Hello there! Someone asked what the FMLers' fuzzys are getting for Christmas! Well I would love to tell everyone what McKyle is getting!!! (I just hope he isn't sneaking around here somewhere to read this!) Well first of all, we are getting him a new cage. That is an early gift; it should arrive sometime this week. It's 4' high by 3' wide by 2' deep, and three stories. Then on Christmas Day he will have the following gifts to open up: 2 jackets, a raincoat, a new t-shirt, a new hammock, shampoo, conditioner, and "cologne", a new food dish, some sisal-ball toys, a tent, 2 stuffed toys: a racoon and a skunk, a little "bed", and a new bell collar!!! Yes, yes, I know...he's SPOILED! But I can't help it- he's my baby! I haven't even started Xmas shopping for my (human) family members yet, and I have very little time or money to do it with! Ack! There has been some talk lately about deaf ferrets, in general. We are planning for another child (of fur) in January or February, and this may sound strange, but I would like to get a deaf ferret. I am actually planning to seek one out. You see, I have only about 40% of normal hearing capacity due to nerve damage from spinal meningitis when I was a child. In the past several years my hearing has begun to slowly decline even further, for unknown reasons. (And I'm only 20-ish, so it isn't "age".) Anyway, I can realistically expect to be deaf or almost completely deaf within a relatively short time period, I've been told. So why not a companion with a similar hearing deficiency? Does this sound weird? Maybe I could learn something from a deaf ferret, I think. If anyone knows of any deaf ferrets up for adoption in Florida PLEASE e-mail me! My husband thinks this idea is crazy, but what does he know? :) Speaking of him.... I made some nasty remark 2 FML's ago about him making me more depressed. I think I should apologize for that! It was really inappropriate and undeserved. (I know this doesn't have to do with ferrets....Sorry!) Hey, talking about vets and prices.... I want to share how we selected our vet, Dr. Deborah Kemmerer. Dr. K. is a WONDERFUL ferret vet, and she's known all over for her ferret work. Of course, I knew none of this when we first got McKyle. I was calling around to different vets in Gainesville to try to find the most reasonable prices for his vaccinations. The best prices by far were at Dr. K's office. She is in Newberry which is a bit of a drive for us (next town over) but I figured I'd give it a try anyway. Well, come to find out, I got more than my money's worth out of that! I found the best ferret vet around by way of reasonable vac prices--!?!? Who woulda thought??? Well, that's all I have to say for now! (Whew!) Happy Ferreting! -Rachelle & David -McKyle (I'm gettin WHAT for Christmas?!?) [Posted in FML issue 2155]