We had started out with 2 ferrets, our first ever, Latte & Cappuccino
(both just over 1.5 years old) in August 2006. Then I noticed Cappy was
the dominant one and Latte just didn't want anything to do with playing
with him - probably due to her transition from home to shelter to home
(boys seem to take it better), so I went in search of another playmate.
2 moderately bad biters, Mocha and Bean, came home in October 2006
(both just about 1 year of age). Everyone was happy.
I had to train the biters, something I had never done before, but
thanks to lots of reading, shelter interviews, and a little bit of
compassion for their situation, somehow the bites grew less and Bean
actually became a big teddybear. Mocha is still a terror, just not as
bad. She even gives kisses every so often. Bean will smother you with
them. Cappy and Latte whose temperaments had always been that of little
tired, sweet cats started turning into actual ferrets. Everyone was
enjoying themselves. We had the perfect family.
Then towards the end of April 2007, Cappy was diagnosed with severe
bradycardia and we were given loads of medicine and very little time.
He died 5 days after diagnosis due to complete heart failure on May
2nd, 2007. We were absolutely devastated. Our perfect family was
missing a very large part. Determined to stop crying and help our other
ferrets to stop searching for the lost Cappuccino, I went down to the
shelter and found a very sick boy with no hope and brought him and his
3 siblings home - CoCo (little girl with Adrenal Disease and has been
on Lupron since I brought her home), Silver & Smokey (all around 5
years old). I could not save my little boy, but I was determined to
save Pumpkin.
Pumpkin lived with us for all of 5 weeks. He was beautiful and sweet,
but couldn't keep weight on and constantly had horrible diarrhea. I
hand fed him as much food as he would take and he started gaining
weight. Regular eating was just too hard for him, so all I could give
him was Carnivore Care and sometimes he would let me mix in some turkey
baby food. When he came to live with us, he weighed around 550 grams,
less than half of what he was supposed to weigh), after a few weeks I
had gotten him up to around 700 grams and he seemed to be maintaining.
He looked healthier, played more, but still had the diarrhea, and still
had to be hand fed every few hours. In our arrogance, we thought we
could do what everyone else had not been able to do; we believed we
could save him and give him a good life.
Pumpkin stopped eating 4 days ago. He refused food, play and attention
from the other ferrets. He no longer took amusement in the various
unsuspecting tennis balls lounging around the house. He slept in my
arms waiting to die and I cried knowing he wouldn't live much longer.
His last recorded weight was 533 grams on the scale I had purchased
just for him, which he fit in painfully perfectly in the absence of a
healthy weight. Yesterday, June 11th, 2007, Pumpkin was diagnosed with
Insulinoma and was put to sleep. It was fast and painless (gas and
heart stick) by my very trusted vet. Pumpkin is finally at rest.
We now have 6 ferrets and 2 angels. http://my2ferrets.blogspot.com/
Brandi L Pierce
[log in to unmask]
Pink Ferret Online Resource
P.O. Box 2134
Renton, WA 98056
425.988.3361 phone
425.988.3361 fax
253.224.0341 cell
<http://www.PinkFerret.net>
[Posted in FML 5637]
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