I was shocked and very sad to hear of Puma's passing. My heartfelt
condolences to Alex, her husband and family. There are no words that I
can possibly say that will help during this awful time. They say time
heals all wounds. Time doesn't really doesn't though. There is always
that little hole in your heart that never completely heals when one of
our furbabies leaves to go to the Bridge. Time does help ease the pain
so we can remember the good times without completely breaking down
every time.

I do believe that our furbabies grieve just like we do when they lose
one of their cagemates. Some will grieve themselves to death. This is
what happened to Puma. He just didn't want to go on after losing Ping.
I have never had a ferret grieve itself to death before but I did have
a cat that did the same thing when she lost her soulmate. Moosey, one
of my male kitties, passed away from old age. Shadow, the female kitty,
was totally lost without Moosey. She stopped eating, just wandered
around, crying for Moosey, looking for him. This went on for quite
awhile. Numerous trips to the vet, trying to figure out what was
wrong. Meds given to try to stimulate her appetite, blood work done a
couple but there was never anything wrong that the vet could find. One
afternoon, I found Shadow curled up inside the carrier that Moosey use
to sleep in. She was gone, apparently from a broken heart. Even the vet
said it seemed like she was grieving herself to death. I had the vet do
an autopsy. Even then, nothing was found that could have contributed to
her death. She was in good health. The only thing found was that she
had lost quite a bit of weight because she had stopped eating. She just
didn't want to live without her Moosey.

Sea Biscuit (the kitty that was attacked by our dog Jazz) went through
a similar phase when Jazz passed away last Easter. He spent a few days
just going to Jazz's bed and meowing/crying, looking for Jazz. Even
though this was the dog that attacked him, he still missed her so much.
This time, the vet was able to get Biscuit eating again and he was
soon back to his normal self. He stayed at the vet's over-night to get
re-hydrated. I got rid of Jazz's bed before Biscuit came home. I also
shampooed the carpet to remove Jazz's scent. Doing this seemed to help
Biscuit to move on. He seems to be fine nowadays.

So it seems that our pets aren't all that different from us. They love
and grieve just like we do. Actually I think they love better than we
do because their love is unconditional. The world would a much better
place if we could do that.

Pat
proudly owned by 2 ferrets, 11 cats, a bunny and a very small turtle

Look not where I was
For I am not there
My spirit is free
I am everywhere

In the air that you breathe
In the sounds that you hear
Don't cry for me Mom
My spirit is near

I'll watch for you
From the other side
I'll be the one running
New friends by my side

Smile at my memory
Remember in your heart
This isn't the end
It's a brand new start

By: Carol Kufner

[Posted in FML 6099]