I guess two days of tears wasn't enough when Taz passed on sunday.
Autumn was being fostered with our rescue co-ordinator as she needed
a tooth removed. Since she was good company for Sam, the other foster
with insulinoma, I told Caroline to hold on to both of them until I was
back on my feet. We had planned for her to come home tomorrow, but God
had other plans and called her to his home last night in her sleep.

I guess most of you are wondering how I can zip out these obits so
quickly, that it takes most of us days until we can even talk about it.
I guess knowing that there is this huge FML family of support, I feel
compelled to let you all know, just as I make the family phone calls
when we lose a precious fuzzy. It's also therapeutic and helps me get
my feelings into words to appropriately memorialize each one. I'm not
a cold person and I am by no means "used to" losing my babies. I guess
I'm just on auto pilot and feel like I've also taken on the role of a
sort of ferret funeral director.

Autumn was the ferret that started it all. The first one in the door.
The purchase I hoped would help my stepson and I bond in the absence
of the attention he did not get from his father. Boo followed as a
birthday gift a few weeks later. They were cage mates at the pet store.
Well the bonding with the stepson didn't quite work as he developed an
allergy to scooping poo.(uuhhhhhhhhhh ...ok) so I stepped in and cared
for them and loved them so much. Boo was sick when she came in and
after battling with the pet store to pay her vet bill, they stopped
selling ferrets. A small victory that was also a part of my inspiration
to begin rescue. A friend of mine worked for this pet store and called
me one day to show me the conditions in which the babies arrived.
Crates with straw, half cut tin cans that were supposed to hold their
food and water naturally spilled during the trip from Path Valley
Farms. They were barely 5-6 weeks old. Having raised the babies last
year, I know this now to be fact and not an estimation as I could only
previously claim.

I can remember coming home in the evening, Brian would have the kids
out playing and both of them would greet me at the door, climbing to
the top of the loveseat by the front door for love and kisses. Autumn
was definitely the brains of the bunch, the smartest, most clever and
mischievious ferret you could imagine. She was responsible for several
teeth marks in my ex's collection of Nascar scoozie beer holders....
just because it pissed him off. It didn't matter where he put them.
As high as a 4 foot dresser,.... I swear this ferret had spiderman
web powers. Autumn was also the ferret that a previous roommate swore
"stalked" her every morning. I heard of these stories so endlessly and
in a bit of disbeleif, I decided to investigate for myself. I pulled
myself from bed at 0430 am and planted myself in the living room for
observation. You have to also keep in mind that the roommate was as
scheduled as a clock , rising at 450 am and Autumn picked up on this
immediately. 0445 am, Autumn rounds the corner from the ferret room
and assumes her hiding position under the radio cabinet with her head
sticking out, yawning as if this were a daily chore she was compelled
to accomplish. Radio cabinet btw, was next to the door where roommate
emerged in the am. The story was that as soon as the door opened,
Autumn would fly from "somewhere", fly down the steps, dooking &
dancing and making the roommate chase her and retrieve her from the
room where she did not belong. ...on a daily basis, monday through
friday. I waited from the sofa observation tower to confirm said claim.
Sure enough, at the sound of the door knob turning, Autumn's head
perked up, preparing to spring into action. With the sound of the door
opening, she wasted no time zinging around the corner, past the sleepy
roommate and flying down the steps..Dooking could be heard in the
distance. It was official...Autumn was stalking (aka making a fool) of
the roommate. Reports from one such incident indicated that one morning
she flew down the steps so quickly that she had trouble stopping the
momentum she gained and did a sonic the hedgehog roll at the base of
the steps, delighting her even more into a full blown mocking dook &
dance. Autumn was indeed a priceless ferret. Our first. The one that
started it all.

I know there are those of you out there that question spiritual
messages, animal communications etc.... but check out a post I made a
few months ago. I did this for a reason. I wanted time and dated solid
proof of the message I got. " You are in for another rough year." True
to the message, since January of 07 we have lost Strauss, Gilda, Sandy,
Taz, Autumn, Stacie and Albi. Coincidence? I think not.

It's time for SUMS to take a break. Until the rescues we have are
adopted out, we can't take in any more. I need time with my own kids
and to get completely back on my feet. We are at the 6 year point in
rescue. WE ARE NOT CLOSING. I am taking a much needed break and setting
reasonable limits on how many are in the rescue and I refuse to go
beyond what is manageable by myself at this point. The breeder rescue
last year knocked the wind out of me and I just received a court notice
for our vet bill of $2,000 that we have not been able to pay. It's time
for a break, emotionally and physically. I'm even considering lessening
my personal ferrets and leaning more toward the bulk of space being
used for only the rescues who have less of a mortality rate as they
become adopted to other families. That's my plan. In the meantime if
anyone has any suggestions on dealing with so much grief at once, feel
free to drop me a line.

Warm Fuzzys,

Kimberly Fox
Director/Rescue Mom
Somethin Up My Sleeve Ferret Rescue
http://companiontalk.terrabox.com/SUMS-Rescue.html
Help The Helpless. SUPPORT PRIVATE RESCUE
Pay Pal accepted for donations at this email address.

[Posted in FML 5644]