Melissa and Potpie here, The ferrets are greatly enjoying the second week of furnace installation; the addition of plastic sheeting to all of the furnace grates provided a full week of messy entertainment. While I'm sure the furnace guys would've greatly enjoyed spying ferrets above while lifting the grates to remove the plastic and install ducting below, I've left all of them caged so as to prevent some unplanned exploration of the basement by curious, freefalling ferrets. A few weeks ago I noticed Noodle losing fur on his belly, and after keeping an eye on him for a while noticed bilateral hair loss on his back as well, so he went in for adrenal surgery yesterday. In addition to removing his left adrenal, the vet also removed his spleen, an enlarged lymph node, and a large, solid hairball from his stomach. Not bad for a ferret who has been eating like a horse and jumping around actively with few, if any, signs of chronic illness. The spleen was enlarged with a few masses throughout, and is going off with the lymph node for biopsy. The vet also said that as soon as he shook off the anaesthetic, he was alert and interested in food. Typical Noodle attitude. I'll be paying (ouch! hope they have an installment plan- $450-$600, potentially) and bringing him home today, at which point I bet I have to keep him 'inactive' for the next several days. Ha ha. The rest of my pets can oblige my wacky whims at this point and FAIL TO GET SICK FURTHER, thank you. I am tired of dining on shoe leather, and that's the ferrets' job anyway... Melissa, Potpie, Friday, and Noodle. - [log in to unmask] - This is a coin hold of great beak bird style. - [Posted in FML issue 2784]