I greatly enjoyed some of the responses.  The reason the loss and
illnesses of ferrets can hurt us so much is because they are worth it.
With all the pleasure they have given they have earned both our love and
our pain for them.  It all balances and is worth it.  The best things
in life (love of any kind, freedom, respect, security, adventure,
learning...) all have their costs, but the greatest cost would be missing
those treasures by never knowing any.
 
>Twice now recently I've seen posts from Lisa asking about the possibility
>of disengaging from ferret ownership forever.  I don't think it is at all
>unreasonable to make that decision, if the circumstances of your life
>demand it.
 
Yes.  When I was putting myself through college I simply couldn't even
feed an animal -- could barely feed myself more than once then.  You went
without critters for a while due to health, I did because I could not
have been a responsible enough animal person for a few years.  It happens.
Sometimes it is most responsible to not have critters while knowing that
they will again be in a person's future as circumstances allow.
 
(Given we've had these critters for 20 years I think it's obvious that
we've dealt with a lot of illness.)
[Posted in FML issue 3774]