Many thanks to Trish, Alicia & Melissa who took the time to answer my post about Tyler and his back injury personally - your advice basically echoed that of Dr. Klein, and is mostly what we have been doing. (Glad to know we've been doing the right things!) And thank you to those who posted answers on the FML. The cage Tyler is in is VERY small - more of a carrier than anything else, with just enough room for him, his supper dish, a water bottle, and a couple of soft "blankies." I can't take him out of the ferret room to a quieter area - he gets antsy when he can't see any of the other ferts, and when he gets agitated, he tends to flop around. No good. So he's where he can see, but can't be climbed on. For those who might not know, Tyler is one of my "snow babies" - the kids I picked up during "The Great El Paso Blizzard of January 1997" who had a great time stinking up the inside of my car on the long, careful drive home. He's the one who really stunk up the clinic while under anesthesia while he was being neutered. (Wheeeeeeeee!) Three of the snow babies (Sneakers, Roxie and Mindy) have already been adopted out to good homes. If Tyler never regains complete mobility in his back legs, he'll likely become one of my permanent residents - which means Mycroft will probably be stuck with me too ;-) since they're pretty close buddies. They don't want to play/wrestle with each other so much, but they fuss whenever one doesn't know where the other is. The injury to his back happened, I think, when he got bounced a little too hard in the wrong way by Rhodri - my "Chocolate Moose" of a ferret - who outweighs Tyler almost 2:1. Tyler and Rhodri were always wrestling with each other, bouncing off the walls and other ferrets, until Tyler would let loose with his "unfair advantage" and Rhodri would retreat in disgust to air out. Dr. Klein did a re-evaluation of him Tuesday. Most of his spine looks absolutely perfect on Xray - except for one small area.... one disc is obviously compressed, and that's where the nerves are being pinched. She gave him another shot of Dexamethasone, and I've given orders to the rest of the family that I am the only one allowed to handle him until further notice. Dr. Klein also gave me some oral Dex, and he's getting 2 tablets daily. He seems to respond better and faster to it than to the oral Pred. He was having problems with circulation in his toes Sun/Mon (they were cold, semi-rubbery feeling and the pads were pale), so Monday night I let him soak in some warm water - just deep enough to float his hips and back legs, while he could still touch bottom with his front feet. I kept my hand close the whole time, so he couldn't "sport" in the water. It helped - his toes have been warm and pinkish since. I have Dr. Klein's approval to repeat the soak when necessary - AS LONG AS Tyler is not allowed to swim or otherwise exert himself yet. If nothing else, it will provide an occasional safe diversion for him - so that he's not completely bored 24/7. It also helps me keep him clean until he can use a litter pan again. (and, it makes him feel like he has my undivided attention for a while - he sleeps better after his soaks.) And, it looks now like the injury isn't as bad as we had originally feared. He's already trying to move his legs, and is able to stretch them out when you tickle the backs of his thighs! (I think he's tired of confinement, and is trying to heal as quickly as possible so that I'll let him out. We'll see what Dr. Klein says when he goes in next Saturday for another checkup. Until then, I'm afraid he's SOL ;-) ) Carla S. WhyNot? Ferrets Rio Grande Domestic Ferret Club [Posted in FML issue 1880]