The OFA fun match started off early for me. I trekked over to the Cascade Ferret Network shelter at an ungodly hour to pick up the kids, since Leonard and Elayne both had fun-match related stuff to do ahead of time. I ended up being the first person at the park (tho we'd all thought others would be there already) at around 6:45am. (I didn't go home 'cos ferts are banned at home, plus I though I might be able to help out.) It was actually nice to be there so early in the morning. I got the weezils into their harnesses and they got a long, ecstatically happy grass-snorkeling session in together. Onyx's new nickname is Bristle-Butt, as her tail was poofed out almost bigger than she was, she was so excited. I'm not even sure she'd ever been outdoors before then. We had a wonderful time at the Fun Match and I met lots of super folks from the FML. Onyx participated in the Cup-Tip (2 cups) and the Tube Race, which she might have gotten 3rd in at 5.6 seconds, if not for a speed-demon who went through it in ***2.1 secs!!*** plus a few more. But she had fun! (including biting 3 different peoples' noses, including mine. Erf. Badfert! But she was probably just overexcited or scared.) Grover didn't compete, he was busy being a cuddly sleepy boy most of the time. Dr. Burgess checked him over; he's lost even more weight, down to 750g from 840, and he definitely has lots of soup and a vet visit in the near future. Dr. Burgess suspects a possible stomach obstruction rather than an intestinal one. Another possibility is that he is having a long, hard recovery from ECE. His original owners swore he'd always been healthy, but given the condition I got him in, I'm not sure whether I believe them. The auction at the Match was just hilarious and great. Lots of people came away with fantastic stuff, including me! I got: a vet visit, rabies & distemper shots, a bottle of Timmy's, 4paws' Ferret Coat, and Ferret Zyme Plus...all for $32!!!!!!!! This is a lifesaver for me as my finances are NOT in good shape right now; I have to find a job! Blessings to the woman who sat in front of me (I don't know her name) who at the last moment didn't raise the bid one more time. The auction was very funny; the increments were occasionally in $0.50 amounts, and a few times the auctioneer would ask, "Can I have $15??" and would be answered with a resounding "No!" from somewhere in the crowd. Thanks to the OFA and CFN for doing a wonderful job. Bob C. - I hope you are feeling better soon; we did miss you! Dr. Burgess gave a talk on new fert diseases that was very enlightening. I've heard it said over and over that while cedar/pine litters are not good for ferrets, neither are the traditional clay cat litters because of the dust and impaction dangers. I haven't gotten my kids home yet (sigh!!) but I am trying to plan ahead on this. I intend to use a newspaper-based litter in their cage, but the thing is: I /do/ have a cat (and will soon be adopting another one.) My cat, Cinnebar, is very fussy about his litter and he has rejected newspaper brands consistently. What he likes is "Scoop Away No-Track". I normally buy the unscented variety, because I am sensitive to the chemical perfumes, and it doesn't seem to have much dust (which also bothers me.) The No-Track variety is a slightly larger pellet than the regular sort. (Looking at it now, the No-Track sort is a variety of sizes, some well over 2mm, but some less than 1mm diam.) I've read that cats and ferts don't normally like to share their pans, but I've also heard stories about them happily sharing. So.... what to do? Is Scoop-Away safe enough for ferts, on the odd chance that they end up using the pan? Or should I just put the pan up on a high table where the little fuzzbutts can't get at it? - Megan -- Megan O'Shaughnessy DC LMT ( [log in to unmask] ) URL: http://www.teleport.com/~megan/ [Posted in FML issue 2433]