I was abruptly reminded last night of why I tend to discourage people from breeding. As is usual for summer, my ferrets have been losing some weight. I was a little worried when Baby, my heavily pregnant (and due) jill, lost more than usual, but she settled down and started gaining some back. Another of my jills who I suspected was pregnant (she wasn't showing but had been in with the hob for a short time) always loses more weight than my other ferrets, but yesterday it went from her normal summer weight to below it, and I made arrangements to see the vet today. At 6pm (fifteen minutes after the vet closed <sigh> it was obvious that she'd gone from skinny to skinny and weak. At 10.30/11pm she'd gone from skinny and weak to dangerously weak and needing a vet immediately. She had become dehydrated, had lost control of her bowels (much to her obvious embarressment) and although she looked around her curiously, she'd become even weaker. The vet was not impressed by being called in at 11pm, but immediately set to looking afterher when we arrived at the clinic. After rehydrating, taking her temperature and feeling her carefully... he offered that the kits she carried had either died, and were creating toxins in the body, or she had a uterine infection that was obviously doing damage. Either way, she would require an operation and she was too weak to handle that then. After giving her a shot to reduce the toxins in her body, the vet told me to come by the next day. The next morning, when checking on her, it was evident that the middle of the night visit had helped. She was more perky than the previous evening, and moving around more happily. She was taken in to the vet to have her operation. She had improved, but there were some risks in the operation, since she was still weak, only on a "drug induced" reaction creating the the operation, and once more before I came to collect her. The vet is worried that the toxins in her body may have damaged her kidneys. Right now, she's at home, very weak, but immediate went for her food when she got home. Her very weakness means she'll be on duck soup for a while, but she's a fighter, and should perk up enough to eat solids shortly. Less than 24 hours, and I'm expecting a bill of at least $200 if not more (not including anything unusual that may have happened in the operation) Anyone who thinks there's money in breeding animals need only look at this one occurance... every pregnancy there's the risk that this may happen, and the risk that they'll lose their jills. Every pregnancy there are risks that one or more of the kits become ill, and each and every pregnancy there are added costs in order to keep the jills and kits healthy. Precaution doesn't work every time, although it helps. In the years that I've been breeding I have very rarely have problems, but whenever there is a problem, it's often fatal, sometimes to the mother, more often to the kits. Sam [Posted in FML issue 2512]