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From:
Joanne Ruffner <[log in to unmask]>
Date:
Tue, 11 Feb 2003 08:58:58 -0700
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To my FML family.  I am sorry that I hadn't posted earlier.  I have been
having a hard time with posting this....this is so hard and so emotional.
 
Many of you may remember Ferret Corner Shelters permanent resident
Buster.  He had to be helped to the Rainbow Bridge on February 5, 2003
at 3:45 pm.  Let me tell you a little about him.... He came to us Easter
weekend last year.  He was so thin and so tired.  While he was loved by
his previous family he was neglected.  We started him on duck soup and he
got a fat belly.  He loved the sand box and anything nice and soft to
sleep in.  In Sep 02 he had adrenal surgery and it was discovered that he
had insulinoma.  He was in the advanced stages of the cancer.  We started
him on pred.  and kept him going with duck soup, treats, vitamins and
baby food.  He always had that light in his eyes and a skip in his step.
Though he had a hard time walking and couldn't see very well, he never
said that he had had enough.  He enjoyed life with us and we enjoyed
having him here.
 
Shawn was worried February 4th because Buster ran for 30 minutes.  He
kept running in circles and wouldn't calm down for anything.  He called
me and I told him to give him some pain medication (it was prescribed to
him) to calm him down and help him sleep.
 
When I got home that night and he wouldn't wake up all of the way.
I cleaned him up with a rag a little which made him stretch just a
little...but wouldn't fully wake up.  I kept him with me all evening.
 
He was laying in my lap....suddenly he moved a little.... just enough to
turn around and poop all over his sleep sack and himself.  So while I
cleaned him up, Shawn washed his sleepsack.  Buster curled right back up
and went to sleep with me...just so happy to be with me.  At about 11 pm
we got a little pedelite down him.  And just a couple drops of food.  At
midnight I went to bed, Shawn stayed with him until around 2 am.
 
I checked on him at 5 am.  Still sleeping and still breathing.
 
At 7 am on Feb 5th I got up to go to work and checked on him again....he
had pooped on himself again.  I pulled him out of his sleep sack and all
he wanted to do was curl up.  I cleaned him up and put him in another
sleep sack.  I woke up Shawn at 7:30 and gave him Buster.  Explained what
happened and informed him that I would be making the vet appointment for
him today.
 
That morning he seemed to be in pain and very sad.  I could not let that
go on.  This is the little boy who could always find the potty...now he
can't get up to go.  I can't watch him suffer.  I had never had to put a
ferret to sleep.  I have only put one animal to sleep, and that was my
Lea over the summer.
 
The night before this happened, I was holding him on my chest.  I told
him that it was ok.  That he just had to let us know when it was time
and we would help him.  The next day is when all of this started....
 
We went to the vets at 3:20 Feb 5th.  She informed us that he either had
a stroke or he has a tumor in his brain.  Most likely it was a stroke.
He would not recover.
 
We made the choice to help him to the bridge.
 
We were with him when the vet came back with the medication.  I held onto
his paw as the medicine went in.... The vet left the room.... I picked up
Buster and handed him to Shawn while he was still breathing..... He was
able to cross to the Bridge while in his daddies arms....safe, warm and
happy.
 
We came home and Shawn carved Busters name into a PVC Tube, which would
be his final resting place.....
 
Buster
Feb 5, 2003
Loved by All
Spoiled by All
 
He put his favorite blankie in there, lining it and also to cover him.  I
printed a picture of Stinker his old cage mate and put between his paws.
Shawn added his favorite Chicken Treats and then we said our goodbyes and
sealed it up.
 
We buried him outside with Oggie and Zorro.  We placed the tube in the
ground and I read the Rainbow Bridge Poem.  Then Shawn covered him up and
I placed a temporary headstone.
 
While we are sad.... I am also filled with happiness.  I know that for
the last 11 months that he had on this earth he was happy and he was
loved.  He had a good life with us and I will never regret opening my
home...and my heart to him.
 
Thank you all for being there for us.  I will miss my Buster boy....
 
I had a vision after we got home... My dog Lea, whom I had to put to
sleep this summer, use to love to lick Buster as he walked by.  He could
never see what happened...so he always just kept on walking (once he got
his balance back from the lick).  Well...my vision was that she met him
up there and went to lick him, he jumped out of the way just in time and
then bit her on her tongue!  It brought a smile to my face.
 
Please hold your ferrets a little closer today and remember that though
their lives are short, it is how they live that matters...
 
"Ferrets are the Spice of Life"
Joanne Ruffner
Ferret Corner Shelter
www.geocities.com/ferretcorneraz
[Posted in FML issue 4056]

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