Sweet Pea came with Linus via Gerri in Colorado. They joined our family
in 2006 (not 1996) and were adults at that time. Sweet Pea was just as
her name portrayed, the sweetest ferret. When Athena (dog) joined our
family at 16 weeks olds, Sweet Pea took on the task of introducing her
to ferret love. Sweet Pea spent much time scritching Athena's legs,
face and belly. Athena would lay oh so still and let Sweet Pea go to
work. When Sweet Pea stopped, Athena gently and lovingly nudged her
with her muzzle. Through the 2 years Athena has been with us, Sweet Pea
frequently scritched her. About a year ago Sweet Pea went blind but she
still managed to find her dog to scritch her a bit from time to time. A
few months ago Sweet Pea had trouble with her shoulders, when she stood
they would rotate and I'd have to put them back in place for her. Sweet
Pea chose the bed in the kitchen to spend most of her sleeping time
and each time I brought her into the living room to spend time with in
the evenings, by morning she would be snuggled back in her bed in the
kitchen. About a week ago Sweet Pea had more difficulty getting out of
bed to go to the bathroom. I changed her bedding frequently and placed
soft absorbent bath towels under her for more comfort and dryness.

Two nights ago Linus moved himself into Sweet Pea's bed and there he
stayed. I really thought after Linus got stuck under a cage that he
would be the first to leave us but that was not the case. Last evening
while Nate and Autumn were visiting, we were taking turns holding Sweet
Pea, and while in Nate's arms, Sweet Pea left our realm.

I let Linus see her so he would know. This morning Linus seemed a bit
confused. He didn't want to stay in Sweet Pea's bed, but when I tucked
him in his bed in the bedroom he didn't want to be in there either.
Linus isn't doing well health-wise, but even though he has his own
issues to deal with, he made sure he was with Sweet Pea for her final
days. My thoughts are that it won't be too long before I'll be writing
a tribute to Linus as he follows his Sweet Pea.

tle
www.ferretfamilyservices.org

[Posted in FML 7621]