I was so worried when Sammy left that Max would pine away for him.  I told
Max that it wasn't time for him to go yet & that Sammy didn't need him & I
did.  That Sammy wanted him to stay here awhile, but that he would be
waiting for Max when it was time.
 
Max didn't go into a depression, he was fine.  I think it was because he
had 5 other cage mates that he liked to keep him company.  They all slept
with him & played with him.  Max got a extra loving, hugs & kisses
especially after Sammy left to reassure him that he was loved here.  I
would not let him think he was suppose to find Sammy.
 
When Max & Sammy came here from Juliana's shelter in GA, Max went into a
depression.  We think it was because they had both lost their home & then
just more or less got settled in with Juliana & then were sent here.  I
refused to let Max mope around here.  Every time I came across him ( & also
sought him out) he was scooped, hugged , kissed, cuddled no matter how much
he struggled to get down.  He was told every time that this was where he
was going to stay, that he didn't have to worry about leaving.  This was
the last home he was going to have.
 
Max needed a little encouragement to eat so he got duck soup with his loved
heavy whipping cream mixed in.  When we started on the ground chicken both
he & Sammy took to it with very little fuss.  From that time on he was
always the first one to come running in the morning when it was served.
He loved it possibly more than Sammy did, however Max never got pudgy he
stayed slim.
 
Max didn't care to be held, so I learned during this time to sit on the
floor & pet him, (when he wasn't getting scooped up) & he liked that.  He
would let me pet him a long time this way.  He started to give me kisses.
 
Over the last week when they were out for a last play time before going
into the cage for the night, some of the other boys would start dragging
Max around by his scruff & because he would cry I would separate them, give
loving & his treat & put him to bed ahead of the others.  Max was always
very eager to get into the cage at night, he knew he was going to get his
treats.  If he loved anything more than heavy whipping cream & chicken it
was the 8 In 1 treats, Banana/raisin & chicken.
 
Troy Lynn told me once that she had noticed one ferret in particular would
start picking on another.  She said, (correct me on this Troy Lynn) that
she had learned that the ferrets that he started to pick on were sick &
usually terminal.  Or at least that they were sick.  So they started to be
more alert when he would start to pick on someone & take that ferret to the
vet to get checked over & sure enough it was sick.  This was going through
my mind.  Today I thought about it more than usual & pictured Max being
scruffed & dragged by Hawk, Gator, Sota & last night Cisco.  The only one
that hadn't scruffed him yet out of his cage mates was Polky.  I don't know
about Troy Lynn's ferret but it never looked like they were trying to hurt
him.  It was more like they were trying to encourage him to play.  "Come on
you old lazy butt, get up & play."
 
This morning when I picked Max up to take him to the outside pen with the
other boys to enjoy a beautiful day, he had a very strong smell of flowers
about him.  He was sleeping with Cisco so I stuck my nose in Cisco's fur,
but it was only Max that had the flower smell.  During the last few weeks
before Dakota had surgery she developed a very strong flower smell.  It
was definitely stronger than the flower tail smell.  When picking either up
it was just like you picked up a bouquet of flowers.  Has anyone else ever
noticed something like this in ferrets that have passed away for one reason
or another shortly afterward?  Dakota crashed after adrenal surgery.
 
I had to go to order a part for my printer, so left the boys outside until
I came back.  It was only a short time & while I was gone I had called
Joey to check on the ferrets to make sure they were ok.  When I got home
I started bringing them in.  When I picked Max up he started crying like
he was in distress & I felt something wet on his bottom.  His rectum had
prolapsed & his tummy was very tender.  We rushed him to Dr. Murphy's.  On
palpitating his tummy Dr. Murphy felt a large lump.  Max was rushed off for
emergency surgery, we were hoping it would be only a obstruction.  We were
in the operating room with Max when he was opened up.  Within a few seconds
Dr. Murphy found a huge tumor.  It was lymphoma.  I forget now exactly what
he called it & where the largest one was located but he showed me how it
was now connected to everything & was blocking him.  There was no way to
remove it.  Then he looked some more & found many more smaller tumors
throughout his body.  He said that with the largest one, the lymphoma was
spread all through his body.  Max was straining which had caused the
prolapsed rectum.  The best thing to do for him was to not wake him up,
so we let him go.
 
Max, for the most part for a fuzzy his age, 6 yrs, was active.  He always
ate good, no problem pooping, was one of the highest, straight up & down
jumpers I have seen.  While he would play with the others he was happy to
play alone.  If there were signs that he had lymphoma, I missed them
completely he just didn't look or act sick.  The brothers are together now.
Sammy was the more outgoing so I guess it was right he went ahead, he knows
exactly where they keep the 8 In 1 treats.  *s*
 
Lynn & Clan War Weasels
[Posted in FML issue 3323]