Well, elderly 'Chopper has intermediate cardiomyopathy in addition to her post (last year) -ECE problems. Both ventricals are thickened and one atrial wall is. She's already begun on Lasix and will be having Enacard. Her compressions are okay so for now she won't get Digoxin, but at some point down the line she probably will. Not good. Fortunately, she LOVES being around new folks so we think it's still safe to go to Ohio, and the vet is sure that at this point in her illness it's safe, but we'll both go through times when we aren't sure till then. Some people might wonder why we jumped so fast with just a slight intermittent cough which did not sound like a deep one. It's because two other things happened -- she looked slightly uncomfortable, and then there was the kicker: Meeteetse took over some of the Alpha ferret chores and everyone acted like that was okay. That group dynamics behavioral change was the thing which told us to worry. Oh, Steve got interviewed by the N.Y. Times so if you see E. Steve Crandall (or Steve or Evan S.) in an article which talks about computers, calculators, and slide rules then that's him, so I hope they get it right. Sukie [Posted in FML issue 2258]