I am very sad today, and need to report that my beloved Wolfie crossed
over the Rainbow Bridge last week.
 
Losing him was bad enough, but to make matters worse, I was out of town,
and so I never got the opportunity to say good-bye to him.  Fortunately,
my husband was home and was caring for him, so at least he was not with
strangers.  Still, now that I am back home, things seem very empty and
gray without his cheerful dooks.
 
Many people who know me, and who have attended shows may remember Wolfie.
He was a gorgeous silver mitt, and stole the hearts of many when he was
at shows.  Unfortunately, at the age of 2 Wolfie was exposed to ADV, and
became positive, and so that ended his show career.  Wolfie had loved
traveling to shows, and loved to flirt with people while we were there.
He enjoyed the spotlight, and after he became ADV+, he really seemed to
miss the travels.  His only chance to go places became trips to the vet's
office.  Fortunately, he had his own fan club there.
 
For those who may never have seen Wolfie, and for those who want to
remember him, I have created an online photo album.  Here is a link,
if you want to see it.
 
    http://www.PictureTrail.com/gid4947237&pathID=704197
 
Wolfie was the son of my Mosby, and inherited his father's good looks
and winning personality.  However, as he grew, he actually surpassed his
father in both categories.
 
He was the happiest ferret I have ever known, which is saying a lot,
since ferrets are generally happy creatures.  But Wolfie had a lust for
life that was unsurpassed.  Nothing seemed to get him down.  He would
run through the house clucking and dancing.  On the rare occasions when
he did something bad and I had to scold him, he would stand looking at
me with his big black eyes, and when I finished fussing, he would pause
just a second, and then would throw himself into a wild weasel war
dance, dooking with all his might.
 
Wolfie was quiet a character, and had several amusing (to me) habits.
He loved to play in water, and whenever a fresh bowl of water was put
down, he would immediately go and climb in with his front feet and
snorkel in it.  When he was through, he would shake his head, sending
water everywhere.
 
Wolfie also had an odd way of drinking.  He never lapped water out of a
bowl, but instead would dip his foot into the water and would lick the
water off his foot.  If he was in his cage, where he had a water bottle,
he would lie on his back under the spout, and hit it with his front
foot.  When his foot was sufficiently wet, he would then lick the water
off his foot.
 
Wolfie was also very obsessive about his toys.  He had a group of toys
he considered his, consisting of pigs ears, crocheted eggs, and a few
fleece toys with jingle bells in them.  He insisted that his toys had to
be in his hidey hole in a particular order.  Because I frequently
collect all the toys and put them into the toy basket, and because other
ferrets would sometimes move Wolfie's toys to other places, he would
have to spend time each day when he was out gathering his toys and
arranging them just the way he wanted.  According to my husband, he did
this until the day before he died.
 
I won't go into too much detail on what claimed his life.  Wolfie had
his share of medical problems.  When he was 2, he developed IBD after
a bout with coccidia, and soon after that became ADV+.  When he was 3,
we discovered that the ADV had caused a problem with the clotting factors
in his blood, making it unable to clot properly.  Therefore when he
started showing signs of Adrenal Disease last year, we could not consider
surgery, and had to treat him with Lupron and Melatonin.
 
During recent months, age and ailments were starting to visibly take
their toll on Wolfie, but when I left town on July 25, he was still
playful and active.  My husband did not notice anything wrong until
August 1, when he noticed Wolfy was weak and wobbly.  He called me,
asking if there was anything I could suggest, and my only suggestion was
to talk Wolfie to the vet.
 
Monday evening (August 2) I called to see what had been learned.  When
my husband started detailing what the exam had shown, I knew that there
was no hope, and asked if he had given the order to have Wolfie put to
sleep.  He hesitated, not wanting to upset me, but then admitted that he
had.  Because he knew I would want it, he had a necropsy done, and while
we are still waiting on pathology, my vet found enough wrong to let us
know that even with life support, Wolfie probably could not have lasted
for me to return home.  And, he would have suffered if they had tried to
keep him alive.  Much of what was found was likely do to the ADV, though.
 
And so, I returned home to what seems like an empty house.  ALthough I
still have 18 other ferrets, there is a big void left by Wolfie.  I know
he had a good life, despite his medical problems.  I also know he knew
how much he was loved.  I only wish I could have been there to kiss him
good-bye.
 
--
Danee
International Ferret Congress Health Issues Coordinator
http://ferretcongress.org
ADV - If your ferret hasn't been tested, you don't know!
For more information visit: http://www.ferretadv.com
You can help fight ADV! Visit:
http://help4adv.terrabox.com/
[Posted in FML issue 4601]