Ranger:  January, 1994  - May 24th, 1998
 
May 25th, 1998
Fellow FMLers:
 
At roughly 8:00 PM Mountain Daylight Time, May 24th, 1998, our beloved
"Ranger Boy" passed away.  Cause of death was extreme anemia (a loss of red
blood cells), though the cause of the anemia is not known at this time.
Ranger died in his sleep, warm and snug in his house, in one of his favorite
hammocks.  He was just over 4 years old.
 
Ranger had led a somewhat troubled life before he came to Wyrdhaven, having
been given up for adoption at a ferret shelter when he was only a few months
old.  Colleen found him and brought him home, where he quickly gained weight
and became a loving, friendly ferret who liked just about everybody.
 
During the winter of 1997-1998, Ranger gained a considerable amount of
weight, becoming downright obese.  Consulation with our vet combined with
our own observations led us to believe that this was simply a bit of an
"overreaction" on Ranger's part to winter and breeding season.  He exhibited
some mild breeding behaviour (which we've seen before in neutered males) and
was otherwise quite healthy, and so we thought nothing of it.
 
Something began to go wrong in mid-April, however.  Ranger had begun to lose
weight as the season turned to Spring, which was perfectly normal, but then
he kept losing it.  By the beginning of May it was obvious that he was
underweight, and he had become very lethargic.  We took him to our vet for
examination.
 
Ranger was very dehydrated, and his blood tests showed that he had virtually
no white blood cells left in his system.  His red blood cells were ragged
and obviously old; apparently, for some reason, his blood-producing bone
marrow had shut down.  Ranger had anemia.
 
Blood tests revealed nothing wrong.  Estrogen levels were normal.
Testosterone levels were normal.  There were no indications of viral or
bacterial infection.  His kidney functions looked normal.  His blood Ph was
normal.  *Everything* was fine, and yet he was dying of anemia.
 
Our vet gave us an anabolic steroid to try to "jump start" his blood
production, but by that point the odds were not good.  Ranger continued to
get weaker and weaker over the course of the next week, eventually refusing
to eat and taking only a little water when it was forced on him.  As we
moved into Memorial Day weekend we faced a tough choice: put him down or
give him a few more days to see if he could pull out of it (after all, he'd
only been on the steroid for a couple of days).  We decided to give him the
extra time.
 
On the morning of Sunday, May 24th, we noted that his eyes were unresponsive
to light and that his body was completely limp when held.  At 7:00 PM that
evening, he went into what is called the "Cheyenne Stoates" condition...very
rapid and shallow breathing, fast heartrate, coma-like state.
 
Ranger died at 8:00 PM.
 
We plan to have an autopsy done, as Ranger's death is as much as mystery as
it is a shock.  We don't know what killed him...why would a perfectly
healthy ferret suddenly go into anemic shutdown, and do it so rapidly?  Was
it induced by some poison or toxin, or did he have a cancer of some kind
suddenly flare up?  We just don't know right now.  With luck, our vet will
be able to find something.
 
Ranger was a very good little boy, and we loved him dearly.
 
He will be missed.
 
Steve and Colleen
Continually Matching Withs with Newone, Minx, Puck, Taz, Scamp,
                                Rosie, Mica, and Splinter
Waiting on the Other Side:      Ripple, Missy, Slinky, Zebulon Pike,
                                and Ranger
[Posted in FML issue 2321]