ground. Something you might try. When the ferret starts to let go - fall - or leap, scream. Scream really loud. This has frightened a couple of mine into thinking falling might be dangerous for them. Alas, it has not worked for the majority. Also, I have noted that ferrets who ride shoulders, quickly get the hang of it. Some never do, and might always have to be carried in arms instead of on shoulders. Cheers and good luck. Dr. Mike - When I saw your BOLD disclaimer, I really laughed. All this nonsense. . I don't think, that after all the discussion, that anyone believes a vet on line is magic or that the advice should replace a trip to the vet. However, all of our doctors on line and participating certainly enrich the FML and provide good information and learning experience for all of us. On the other hand, sometimes maybe the advice is better.. Like the example of Tracey's recent experience. Thank goodness Tracey had lots of information, and realized she had received bad advice from her vet and so she moved quickly to find another vet who knew that ECE really is a disease and is not a myth. I shudder to think about the prognosis of other ferrets with greenies under the care of her previous vet. I am at a loss to understand why this doctor did not think Tracey's ill ferrets were in serious trouble.. Gotta go, lots of snow, need to dig out. The only ones in my family who like the snow right now are my ferrets. They think it is wonderful and behave like perfect idiots. Actually, they are Always Perfect Idiots. regards to all. Meg. [Moderator's note: Regarding the suggestion about forwarding criticism. Most of the individual personal attacks do not get posted. If they are to an anonymous poster, I will forward them on request, the poster can send it directly to the non-anonymous people. Of course, if something isn't posted I tell the poster and often things can be rewritten to be more general. And in general, something has to be pretty bad for me to refuse it - some have accused me of being too liberal in this regard. BIG] [Posted in FML issue 1471]