Hi Dr. Williams of Accu Path! My vet wanted me to ask if you were around (I told her you went TDY a lot) and had gotton a chance to look at the ferret (ferret tissue?) she had sent you to see if it was ECE. It was a young ferret from Battle Creek MI, Dickman Rd. Vet Clinic. Acutally I am the one bugging her about it:}I take care of her ferret sometimes and she takes him to the clinic and I get worried about bringing it home. Still no other posts on weird things ferrets have ingested (and whether it caused a problem). This is starting to make me feel guilty as a mom because mine have eaten so many weird things - or did I just lack the imagination to ferret proof on my own? I mean come on - Q-tips? I never would have guessed. I'm not sure if I was the one who started the big breeder/MF vs. small breeder thing but by big breeder I didn't mean just MF (I was originally responding about the post from that guy who was in Washington State maybe and said something about 1000 ferrets?). Also my point was more geared toward quality of life as a breeding ferret and I stick by that point. Smaller allows more human/companion pet interaction. However I take your point as absolutely right. Just because they are a small breeder doesn't mean they are good. And you should have popped that guy for beating a ferret! Another vet question: When getting ready to do the heartworm and flea thing - any specific advice? I've seen so many discussions I'm quite confused. TIA, Mary, Giesela and Boris ("Mom - what are you going to bring us from the Elkhart show???????" [Posted in FML issue 1530]