Today I said goodbye to Shelby, our very first fuzzy.  She was helped to
the bridge at 11:45AM Thursday.  She was approximately five years old.
 
A few months back I wrote that I had taken Shelby in for Adrenal surgery,
but the vet had just closed her back up as she was full of cancer.  We
put her on Pediapred and that sustained her life for two months when
the vet thought she would have died already.  The end when it came was
relatively quick.  She refused to eat and was no longer eating on her
own for the last 24 hours.  When she could no longer lift her head or
make it to the litter I made the decision to end her suffering.
 
Shelby was a very regal sable with a heat shaped face who thought she
was Queen, which garnered her the name 'Her Royal Highness'.  She never
played much but would hold court over the rest with her nose in the air.
Each new addition was subjected to her scruffing and literally scaring
the poop out of them.  She did this until a few months ago when she began
to apparently teach our little albino, Little One the tools of the trade.
Little One now holds the title proudly.
 
Shelby found her soul mate in Rocky Ferret, a dog pound rescue we got
last November when Shelby's first cage mate Whitey died of DIM.  Rocky
was timid, Shelby was aloof, but together they played and snuggled
together.
 
Bridge greeters, please help Shelby and make sure she is reunited with
Whitey who was the first kit she scared the poop out of, and Nibbles (who
she never scared) who passed last month from an accident.  Once Whitey
was large enough, he always raided Shelby's hidey holes and stole the GI
Joe parachute she loved.  Shelby became surrogate mom to all the babies
that came after her, once she taught them who ruled, but she loved Whitey
and it was returned.  Shelby, Whitey and Nibbles should know we all miss
them terribly.
 
Momma Leslie, Daddy Bobby, Rocky, Saide, Sparky, Taz, Patches, Ruby, Kai,
Luna, Little One, Sox, Kaos and Cherish
[Posted in FML issue 5121]