I reported yesterday that my sweet little Jet was critically ill. Jet fought hard for the last two days, struggling for breath, refusing to go silently into the night. This morning, she had to leave and I was forced to let her go. She slipped away peacefully, in slumber. She taught me many things. She taught me that my shoulder was where she belonged. She taught me that play was more important than writing papers. She taught me that potted plants were horrible monsters to thrash and the responsibility to thrash them was ours. She taught me that I was important enough to sprint towards and jump upon. Jet died from complications resulting from what we think was estrogen-induced anemia. She gave not a single sign she was in heat, nor even that she was becoming anemic until just a few days ago. She survived anemergency spaying, but went into respiratory distress two nights ago. She pulled through, but could not make through another night. I spent almost 6 hours yesterday looking through every reference I could find regarding silent heats in ferrets and could find not a single reference. I called and talked to Vet PhDs, and some said they had suspected it once or twice, but it was never confirmed. Essentially, this is an unpublished ailment in ferrets. If this has happened to you and you still have your vet records, please let me know. I would like to forward them to one of our FML vets to include in a publication being written (I don't feel right about giving the vet's name without permission, but we all know who it is). I have this tremendous knowledge about ferrets, yet this caught me by surprise. It bloodied me, and I don't want even the tiniest chance of it happening to someone else, so it needs to get into print so others may be saved. This afternoon, a necropsy will be performed to confirm the diagnosis. Thanks for all the support. Bob C and 19 MO Sad Sofa Sharks (Missing Jet.) [Posted in FML issue 2239]