Hello, I'm horribly worried about my Mortimer. Sebastian was due for shots this week, and since Morty has been looking thin for the past couple of months and because he had a spell where he was coughing a lot a few weeks ago, I though it was a good idea to have the vet examine him. I wasn't expecting anything more serious than a flu bug. Well, when the vet got her hands on him, she was extremely concerned. She said he was not just thin, but shrunken inside his skin. He was also very pale. When she palpated his abdomen, she found that his spleen was about twice normal size and one kidney was larger than the other. She kept him overnight for bloodwork and a radiograph, and basically we don't know much more than we did yesterday. It's probably cancer and we're scheduling him for an exploratory surgery and likely kidney removal asap. Here's all his symptoms, test results, etc. We noticed: -gradual weight loss to the point of very prominent ribs, hip bones, etc. Skin hangs loose from his neck. -gradual decrease in activity, however, he was chasing everyone in the house around like a wild weasel yesterday morning before he went to the vet's -appetite seems normal, though I haven't kept close tract. Digestion, elimination seems normal. -Coughing fits over a period of about a week. This has since gone away. It took us a while to figure out who was coughing since it always came from a hidden pile of sleeping ferrets. Vet found: -One kidney and spleen enlarged. Radiograph showed the kidney was abnormal in shape. -Anemia -Elevated white blood cell count -No sign of kidney failure I'm terrified that Mortimer has a malignant tumor and it is already too late to save him by surgery. I once lost a cat to a breast tumor that spread extremely rapidly. By the time I felt the lumps, they had spread to many of her internal organs and she had to be euthanized. I'm hoping that someone can tell me they've seen kidney cancer (I've never heard of it before) in ferrets and that Mortimer has a chance of pulling through. I know he can survive without the kidney. I just, well, I'm worried. He's only fourteen months old. (The vet has also prescribed antibiotics and an iron supplement. Should I try to fatten him up?) -Catherine [Posted in FML issue 1667]