Tomorrow will be a tuff day for me.  First job will be to examine
Nibble-ed for the last time but the known findings will be what I found
just a bit ago and that is that is time for me to end her suffering.
 
Nib has cancer, is just skin and bones.  She is fastly loosing control
over her hind legs, has all she can do to move anywhere.  She gets there
but is a huge painful effort for her.
 
Usually when I open the bottom door on the cage to let them out Nib will
hang back but when the coast is clear she will bolt out lightning fast to
a hiding place and mischief.  Today I opened the door, she was laying on
her stomach on the cage bottom, but kind of got up, got to the door edge
and lay down again resting her chin on the lip.
 
Of course she is full steam ahead for the raisin treat, but her hind legs
were all adrift.  Nib can get to places but immediately retreats to lay
on her stomach right where she is, legs in odd positions.  I can see she
is now in pain, her eyes glassy and half closed and it is to the point it
is not humane to let this keep on.  She can barely hold her head up for
the pain which seemed to start the last couple days unless she hid it
well, and ferrets will do that so well.
 
I felt the cancer lumps in her abdomen.  They are huge long lumps that I
can move around in her belly area.  Her hip area is just skin and bones,
no meat in there at all, not a thing as is in her neck and shoulders.
These cancer lumps grew incredibly fast and at the time of discovery were
far to big to be removed.  Is the same thing that happened to Podo.
 
I really hate this job I will have to do tomorrow.  As much as I did not
really like Nib, she has been with me 4 years where I got her as a kit
about 6 weeks old.  She had a good home, good food, and was treated well
no matter who she bit and she bit about everyone!  Not vicious biting but
I think is how she tested her world not knowing any better, she is an
animal after all.  To put her down is the best thing I can do for her
now, just a nasty job.  Oh well.  Ashes to ashes, dust to dust, is the
road we all will travel.
 
Gordon, Byte-me, Kodo, and Nibble-ed
[Posted in FML issue 4147]