Bridge Greeters,

With a heavy heart I am asking any of the Bridge Greeters to please
greet our little gal Riley. I had to let her go earlier today.

Riley was my first ferret I ever brought into my home a little over 5
years ago. She was could be considered an "impulse buy". My husband
and I went into a PetCo for cat food and came out with a whole lot
more. According to the paper work Riley was about 5 months old when we
purchased her. It wasn't until I started reading "Ferrets for Dummies"
that I discovered there were ferret shelters.

Riley was an amazing little gal. So freaking smart!!! She loved her
little red bear so much that she would "feed" the bear (bring it near
the gravy bowl while she ate). I discovered her beloved red bear by the
little box several times. I swear she was trying to litter train em! If
she wasn't feeding to training her red bear it was safely tucked way
in the top upper right side of the ferret nation cage. Any time Riley
noticed I was cleaning out the cage she would quickly relocate red bear
and the other "babies" (non were a dear to her as red bear) to a safe
location. After relocating she would then "defend" her cage i.e. attack
my hands as I changed the bedding. Diggy (RIP) and Teddy Bear are my
only other furkids who have an attachment to the "babies".

Riley loved her Totally Ferret Treats. She would not only beg for them,
but roll over, and turn around. She never wanted to be given her treat
without showing off her tricks.

I guess you could call Riley our "gateway ferret". She let the way for
many more furkids into our home including long term senior fosters from
my local shelter Fbog (ferret business of Georgia). Loosing Riley today
has brought our numbers down to 7. She has may brother and sisters
awaiting her arrival (Cholo, Hanky, Bedlam, Annabelle, Marshmellow,
Louie, Meeko, and Diggy).

Riley and our little Agatha became the "enforcer divas" of our
business. I'll never forget bring home Junior, he was just a baby and
wanted nothing more than to play with his 5 brothers and sisters. Riley
and Agatha took turns dragging him around by the scruff. Junior would
submit to this, after they would release he would bounce up hoping to
play.....

Riley also loved going for car rides. That is if she was on a harness
and leash with the window rolled down a bit (of course there would be
more than one person in the car during this the passenger would hold
Riley while she did this). Riley would put her head out the window,
just like a dog, and take in all the smells.

Riley was very mildly affected by adrenal disease. About 8 weeks ago
she started "spacing out". Insulinoma set in. It was like a snowball.
She kept getting worse. Hence her med's increased. I've seen one other
ferret, our Annabelle, who's insulinoma worsened so rapidly. I had a
feeling we'd loose Riley quickly to insulinoma just like Annabelle.
But that didn't mean I accepted or completely expected it.

Yesterday morning Riley ate all her gravy with her med's, cleaning her
bowl and everyone else's too. When I got home from work she came out
of the ferret room with her brothers and sisters for a bit. It wasn't
until I went to find her for her evening gravy that I knew she was on
her way out. I found her unresponsive. Sugar didn't do the trick. A
dexamethasone injection didn't either. I kept trying both. I held her
while she seized, comforted her when she was sleepy eyed grinding. Per
usual all of this happened late at night, on a weekend. My husband and
I made the decision to keep Riley comfortable through the night and
hope for a miracle. After a very sleepless night we made our way to the
emergency vet for a mercy shot. She passed on in my hands peacefully.

Riley we will always miss and love you. After returning home from
saying goodbye your brothers and sisters were looking for you. They
had to inspect the carrier. Teddy Bear found Red Bear in the sleepy
sack and immediately put em back with the other babies. He'll take
great care of them all. He promised.

Bridge greeters I can't thank you enough for what you do. I know all of
us ferret folks have different "rituals"/ways to deal with loosing our
beloved babies. For me, writing this post is part of my ritual.

Wendy and Rex Hamilton
in Atlanta, GA
with Ahkee, Agatha, Tink, Junior, Baxter, Teddy Bear, and Polly Prissy
Pants.
missing Cholo, Hanky, Bedlam, Annabelle, Louie, Meeko, Diggy and
grieving Riley

[Posted in FML 7181]