I can't believe a year has come already..  I never did write to Sandee
about Zippy coming.  I just couldn't.
 
September 5, 2003 Zippy passed away.  I would like to share his story
with you if I may.
 
Zippy came to the shelter February 2003.  He was almost 6 years old and
the cutest boy I had ever seen.  and I really mean that!  He had been well
cared for throughout his life.  But divorce came in the way of his family
and they decided to find him a better place to live.  They found us.
 
http://www.picturetrails.com/gallery/view?p=999 &gid=2684479&uid=421224
(site has not been updated since he passed away)
 
Zippy didn't like other ferrets.  He would run and hide from them.  or
seek them out!  He loved to laugh and he loved to be with people.  His
favorite things..  Playing with people, laughing, eating (boy he loved to
eat baby food) and going for his nightly mommy walks in the late evenings
(11 pm!)
 
When he first got here we went through the depression stage.  and then
found out he had Insulinoma.  Once he was on medications for that.  he
did so much better.  We decided against surgery because we thought he
was still in the early stage of it and it was being controlled by
medications.  He loved me and I loved him.  He would follow me
everywhere.  He was my Shadow.
 
Then suddenly he went down hill.
 
August 28, 2003 is when he stopped breathing on his own and Shawn did CPR
on him for 40 minutes until we got to the vet.  As soon as we arrived he
had seizures.  A shot of dextrose into his stomach and about 3 minutes
later they had stopped and he was breathing on his own.
 
September 5, 2003 Zippy went in for surgery after the vet looked at him
and put him on meds to make sure he was strong enough for surgery.  They
found an enlarged spleen and two small nodules on his pancreas.  However,
while he was recovering from surgery at the vets office.  he passed away.
They tried to bring him back and couldn't.Zippy died.
 
I had to go to the vets office and pick up my boy.  I brought him home
and dug his grave.  I got everything ready for Shawn when he came home
to help me bury him.  I was still so stunned.  My little shadow was gone.
I cried through the service (I always read the Rainbow Bridge Poem) and
then just broke down completely.
 
I cannot believe it has been a year since losing my baby.  It still feels
like it was yesterday that it happened.  And yet.  sometimes I think that
it never happened.
 
Last year was a hard year.  And this year we have been trying to recover
from everything.  yet I don't think you ever fully do..  I was blessed to
know Zippy and to love him and be loved by him.  That is the memory I
hold on to when I have tears running down my face.
 
http://www.geocities.com/ferretcorneraz/zippy.html
 
May I see you again at the Rainbow Bridge my shadow, my dearest Zippy
 
Love,
Mommy Joanne
[Posted in FML issue 4642]