Hola,
 
Out of the 13 ferrets I have been owned by since the 1998 there are 4
that just totaly stood out and grabbed my heart so hard it will never
be the same.  Please dont misunderstand, I have loved and still love each
and every one of my little darlings but these 4.......................
 
The first was Jubilee.  She was my very first ferret.  She was a tiny
black sable who fit neatly into the center of my palm where she made a
little heart shape.  Poor little thing was completely overprotected for
about 3 or 4 months.  I was scared to let her off her lead.  She was so
tiny she could get anywhere.  There was no such thing as ferret proofing
for her.  She slept in a little wicker wall pocket that I put soft
material in and hung from the side of her cage.  Kind of like a little
nest.  I did not know much about ferrets when I got her and I did many
things wrong.  My fav memories of her are the two of us eating fudge at
Christmas and eating oatmeal in the morning.  Jubilee also loved to walk
the neighborhood on a lead and when she grew tired of walking, rode my
shoulder.  Jubilee taught me how smart and clever ferrets are.  She
taught me how trickey and sneaky they are and how completely they steal
your heart.  Jubilee was the reason for all the others.  I was trying to
pay her back for what she gave me.  I once had a shelter mom tell me that
she had never seen a ferret more bonded with her human nor a human more
bonded with a ferret.
 
Then there was little RinkyDink.  I rescued her from a pet store.  She
was starving and bit the mess out of me when I picked her up.  She was
a champagne siamese and turned out to be the most loving, gentle ferret.
Because of her rough start RinkyDink faced many health challenges.  She
was finaly diagnosed with EGE, a severe form of IBD and I was able to
give her another couple of years thru treatment.  Before diagnosis there
was a time when I had to feed RinkyDink every 4 hours round the clock for
months.  This was scruff and stuff, she did not eat willingly.  Most of
RinkyDink's story is on the ferret health list.  I also compiled her file
and sent it off to try to get the age of sale law changed in Maryland.
RinkyDink died at just 4 years old.  She died on a holiday weekend with
no vet able to release her.  She died in my arms in the very early hours
of the morning.
 
Next were Blaze and Noble.  They came in as a pair in a tiny cage.  They
were named Turd and Prince.  The elder was Turd and the handsome young
blaze was Prince.  I was not havin it and both got new names.  Turd
became Nobleman and Prince became Blaze.  I will start with Nobleman.  He
was elderly.  He smelled elderly.  He was balding.  He had ferret asthma,
cardio, adrenal and insulinoma.  For the longest time he slept and ate
and that was all.  I had many debates with myself about his "quality" of
life.  He always convinced me his quality was good enought for him by the
eagerness his tounge met the bowl.  He loved, loved , loved his gravy and
his tounge would start flickering in mid air way before it ever got close
to the gravy.  He was not in good enough health for surgery.  He got
fatter and fatter.  Finaly after months and months of rehab and adjusting
med, Nobleman became a ferret again.  Nobleman kind of danced, he waddled
very fast and his most fav thing to do was to go out front and climb the
pine tree.  He loved to climb that pine tree.  Nobleman escaped one day
while in my husbands care.  He did not survive.  My only comfort is
knowing that he went quickly on a grand adventure and he had a chance to
be a ferret again.
 
Last was Blaze.  He was a stunning blaze (big surprise there lol).  He
was tiny for a male and never got any larger than a med sized female.
But oh was he mean.  Only to other ferrets but he was mean mean mean to
them.  I could not let him play with them as he would try to kill them.
He was quick and viscious and went straight for the throat.  I would
take him to the bathroom to stay while the others played and he would
turn himself around and kiss me all over my face on the way.  He was the
gentlest ferret with humans.  If you did not know ferrets had claws, you
would not find out thru Blaze.  He would never let you feel his claws on
your skin.  Blaze was pure mischeif.  He was every where he was not
supposed to be quicker than he was supposed to be there.  He could get
places no ferret was supposed to be able to reach.  I finaly did find
Blaze a companion, even two.  Turns out he was really good at taking
care of kits when they came in.  He raised Navidad and Bonkers.  Two
days before Blaze when in for his second adrenal surgery and to explore a
lump he was dancing on a chair, all by himself, in a shaft of sunlight.
I wll never forget that moment.  It is written on my heart.  During the
surgery, one of Blaze's kidneys were removed as it had hardened and
biopsies were taken of his lymph nodes.  Blaze never really recovered
from his surgery.  We just got him stablized with the Addisons and then
the cancer took him.  Ragged little mitts, master of dancing fits.
 
I miss them all.
 
--
HappyTails,
Karen
[Posted in FML issue 5099]