This morning I took Chance in to the vet about half an hour before they
were due to open and had him euthanized.  Yesterday he took a sudden
downturn and had an episode where he lost most of the control of his legs.
A friend was keeping an eye on him for me while I was at work.  She called
and asked me for advice and I told her that it had happened before and the
he should come out of it soon.  Just keep an eye on him.  She did and he
did do better.  When I got of work and went to pick him up, she told me he
had been up and moving around a little and now he was sleeping.  We were
shocked when we went over to get him only to find out he was having another
episode.  A pretty bad one too.  He had messed all over himself.  And this
was the first time he had ever had two episodes in one day.  And none of
them had seemed quite as bad as this one.  When we washed him off, the heat
seemed to soothe him because he quieted down.  I told Cathy that I was
going to take him to the vet in the morning.  We were both sad, but we knew
it was time.  If I had realized just how fast he would go downhill, I would
have taken him right then.  He got steadily worse through the night.  At
about six thirty, I drove over to my friend's house.  About seven we called
the emergency number because Chance had started screaming in pain.  The vet
on call said there was usually a vet at the hospital by seven thirty.  We
drove on over and had Chance put down as soon as possible.  I only had him
about a year and a half but I sure will miss the little guy.  He was a
rescue and never in the best shape.  I can count on the fingers of one hand
the number of times he played with a human.  And the few times he did, he
would only play with a socked foot.  He bit too hard on that foot, but he
was just so darn cute doing it that Jim and I couldn't resist sticking out
feet down there and enticing him to play.  He was more of a lap ferret when
it came to people but it sure was fun to watch him play with other ferrets.
He was always game, even though all the other ferret had to do was crawl on
top of him and his weakened back legs would collapse, leaving him at a
disadvantage in their wrestling.  Never could find a toy he would play with
until he stole one of the dog's chew hoof's.  The bedroom is going to seem
too quiet now without him snoring in the cage.  I think that may be one of
the things I miss most.
 
I would like to thank everyone who wrote me with suggestions on taking care
of Chance.  I've been meaning to write and thank everyone personally.  I
found many helpful hints that I used and which I think helped to make
Chance's last few weeks better than they may have been otherwise.
[Posted in FML issue 2245]