The day we met, she explained to me quite firmly that she was the
guardian over her helpless companion of many years. Her friend could
not walk, so she would push him to food and water, even if that meant
sliding him up ramps. She stood between him and the edges of cage
shelves, so he would not fall. She heaved him into hammocks to rest.
She gave him her treats. His paralysis lessened , but she remains
vigilant on his behalf, even if she has learned that her new humans are
not like the previous ones who caused such terrible harm to her friend.
Her name was Ayla, and she was filled with compassion; it wasn't her
choice to leave Codo alone.

On Tuesday, July 5, 2011, Ayla was assisted to the Rainbow Bridge by
Ferrets at Heart's closest veterinarian. For two weeks, her health had
been gradually declining. Weight loss was the main symptom, though
listlessness dehydration, and no appetite followed. Ayla lost 0.4 lbs.
of her 1.8 lbs. in those two weeks. Unbeknownst to me, Ayla was adrenal
and one of the few that did not experience fur loss as a sign of the
condition. She had not been unusually assertive. Without the common
symptoms to make a correct diagnosis in time, Ayla experienced adrenal
failure without any previous treatment for her gland tumor. The only
way we knew for sure what was wrong was the onset of the new symptoms
in addition to some knowledgeable friends spotting her extended vulvae.
Intravenous fluids and electrolytes would have brought her back for a
time, but only to crash again and again. She would have slowly starved
to death. Her spleen had grown larger since her last visit; it was a
risky size to begin with, but Ayla's age made her an unlikely candidate
for surgery.

I spent Ayla's last night trying to get her to eat soup, but she would
only take a sip once-in-awhile. Ayla was a pig about soup, and would
eat until she could barely waddle away from the bowl. She didn't much
care about Furo-Tone or Nutri-Cal that night either, though I tried
to interest her. I thought we'd lose her before morning, but she was
still with us, when some out-of-town ferret friends arrived for a
long-anticipated visit. Laurie and Jane Schubert have had ferrets for
two decades. I petitioned for their guidance and leaned upon their
experience, and they were there for me as Ayla breathed her last.

So our "Grumpy Old Lady" that was aged somewhere around seven-years-old
is gone. There will no longer be the crunch of plastic drinking bottles
being used as chew toys or the need to watch for a certain ferret, who
thought tearing the bottom out of bags of dirtied litter was fun. No
longer will we have to warn visitors about her "lick, Lick, CHOMP!" No
longer will we hear her snort into her bowl of soup and laugh at the
ferret that looks like she swallowed a tennis ball after such a meal.
Such a one that seldom gave her trust to a human, and then, it must
have been earned with days of toil and patience, has her wings.

And then, there is Codo to think of. He has lived in his own cage for a
few months now, because it has become more and more difficult for him
to control his toilet in time to get in "position" and not "deposit" in
a hammock or on a shelf. Ayla spent most nights with him, at her own
request, but fewer and fewer recently. Ayla was generally a loner, but
not to her Codo. How Codo, and her other playmates - Rhys, Mandie, and
Winter - will handle her passing remains to be seen.

Frost, you and Ayla didn't see eye-to-eye in life, but you are the only
one of our angels across the Rainbow Bridge that Ayla would know. If
you wouldn't mind, please tame down your exuberant nature long enough
to greet our plodding old lady. I'm sure you've found our others up
there - Arthur, Lance, Merlin, Nikita, Pirate, Sandy, Smokey, and Loki
- and perhaps she'll find a friend in them. Tell Ayla that Winter and
Rhys will get melatonin implants next week, thanks to Support Our
Shelters, which donated them, since Ferrets at Heart is having such a
difficult time raising funds for Winter's surgery and more deslorelin
implants. Codo will have a melatonin implant waiting for when his
deslorelin fails. Her friends that are still here will be okay.

Sincerely,
Lori of Ferrets at Heart
Huron, Ohio
(419)433-6016
[log in to unmask]
http://ferretsatheart.com/

 .and Rhys, Codo, Mandie, Winter, Holly, Charlie, & Templeton

[Posted in FML 7116]