Okay, so that title was just to get your attention. The other day, Chloe went into a mad coughing/hacking fit. Being the over- protective parent that I am, I raced her to the only vet I could find open in Northeast Ohio. After the approximately 40 second examination (which cost me $30 for an "exotic animal exam," incidentally), the vet's giant prognosis was, "She has allergies. Give her some children's Benadryl if she does it again." She seems fine now, with the occasional cough or sneeze, but since I'm not one to trust vets with little or no ferret experience who take less that a minute to do an exam, I thought I'd ask for a bit of information from all of you who know far more than I do. First of all, are allergies common in the weasel world? Do you think it's dust (I've been changing her and Nessie's blankets with alarming frequency, and that seems to help)? And, most importantly, is children's Benadryl a good thing to give ferrets? If so, how much should I give her? Any advice would be immensely appreciated. Much love, Katy Chloe ("sniffle.") Nessie ("Quit worrying about her and fork over those raisins.") [Posted in FML issue 2051]