Hi FMLers, Glad my CaCaLand move is over and almost settled. SFH's to all well, sick and recent Rainbow Bridge kids, my heart is with all. Haven't posted in awhile, so I hope BIG will forgive lenght of post. ;/ hehheh For Aprille... corncob litter... I paid $14 for a 40lb bag and still have 35lbs, it is nasty, for some reason it increases the urine smell to unbearable in only 1 day with 14 kids and as many litter boxes. IMHO it stinks!! For Sandra... K-9 vacs... Personally, I've only used Fervac-D since it was approved for our kids, without any adverse reactions (is this where I knock on wood?). My last kit, Doobit, was 11 wks of age when I got her (no shots). I firmly believe in a 4 shot series up to age 6 months. Her first 2 were 2wks apart and last 2 at 3 wks apart. This series is done regardless what shots parents recieved or didn't recieve. I also firmly believe in better safe than sorry. Here in CaCaLaCaLand most VETS DO NOT KNOW SQUAT about ferrets and group them all under exotics- giving you the impression, since 'Exotic' is in play, they make you feel ignorant about a pet you know better than they, yeah right- like doctors think they know my body better than me-HUMPH. I try real hard to keep myself informed by actual occring problems from my fav people FMLers, FAQ's, medical books exclusiverly for ferrets and anything I can get my hands on about my kids. Come to think about it- Iwasn't as thorough with my real life kids as I am about my ferts, go figure! ;) Oh, real kids did turn out OK- So I'm a little pejudiced- GREAT KIDOS!!!! For Christy... PLEASE keep us apprised of your ferts with Cardiomyopathy and Insulinoma, no 2 cases are ever alike and the more info we get here can save another furkid. I was so enthralled and moved by Sukis' posts of Meltdown, it was almost like I lost one of my own. I named my REW son of Ceazar, Meltdown. He goes by 3 names tho- Meltdown (said firmly) when he has been bad, Meltie when I want him to be sweet or hadn't caught him being bad and Melmel when he is so loving and giving mom many kisses and makes me think he hasn't been bad! hehe! He just MELTS my heart no matter what he does - good or bad! For Michelle... VET said... what a crock (goes to prove my point about MOST so called versed fert vets_ HUMPH!! Thank the fert gods for FML and BIG!!! Oh and the FEW vets who post here! (wish there were more). I've neutered (had neutered) my males from 8 months to 2 yrs. and weight growth from kit to 2yrs had nothing to do with altering, my un altered males never exceeded 51/2 lbs. I've never seen a ferret keep on gaining weight past maturity to reach what that vet leads you to believe. The smell disappears with the neutering, after hormones settle down I should say. The only problem I have is almost kit like- whose boss over the food bowl first and soon that has disappeared. For Don and Janice... Yes ferret proofing is a neverending job... I just had my _first_ harrowing experience after a few years of ownership/actually being owned by;> The fert gods' must move with me.It starts with a Midwest Cage (ok, no flames on my choices-just educate me please)... the 14 kids have their own room and it is carpeted (yuk, makes me clean more), so under all cages I put clear vinyl strips down or linoleum (this case was linoleum). Anyway I had let ferts out to play while I cleaned cage all the way down to linoleum. Once lioleum was cleaned, bottom of cage w/ wheels was cleaned, put in place on linoleum and I continued cleaning the cage and putting everything back as I go... lastly the ferts... I do a head count and name check, as I always do... eeeck I'm missing a fert! I repeat count and name check... a lump forms in my throat, my chests feels like the breath has been knocked out of me... I'm in a panic- I recheck... YES my Sa'ce is missing, ifrantically tear aprt the room, no Sa'ce... I look at the cage- bad feeling... I look at 31/2 ft tall plywood door gate... no way a 11/2lb fert could scale that, as no other bigger, agile male hasn't. I again look at cage. I hooler to hubby I have a missing fert. We start tearing the house apart... no Sa'ce. I go back in fert room, I look at that damn cage and scream for my hubby... he lifts up on wire part and I raise the bottom with wheels... out comes my Sa'ce, panting and laying exhausted flat to the floor. I start crying and she starts licking to let me know she is ok but hot. What a relief. She never once scratched or made any noise that I could have heard while cleaning the cage and playing with 9 other ferts. The noise she may have made went unnoticed. She was probably to tired to make anymore once things had settled down. Moral to this event... always listen to first instinct (mine could have proved deadly), always, I repeat do a head and name count at least 3 times at all times... better safe than DEAD. Ok, soapbox is now yours, SFH's and many dooks to all, Firebrand, (formerly [DS]) [log in to unmask] [Posted in FML issue 2047]