I am sending this for my good friend and next-door neighbor Kelly.
 
Sandee, please watch for Ping.  He is a big beautiful sable boy, around 4
years old.
 
He was about to be dumped in the desert by his previous owner- but a
'nagging' wife convinced him to take him to 24 Carat Ferret instead.  CJ
named him Pyro, because she found matches in his cage.  He is one of the
sweetest, mellowest lap-fuzzies I have ever known.
 
I fell in love with him right away, and took him home with me as a
foster.  Unfortunately, he was an 'only' ferret, and was overwhelmed by
my enthusiastic crew of eight.  I was heartbroken, so I pulled a 'dirty
trick' .  I took him next door.  When he met my neighbors, we all knew
he had found his perfect forever home.  (Despite the husband's repeated
objections... The same man who we caught daily crawling around on the
floor babbling baby-talk to the ferret he 'couldn't stand' ! )  The
daughter renamed him Ping, after my own little lady, The Queen of
Everything.  Ping got along great with their rabbit Bun-Bun; they
actually played together, and Ping would steal his lettuce!
 
Then, inevitably, ferret math struck.  Being hopelessly in love with
their boy, they wanted him to find a ferret friend also.  So off we went
to the shelter, hoping to find someone he could get along with...and it
worked.  He got not one, but two new friends!  Jam-Jam and Whitey were
boarders whose owner never returned.  My neighbor took them all home and
we prepared for the proper intros on Ping's home turf.  Might as well
have skipped all the preparations, it took about 30 seconds for them to
bond!  All three crawled straight into a hammock together and went to
sleep.  Three ferrets, three humans, and a bunny- one big happy family.
 
Then about a week ago, we noticed Ping was putting on weight.  Thinking
it was only winter weight gain, we were not overly concerned.  But late
Wednesday night, his belly was bloated, he wasn't his usual self, and he
was suddenly unable to poop or pee.  Thursday morning my neighbor skipped
work and took him to the vet, fearing an obstruction.  The news was much
worse- cancer, already spread throughout his system.  He quietly went to
sleep around 2AM on Friday morning, wrapped in his favorite blankie, in
his mother's arms.  The suddeness of the loss has devastated Kelly-
please, think a kind thought for her and her family.
 
He only had one year with his real family.  But it was a very good
year...for all of us.  And because of him, two more babies found their
forever home.
 
Sandee, please watch out for Ping.  He never had any ferret friends
before Jam-Jam and Whitey came along, but I know my angel Scrubby would
be more than happy to give him the tour and share his hammie, as he went
alone also.  Thank you.
 
Julie & the Woozles
21stCenturyFerret.com
"Ferrety stuff for ferrety people"
Dedicated to the support of
24 Carat Ferret Rescue & Shelter, Las Vegas
[Posted in FML issue 3976]