Hi, y'all! Just got the news from the vet today. Buddy has a massive abdominal growth that is probably cancerous and adrenal in origin. At the moment, he is not a good candidate for surgery, mostly due to his recent bowel bouts, so we are going to fatten him up and give him a little drug therapy to see if things change. Hopefully they will, and he will go under the knife as soon as possible. If not, we will do the best we can. Buddy is an 8-year-old gray silvermitt that is probably suffering from the inbreeding blues. Head just doesn't look quite right. Not very smart, but what guy truely is? ;-) But he is the sweetest little guy you've ever seen. He has never, ever bit me; he will *hold* my finger without biting when he plays. He knows his name, and responds, and loves chasing the rat on a string. His best friend is Razz, the ferret without the front claws, but he just bumps her when they play; he never bites. He is rapidly loosing his silver mantle and the sight of his naked butt is heartbreaking. I've expected this from Buddy since I adopted him, and have been sending him to the vet twice a year just to keep careful tabs on him. When he came down with the bacterial infection, I thought he would cross over with Gus, but the little monkey pulled through. He is quite tough. Whatever happens, these last years with him have been fantastic and well worth it. He is such a sweet little boy. In other news, I've been overwelmed with e-mails requesting I write something on feral ferrets. The problem is, even if I used the entire FML, it would only address part of the issue. So I will break the thing into 10 or 12 posts, each addressing a specific part of the issue, and you can copy and edit them together at your convience. You can expect one every couple of days. When I get time, I will make the entire thing available on my web page. As well as a picture of me in all my long-haired glory! (That part was to scare you off!) Oh, Catherine, Liz is such a sweet person! And she is cute, even when her face is covered with greasy midden, like it was all summer. (And she is so very easy to pull pranks on. Just say "clovis point" and watch her face! 8-) Tell her Joe said, "Hi!") But don't believe *anything* she says about me. I am *NOT* that handsome, smart or sexy! Or short ;-) Besides, I'm *infamous* (not famous). Mo' Bob and the 18 Infamous Infidels (missing Gus) [Posted in FML issue 1753]