It wasn't so long ago that I wrote about Crissy and Whitney crossing
the Bridge, and now I write of Shadow's passing.

Shadow came to me, along with his brother Ozzy and sister Lexie. They
belonged to a family who live around the corner from me. They had
quite a history. One that I wouldn't have believed if I hadn't seen
it myself. They belonged to a common-law family with young boys. The
couple was breaking up and the adults (loose description) used the
ferrets to hurt each other and the boys. The man had custody of the
ferrets and all the lady and her sons had to do to get them back was
to move back in. To make a long story short, the lady and her sons got
custody of the 3 fuzzies after much fighting and bitterness. Shortly
after that, they lost interest in the ferrets and asked me to take
them. At first I said no. I already had 9 ferrets. However it became
quite obvious that the lady really didn't care about placing these
sweet little guys in loving homes, she just wanted rid of them and was
planning to separate them. These guys had been cage mates and were
quite bonded. I couldn't bear to see them separated, and I didn't
really think the homes she had chosen for them were really ferret
knowlegable, so I agreed to take them in.

They have been a joy to me for the 4 years tat I have been their
mother, and the previous family have not even asked how they are doing,
nor have they come to see them and they only live around the corner.
Their loss!

Ozzy and Lexie both got insulinoma and are doing well on medication.
Shadow, who I thought was the healthiest of the 3, got really sick one
night. After a rushed visit to the vet, we found out that Shadow had
insulinoma and heart disease. He was doing quite well on prednisone
and lasix.

Yesterday morning I gave them their medication and soup and all seemed
normal. Shadow wolfed down his soup and his meds with no problems. I
had to laugh at the little guy....he loved his medication! The only
ferret I have ever known to like medicine and almost looked forward to
getting it.

The evening soup time was quite a different story. Shadow wouldn't eat
and I had a very difficult time getting his meds into him. The first
thing I thought of was his blood sugar level, so I tested his blood and
the level was within normal limits. I called my vet to see if I could
give him some more lasix, but it was after hours, so I had to leave a
message. I know my vet checks her messages after hours, so I was hoping
that she would call back soon. He was whimpering a little and I thought
he was having some pain, so I put him down long enough to go and get
him some Rescue Remedy. I thought that would help calm his pain until
I could get him to the vet. When I got back to him he was gone. His
little heart just couldn't go on any longer.

He is wrapped in his favorite polar fleece, and is waiting for his
final trip to the vet's office to be sent for a special cremation.

He was my biggest ferret at almost 4.5 lbs. and a very good kisser. I
held his little body for such a long time, crying and wishing he could
kiss me one last time.

Bridge greeters, please make sure he meets up with the 21 fuzzies that
have gone before him. Please make sure he knows how much I will miss
his kisses. I always tried to make his 2nd home so much better than
his first. I hope I was successful. I certainly loved him as if I had
chosen him myself and this was his first and only home.

Sally St Germain and her 4 Little Saints: Chase, Lexie, Ozzy and Roxy
22 Little Angels at the Bridge: Baby, Bandit, Bear, Beasley, Buddy,
Casey, Crissy, Daisy, Freddy, Heidi, Holly #1, Holly #2, Houdini,
Laser, Mitzy, Moxy, Murphy, Sandy, Shadow, Smokey, Toby and Whitney.

Hi, my name is Sally.....I am a ferret-a-holic!

[Posted in FML 6063]