>Does anyone have any stories about owning a ferret that was healthy 80% of >the time? I'd love to hear them. Oh boy -- healthy only 80% of the time? Here, that average is thankfully much higher, and I suspect, it is the same for the majority of the ferret people out there. It does sometimes seem if ferrets are the sickliest creatures on the face of the earth. But, that is not really true. What you are seeing with all the posts about ferrets who are ill, is a tremendous concern on the part of the ferret's humans to seek the best possible information about the conditions. I think poor BIG would have a stroke if all of us on the FML suddenly decided to send in just one post about each of our ferrets who is healthy more than 80% of the time. It would take him weeks and possibly months to get through the backlog of messages. Of the 30 ferrets who share my home with me, all are happy and healthy -- even those advancing along in years. The closest I can come normally to less than perfect ferret -- are the couple of deaf and mentally challenged ferrets (although to call Dixon mentally challenged is really being far to polite). Dixon is severely retarded and deaf -- two things that do not really seem to concern him much. As far as he knows, all of the world sees things from his perspective. Of course, there are times when he needs a little extra help -- like when he forgets that the tunnels have two ends. He sometimes forgets and gets "stuck" in the middle of a straight section of tunnel. His response is to make the most unusual noises until I come along and shake him out of the tunnel. Of course, Dixon's world is a marvelous place, full of wonders and surprises. The other ferrets take for granted that the large automatic feeder for playtime will always be filled with food -- Dixon is always amazed to find a huge feeder filled with yummy food. A cause for delighted dancing and more unusual noises (even though the feeder is always in the same place). For Dixon, even the old toys are always brand new -- it's little wonder that he sleeps fewer hours than the others each day, because he has so many new things to explore and play with. There, one healthy ferret down and only 29 more to go :) Ready for the onslaught, BIG? Scott and the Mustilid Mob and Dixon -- "Huh? What? Oooo, look at this!" [Posted in FML issue 2338]