Hello again, I'd like to thank everyone for the response about my little mutant fuzz ball Lulu. It's good to know that other people have witnessed the same behavioral problems (random biting), but I didn't hear from anyone about her physcial deformities. Just a quick review, her main problems are 1) a mouth that is too small to carry a full load of teeth, necessitating the removal of her lateral incisors (although the bite will never lock properly, and the wear has worn down the tips of her canines to about 2/3 their original length), and 2) deformities in the paws that result in frequent shattering of the claws on her outside rear digits. Her coat is spectacular, in winter it is a pure, arctic white with platinum highlights on her back, while in the summer it picks up more grey highlights. It is soft as a cloud - and after a bath she looks like a little, fluffy mustelid angel. It is the juxtaposition of the very desirable trait with the undesirable traits that makes me suggest sub-standard breed management. Has anyone else noticed these sorts of physical deformities in their pets? Oops, opened a real can of worms with the MF comment. Thank you to all of the people who wrote about tatoos, although Lulu does have the correct number of ear dots, I am now convinced that she could not have come from Marshall Farms. Whoever the breeder was, they left a stitch in Lulu's belly when they shipped her to the pet store where I eventually found her (to give you an idea about what an awful place that was, when I pointed out the obvious stitch to the pet store owner, he assured me that it would "fall out" in a few days...yikes!), and I find it hard to believe that MF would do something so incredibly careless (although I could be wrong). My vet removed the stitch the day after I bought Lulu, and no harm came of it. Thanks again to all that wrote.... Gwen M. Daley Department of Geological Sciences VPI & SU Blacksburg, Virginia 24061-0420 [Posted in FML issue 1473]