On August 22, 1997, one year ago from yesterday, our beloved Ben left us.
We were lucky to have her with us from when she was a kit to her death at
age 7 years, 8 months.  Ben was a silver mitt with a black nose, beautiful
intense eyes, and a somewhat serious expression.  You can see pictures of
her at "http://www.astro.umd.edu/~wls/images/#ben".
 
Ben and her littermate Jerry were not only our first ferrets, but the first
companion animals that we picked out and raised together.  Clare first met
Ben at a pet store in January, 1990.  In this store were booths where
customers could interact with the animals.  When Clare brought Ben into a
booth, Ben decided to tug at the decorations on Clare's shoes.  She planted
her little white feet on the floor and tugged with all her might.  Soon we
returned to the store to pick up Ben.  We intended to get two ferrets to
keep each other company and had already chosen the names Ben and Jerry
before meeting these particular ferrets.  Bill chose a little sable mitt
ferret who was Ben's littermate and had been her cage companion at the
store.  This ferret became Jerry.
 
Although we had read Wendy Winsted's book and attended a ferret show before
getting Ben and Jerry, we were still rather naive about ferrets.  When we
took them to the vet for their vaccinations, we outfitted a cat carrier
with little cardboard boxes to hold food and litter.  On the way, Ben and
Jerry overturned the boxes and mixed the litter, food, and water together.
Sometimes we wondered what we had gotten ourselves into with these
energetic little beings who clearly had minds of their own.
 
Ben was an especially strong-willed ferret throughout her life.  Ben was
somewhat larger than Jerry and tended to pick on her.  They wrestled
constantly, squeaking and occasionally hissing at each other.  One time
when we thought that Ben was getting too rough with Jerry, we put her in
a box for a time-out.  We were surprised that Jerry then acted as if she
missed Ben.  Ben was always the alpha, even as our little pack of ferrets
eventually grew to five.  People were her subordinates too; she bit anyone
who dared to squeak a squeaky toy and hissed at Bill when he tried to
prevent her from getting onto his desk.
 
Ben loved to beg for treats and play with toys for almost all of her nearly
8 years.  Ben loved raisins, Ferretone, and Ferretbites.  She loved to play
with her little stuffed football-shaped toys.  She liked the crinkly sound
they made when she bit them.  She also liked to play with a cat toy -- a
little stuffed cow dangling from a fishing pole.  One of our favorite
pictures of her shows her carrying a tennis ball in her mouth while running
up the stairs, at age 7, no less!
 
Ben and Jerry maintained good health for many years.  They both had a
vaccine reaction in 1994, requiring a trip to an emergency clinic.  When
Jerry's health started to decline at age 6 1/2, Ben was still strong and
vigorous.  We thought Ben would be one of those ferrets who would live to
be 9 or 10.  Shortly after turning 7, Ben began to lose weight and lose fur
on her tail.  Her vet felt an irregular mass in her abdomen.  We had an
ultrasound done, and the diagnosis was a large adrenal tumor.  We went ahead
with surgery because she seemed to have an excellent chance of benefiting
from it.  Much to our surprise, the tumor turned out to be attached to her
pancreas.  It was so large and vascular that Dr. Weiss told us she might not
survive the recovery period.  We visited her in the little ICU cage, and
only a couple of hours after surgery she was walking around!  She did have
the most difficult post-surgical recovery we've ever seen, though.
 
When Dr. Weiss called a few days later to say that she had lymphosarcoma,
we decided to do everything we could to enable Ben to recover from her
ordeal and stay with us as long as possible.  We took her to a veterinary
oncologist for chemotherapy.  Ben did well and had a good remission period.
She played and wrestled like a much younger ferret.  Unfortunately, the
cancer eventually became drug-resistant, and Ben died at the end of August.
Developing diabetes at the end actually helped her pass peacefully; she was
in a coma for the last 12 hours and stopped breathing while Clare held her
on her lap at home.
 
Ben and Jerry (who died around the time of Ben's surgery) are buried along
the side of our house next to a beautiful crape myrtle bush.  A little
seedling from the big bush grew right on their grave this summer and
flowered just a few days ago.  Space is reserved next to our dog's grave in
an animal cemetery; if we leave this house we will have them buried there
so we can always visit their final resting place.
 
A few weeks after Ben's death, Bill found a little pet store ferret who
looks a lot like Ben.  We got her and her brother, who looks a little like
Jerry.  We named her Bonnie.  Although Bonnie is a unique little individual,
she reminds us of Ben because she looks like Ben and because she has taken
over ownership of Ben's favorite toys.  She also has some of Ben's strong
will, although she has a timid streak that Ben never had.
 
Thank you to everyone who reads this memorial post; you've helped Ben's
memory to live on.
 
Clare and Bill Sebok
Buttercup, Bridgett, Jasmine, Bonnie, and Charlie
Rest in peace, beloved Ben, Jerry, and Lupi
[Posted in FML issue 2409]