For only the second time in our over thirty years with ferrets we have
had a youngster with JL. As a few friends here know, we lost Arian on
Monday, two weeksshort of her first birthday. Juvenile Lymphoma is
blessedly rare. It is a disease that is thought to have a genetic
trigger and it almost always strikes the young ones, and ravages them
in very short order. To date noone has successfully treated it and
often the first symptoms begin whe the ferret isclose to dying, and
when that is not the case, when It takes longer -- weeks instead of
days -- then it tends to invade the spinal cord. In Arian's case it
went fast so this has beena huge shock but kinder to her than having
it go to the spinal cord as happened to Helix long ago. Those who have
encountered this version of lymphoma rather than the other slower types
which are more often experienced will know what I mean. Even one with
this illness is too many. It is lightening fast and it takes the very
young.

Ari had a distinctive personality. She loved water to the point where
she would ask us to turn on the shower or the tub tap and would get
herself soaking. She'd use Steve as a pier and go swimming in the
bathtub while he was bathing. Ariane also liked to be entertained
while she ate so she would move a meal, piece by piece up the pillow
ramp to the top of the pine trunk that is next to the window and would
enjoy her food as she watched the cars drive past. She alsohad true
appreciation for a goodbelly kiss. Her second favorite toys were tubes
to dash through as her tail wagged, and almost empty bottles of citrus
seltzer which she would drag and roll everywhere. Her favorite games
wereany she played with us like her favorite toy which was a stuffed
cloth mousie on a "fishing pole", or any games played with the other
ferrets.

The others are still looking for her. We are heartbroken.

I am going to ask people to NOT send us sympathy messages. We know you
care, and we have already heard from people, but this loss is still to
raw to have a lot of notes right now so Steve and I have to just deal
with this together.

[Posted in FML 7422]