I lost my little Heidi on Friday due to kidney failure.  She was the
sweetest little dark-eyed white who was given to me almost five years ago
by a ferret rescue back in Arizona.  The previous owner had turned her in
because her boyfriend did not like ferrets.  The rescue people gave her to
me because she was too old to adopt out at 5 = years old.  I only had her a
couple of days when she looked in pain .I took her to the vet and found she
had a ruptured spleen.  By the time of her surgery, the vet and I noticed
she had a broken back in the past.  In addition, her tail had been broken
in two spots, one of her toes was missing from an injury and during her
spleen surgery, she had scars from where her spleen had been ruptured in
the past.  The vet told me at the time that she wouldn t live another 6
months.  I was heart broken but happy to have her with me instead of in
some horrible home where she, by all evidence, had been abused.
 
Well, she showed us all.  She recovered from her surgery and spent 5 more
years, giving me more joy then you can imagine.  Her favorite thing was
going for a morning walk with me which for her consisted of walking to the
computer and then exploring a bit.  She also loved to war dance under my
skirt while I would be standing.  She loved fruit loops and had this
special look that made it absolutely crystal clear what she wished for.
During these last few months, she was slowing quite a bit.  Her walks were
now from her cage to a hidey-hole but she was still happy .It was only the
last few days that she was having a hard time walking and eating.  Friday
afternoon I took her to the vet because she could no longer walk and helped
her to the Rainbow Bridge.  The vet did not think she would make it through
the night and I couldn t let her suffer.  She had lived a very long life,
was entirely too wonderful for that.  I will miss her so very much but I
feel better knowing that she is no longer feeling any pain.  Sandee, please
let Bellboy Marvin, Salty and Winky know to meet her.
[Posted in FML issue 3038]