It was a couple of week ends ago now, but it is only now that I feel
I can write about it. I lost Crissey and Whitney witin 2 days of each
other. I have lost many ferrets over the years and it never gets
easier. My hear is broken (again). It is a wonder there is any of my
heart left, as each one that leaves me takes a little piece along
with them.
Whitney and Crissy were 2 little kits that had been shipped to our
local pet store, at Christmas time almost 7 years ago, and were in
realy bad shape when they arrived. The third ferret that had been
shipped with them had died over night and the owner of the store
phoned me and asked me to make up some duck soup because he had 2
sick ferrets.
So off I went to town with duck soup in hand, and what I saw was quite
a shock to me. These 2 little babies were skinny, dehydrated, and still
had their milk teeth. They had been shipped with a little bit of kibble
and no water. The poor little things were in really bad shape and I
talked the owner into letting me take them home to do some intensive
care nursing. I was pretty sure that I could pull one through, but the
other one I thought would probably die. For the next 2 weeks and over
Christmas, I fed them evry 2-3 hours, day and night. I even kept them
a little longer so they wouldn't have to go back to the pet store and
be sold for Christmas gifts. That was my plan anyway.LOL
Needless to say, they became permanent fixtures in my home. I just
couldn't let them go back, so I went to the owner and taked him into
selling them to me at a deal price.I called one Whitney because she had
2 whilte knees and Crissy, because when I was feeding her, she would
lay on the table with her liitle legs crossed. They were cage mates
for the rest of their lives.
About a year ago Whitney developed the adrenal disease and I was
treating her with lupron and melatonin implants.On Friday eveing, a
couple of weeks ago, I went to the ferrets to relaese them for their
roam time. I opened the cage door and Crissy didn't come out. She was
all curled up and I thought she was just in the famous "ferret deep
sleep." I shook the bed a little to wake her and still no movement. I
put my hand in to help her out and realized that she had passed in her
sleep. I was devastated. She hadn't shown any signs of illness, The day
before she had been out and playing, her food and water intake had been
normal and she had been urinating and pooping normally.
On Sunday I got Whitney out of her cage to feed and medicate her. On
her last vet visit about 4 days earlier, she had some discharge. We
thought she had a vaginal infection, so she was on antibiotics. She
was not well. I had a feeling that I was losing her. I sat up with her
until 6 am. Her breathing was irregular and she was leaning and moving
to the left, almost as if she'd had a stroke. She was really restless.
She finally seemed to calm and settle into a peaceful sleep, so I put
her in her hannmock and I went to bed for a bit. I woke up at noon and
went to check on her, fully expecting a trip to the vet, possibly to
help her cross the bridge. She was still all curled up and had diesd
in her sleep.
I couldn't stop crying for a week. I understood that Whitney's time was
precarious, but why Crissy? I am thankful that they went peacefully in
their sleep, but that is the only comfort I get.
Bridge Greeters. please see that they find each other and their 18
brothers and sisters that hev gone before them. Tell them how much
their Mommy loved them and that I miss them so very much.
Sally St Germain and her 5 Little Saints and her 20 Little Angels at
the Bridge
I am a ferret-a-holic.
[Posted in FML 6007]
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