We adopted Harley along with 7 others from a shelter in November 1998.
He was around 2.5 years old.  So when the shelter mom brought over about
20 ferrets adopting 8 didn't seem like so many at the time LOL!  Going
from two to 10 was quite an adjustment, but that's all history now.
 
Harley was a MF beautiful, cute, handsome dark sable with the silkiest
coat.  When you would hold him he was like a slinky toy that would fall
through your arms if you didn't hang on to him.  He would give lots of
kisses too.  Even his big ears were endearing.  He had a great
personality.  He use to lung at me.  I loved everything about him.  He
got along great with all the other ferrets and they all loved him.
 
I was contact ed by a few people to do ADV testing because I got a kit
from a breeder and some of the kits and other ferrets had turned up
positive.  In February of 2000 we did a random ADV testing and found out
Harley was positive.  This changed our whole lives, but that's another
story
 
In May of 2000 he had insulinoma surgery because of hind leg weakness.
He was on Pred but we were able to wean him off of it.  In February 2001
he was showing signs of adrenal so in June he had surgery.  Glucose was
OK and pancreas looked OK, spleen large (so what else is new).
 
In March of 2002 we had to start him back on Pred because he was showing
signs of hind leg weakness.  I wasn't sure if it was the insulinoma or
the ADV that was causing the physical problems so we switched back and
forth between Pred and Dex for a little while.  In May he started
vomiting and I still don't know what that was all about except that
maybe he had a tumor pressing inside somewhere.  The vomiting continued
off and on for a few months and we tried Reglan and Sucrolfate.  We also
had to up the Pred over the next several months.
 
In April o f this year he crashed on me for about 10 hours and I thought
he was dying.  We finally got some food down him late that night and the
next day he seemed normal (for him anyway).  That night he crashed again
but I got him some honey right away and it only lasted for four hours
before he finally came out of it.  It started to take a toll on him.  My
vet suggested putting him on Proglycem so we were able to decrease the
Pred dosage a little.  He seemed to be hanging in there.  I know he was
on borrowed time.  I was going home at lunch every day from work to feed
him gravy.  His mouth was so bad, probably from the ADV, that he didn t
eat dry food anymore.  Any kind of surgery was out of the question in his
condition and being 7 years old.  I was leaving him out at night so I
could keep an ear out.  He liked to sleep on Corky's (dog) rug so I had
blankies all over the house so I could cover him up.  Roxy loved to stash
them so I had to keep finding them LOL!
 
At 3:00 am on June 9 a sneezing and strange sound woke me up.  I thought
it was just one of the cats or another ferret.  I got up and found him on
the floor cold so I picked him up got a sleep sack and took him to bed
with me.  I put him on a pillow so he would be comfortable.  I wasn t
sure if he was crashing again or dying.  He was having a lot of trouble
breathing and then he started panting.  In the morning I got some honey
and meds in him.  I took him to the vet around 9:00.  They gave him
fluids and a Dex shot.  I did NOT want to leave him.  I stayed with him
in the operating room, sitting on a step stool (very uncomfortable!)
with him on my lap holding the oxygen to his little face and telling him
I loved him and if it was time for him to go see Rowdy and all the others
it was OK.
 
My vet couldn't hear the heart beat on the right side so there must have
been a mass and his chest was not soft like it should be.  It was around
1:30 we decided to put him to sleep.  I knew it was the right decision
but it still hurt like hell!  I think he left when my vet put the gas on
him and he just went to sleep before the shot.
 
It has been two weeks and I have not been a ble to write about him except
the poem last week.  My heart is still breaking even though I know he's
better off and still with me in spirit.  I don't think I well ever get
over losing him because he was so special.
 
Sandee, please greet Harley and make sure he's hooked up with Rowdy,
Bootsie, Buffy, Daisy, Emily, Fruity, Pooh, Scooter, Summer, Tunny
and Wheeler.
 
Harley, Harleykins, Harlson Jackson III -- I love you!  Until we meet
again!
 
Mary and The 10 Munchkins
[Posted in FML issue 4189]