Someone wrote in mentioning the sick ferrets discussed here, and asked if ferrets ever die of old age. Well, most of the sick ones ARE old. It is just like with people -- some get sick young (and most get past it with treatment and care, but some have things they can't get past), then most get serious health problems eventually with age. You know how it is with elderly human relatives -- everyone who dies dies of SOMETHING, but the person might just not wake up one morning because of a stroke or a heart attack, or whatever. Same with ferrets. When 'Chopper goes it might happen that she won't wake up one day, because with advanced age she developed an unusual subset of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. ('Choppie's not doing so well, BTW. She isn't tolerating the increased dose of Digoxin so it's being reduced back to 0.1 ml and she'll have the Digoxin blood level checked in a blood test next week after it stablizes. Some of the problems could be too much Digoxin, but some might be that her cardiomyopathy is worsening rapidly. Thank goodness for flannel shirts: tie 'em up, drop in the ferret, and go about life with the little one warm and watched carefully. Okay, so I have scratches on my tum from her chilly toes; so what?) Sukie [Posted in FML issue 2307]