Maxi Mil was carried into our house the Friday evening after
Thanksgiving Day 2006. Her blood sugar level was only 28, so low she
should have been dead. Her owners had 'adopted' her off of Craig's List
where she had been posted as a 4 year old. She was 8 1/2 if she was a
day and her medical condition so severe the person giving her up, a
volunteer for another ferret shelter, had to have known. In less than a
week she had already had three grand mall seizures and her screams had
terrified her new owners. They had met me the year before when looking
for information on a baby ferret they had purchased and after seeing
where Max had been, it seemed logical to them when in the night and on
a holiday, Max had 'passed out' and needed help, to bring her here.

I remember looking at her and knowing instantly her blood sugar had
again plummeted, but for safety and curiosity about how low, I checked
her levels. When it came back a measly 28 it is safe to say I freaked
out, began grabbing needles and meds as fast as I could desperate to
head off what I was sure then would be her last seizure.

Max's blood sugar was a challenge to manage even for someone who'd had
lots of practice, but we managed. She was a happy little girl, her
favorite game mimicking a human baby playing with a blanket - she would
crawl under my carpets, roll over on her back and play with the rug
with all four feet, bouncing and rolling it. Even when she was weak and
could only walk a foot or two, as soon as she'd had her soup, she made
her way to the nearest rug to play.

In addition to her blood sugar problems, she had insulinoma, adrenal
and cardiac problems. I would tell people she 'had about every thing
a ferret gets', but she never stopped being happy enough to play with
her rugs.

Max was ferret aggressive, like a little old lady with her long dress,
collar buttoned to her chin, parasol in hand. She had no use for new
comers, never mind she was the new person. Lori was my little Red
Haired child, and despite their ages, Lori was only 6 or so, they
developed a relationship. Lori was the only ferret Max would tolerate
near her. They would pass each other in the hall, going opposite
directions like two old ladies, one on either side of the boardwalk.
You could just about see the "Good day", "Good day", the epitome of
politeness and civility, and not one speck more. It must have been a
'good breeding' issue as oppose to those 'others' who weren't quite up
to snuff as far as Max was concerned.

The day I found them sleep under the same blanket, back to back of
course, I almost fainted from shock - then I laughed and covered them
back up. After that it was not uncommon to find them together, but
maintaining a 'proper, respectful' distance of course and only when
asleep.

Lori left us several months ago and Max and the rest, every one liked
Lori, looked for her for several days. The others had shoulders they
could lean on, or is that lie on? But not Max, Lori was all she had
had. I felt so bad for her loosing her 'old,dear, friend'.

Well, today Max decided to go sleep next to Lori again. Her blood sugar
levels destabilized and despite every thing I could do, and trust me I
tried really hard to convince her other wise, I could not get them back
to a level sufficient to support any kind of a quality of life, so,
after reminding her to tell Lori and the rest of the People I loved and
missed them, I let her go.

Of course I buried her, back to back next to Lori.

[Posted in FML 5916]