This past Monday I recently experienced the first loss of one of my
ferrets.  Mango was 7 yrs old and died of internal complications,
possibly due to old age.  I knew it was going to be hard on me because
she was with me for all her life.  I also knew it was going to be hard
on her cagemates, Pooder, Nestle and Sliver.  When the day came for me
to take Mango in to be put to sleep, I decided to take her "sisters" too.
I had read that after the ferret passes, the others are to sniff her so
that they know that she will not be returning home.  I wanted to let you
all know that this really did help my other girls.  They briefly sniffed
around Mango, and I felt from that time on that they were going to be
okay.  I always worried that when one passes, the other(s) would become
depressed about losing a buddy.  Ferrets need to grieve, too, and by
doing this step helped not only me but my other fuzzies as well.
 
Kim Tozzi
Anaconda, MT
[Posted in FML issue 5176]