This happened several days ago, but I now have the strength to write
about it without breaking into tears.  June 5, I took my beautiful 7-year
old sable girl, Betty Boop, into the vet for surgery to remove a possible
mast cell tumor.  She had had a couple in the past, and it is pretty
routine surgery, so I wasn't too worried when I made the appointment.
The morning of the 5th, I had a feeling that I shouldn't take Betty in.
I shrugged it off as being silly because my vet is very good and I trust
him.  So, I took my sweet girl into the vet and kissed her several times
on the head and went off to work.
 
At 10:00 the vet called to say he was going to start surgery; at 10:15 he
called saying that when he gave her the anestheia, she stopped breathing
and that it didn't look good, she may not make it; at 10:30 he called one
more time to say she had arrested while he was on the phone with me and
they couldn't revive her.
 
I was devestated!  If I had followed my gut, I may still have Betty
today, but probably not for long; the vet discovreed that the reason she
reacted to the anesthesia is that she had lymphoma around her heart.  She
wouldn't have been with me too much longer anyway.
 
To see pictures of my precious Betty, she is now on my In Memorium page:
http://www.ferretlady.org/memory.html
 
an I also have The Many Faces of Betty:
http://www.ferretlady.org/betty.html
 
To make the day worse, I went home from work to find Nibbles dead; I had
scheduled him for euthenasaia on Friday, but I guess he decided when his
own time would be.  I had Nibbles because my friend here had back surgery
and couldn't take care of her ferrets.  I had him since January.  Nibbles
was 8 years old.
 
Yes, Thursday, June 5 was not my best day.  Losing them at anytime is bad
enough, losing two in one day is devastating.
 
I know Betty joins all the others who are waiting at the Bridge for the
time when we are all together again.
 
Melanee Ellis
"The Ferret Lady'
www.ferretlady.org
[Posted in FML issue 4181]