Bonnie's long battle with lymphoma ended on July 7.  Bonnie was 6 years
old.  She was a brave soul who fought off this deadly illness for nearly
a year.  She is survived by Charlie and Lucy.
 
Bonnie and her littermate Charlie joined our family in 1997, the year we
lost our first two ferrets, Ben and Jerry.  As a silver mitt kit, Bonnie
resembled Ben but became mostly white as she got older.  Her eyes looked
turquoise in flash photographs.  Bonnie was a sweet, gentle, adventurous
ferret.  She loved to climb bookcases and shove off the books.  She
loved to eat raisins, explore closets, remove shiny ornaments from the
Christmas tree, walk on Bill's desk and keyboards, and explore the
windowsill.  A two-foot-high pen could not hold her; as soon as we put
her in it, BOING---she would spring over the wall again.  Her favorite
possessions were little football-shaped stuffed crinkly toys.  Bonnie
always made sure these toys were exactly where they belonged---usually
under a cage ramp or inside a tent.
 
Other than a bout of ECE two years ago, Bonnie had been a very healthy
ferret.  Then last August she suddenly became ill.  She was nauseous, and
we found a lump in her abdomen.  An ultrasound showed that her liver was
full of tumors.  The sudden appearance of these tumors led us to suspect
lymphoma, so we took Bonnie to Dr. Lisa Fulton, a board-certified
veterinary oncologist in Gaithersburg, Maryland.  Dr. Fulton confirmed
that Bonnie had lymphoma and started treatment immediately.
 
Bonnie responded well to chemotherapy, and soon there was no evidence of
the tumors.  Bonnie enjoyed good health for several months and tolerated
chemotherapy well.  In January, an ultrasound showed that the cancer was
growing in a new site---this time in her chest.  Bonnie continued to have
a good quality of life for a long time.  She ate on her own until May and
then ate "duck soup" eagerly.
 
Ominously, the cancer was developing drug resistance and growing in
Bonnie's chest.  Episodes of low white blood cell levels delayed some
treatments.  Bonnie pioneered two treatments that Dr. Fulton had never
used in ferrets: Neupogen (filgrastim) to stimulate white blood cell
production and CCNU (lomustine) to treat drug-resistant lymphoma.  Both
treatments helped her, and other ferrets may benefit from this knowledge.
 
Finally, Bonnie's breathing became so impaired that she had trouble
sleeping.  She stretched out with her head propped up on a hammock or on
Charlie, breathing rapidly.  Dr. Fulton found that she had fluid in her
chest and the cancer was filling most of her chest cavity.  It was too
soon for another chemotherapy treatment.  The time had come for
euthanasia.
 
We stayed with Bonnie as she crossed the bridge, and we hope that Ben,
Jerry, Buttercup, Bridgett, and Jasmine greeted her at the other side.
 
Some pictures of Bonnie at a younger age can be seen at
the url "http://furo.astro.umd.edu/ferrets/bonnie".
She will be buried next to most of our other pets in a pet cemetery in
Western Maryland.
 
Clare and Bill Sebok
 
Charlie and Lucy (ferrets), Patrick (Sheltie), and Felix (diabetic cat).
 
In loving memory of those companions that have passed on:
Ben, Jerry, Buttercup, Bridgett, Jasmine, Bonnie (ferrets) and Lupi (dog).
[Posted in FML issue 4207]