Sam, I am so sorry to read about Sneezers. We, too, had a ferret who could not tolerate chemo. Hjalmar was one of the two closest critters I've had in my life. He got through his response but then his lympho took off rapidly without the chemo to hold it in check any longer. Chemo often doesn't work but without it (in BIOPSY PROVEN cases of lympho) there is no chance. When it does work there are ferrets like Katie's Bandit who went on to have another 5 years. Sometimes there's an "any port in a storm" situation, and one just has to try hard to do what's best. That's what you did; you evaluated the situation and then you made what looked to be the best choice. Perhaps without that choice the lympho would have had a growth spurt and causes Sneezers to die in great pain during the past month. Lympho becomes very painful at the end. maybe Sneezers would never had enjoyed that one good feeling month. You did your best after looking at the options; that is the most anyone can do since we are each only human. I think people need a bit to laugh about because so many peoples' lives and the FML have been so sad recently. Here are a few Hjalmar stories: Hjalmar's favorite game was to play hide and seek. He would dash to hide when I asked "Where's Hjalmar?" but never did catch on that if only his head was covered that I could still see him. There he'd be with his upper body lost to view and his fat little bum hanging out, with his tail swishing back and forth in happy wagging. My job was to pretend that I didn't see him and keep asking my line till he would pop his head out at which point I'd happily exclaim "THERE'S Hjalmar!!!!!" You can guess how hard it was to not laugh. When Hjalmie was a kit he hated car rides so we'd take him on short ones to acclimate him. One of those was to Wagner's Dairy Store which used to be a little ways away in Warren, N.J. Steve went in to buy our supplies while Hjalmar cuddled in my arms showing off how to "make cute" for an elegant elderly gent. Now, this was a hot day, and I had on a short blouse which stopped a little shy of my waist and a strapless bra underneath. When a cow mooed Hjalmar found it necessary to dive into the closest safe place -- the front of my blouse. I don't know if the gent or I had the redder face when my bra wound up dangling from my waist -- empty except for a startled kit sitting in one cup! I hope that a little laughter helps. Keep your lost ones in your heart forever with the happy memories and let the sad ones dissipate when they can. Steve and I send our sympathies. Sukie [Posted in FML issue 2544]