thanks to Chris Nielson and Trish for mailing me about advice about Escher. She went into surgery yesterday after Dr. Schiff x-rayed her. The x-ray showed a large blockage in her. He called during surgery telling me that it wasn't something she ate, it was a tumor. Her one kidney was totally destroyed, the other was in bad shape. Her spleen would probably have ruptured in a few days, according to the doctor. Luckily, she was only ill for about a week. She turned 7 in April, was MF, had both her adrenals already removed and her pancreas. She was, to me, the most beautiful girl in the world. She was my first ferret, a gift from someone, and I did everything wrong with her at first: fed her grocery store food for her first year, moved her into a house without air where she got heat stroke, etc... In the end, I hope to think I did everything right and the other six will be healthy and happy. She grew up in a co-op of 50 people, most of which adored her and spent many fall days playing in the leaves with her. She sweetened even the most anti-pet people, one of which photograped her wearing his store's diamond tennis bracelets. In the end, I gave permission for Dr. Schiff to take samples from her and photograph her for a medical database. I hope her death will help other ferrets to live. We will have a page totally devoted to her on www.furph.com soon. Escher Furphig Ferret April 1989-July 29, 1996 beckers -- becki kain "words are just dust in deserts of sound." eldritch [Posted in FML issue 1647]