At 8:30 pm on Sunday, King Ranger left his Kingdom for the Rainbow
Bridge.

Ranger came into our life after spending the first few months of his
life in a pet store tank. We had been doing ferret education in the
local Petco and saw him in the ferret tank. I fell in love with him
the first time I saw him, he was a white ferret kit with a reverse
skunk look to him, a black stripe from his head to the tip of his tail.
I asked if we could see him, and we took him out of the tank. He was a
very playful kit, and scratched the heck out of us, and would even try
and chew our lips when we tried to kiss him. We came back the next
month to do Education, and there was the same little skunk looking
ferret, only a bit larger. I took him out to do his nails, and to play
with him. I don't know if he remembered us or not, but he remembered
to try and chew on our lips.

Another month came by, another Education Day and that ferret was
getting bigger, spending his formative months in a tank. About this
same time, we had a ferret friend come down from up-country for a
visit. The girl went out for some "girl time" and when they came back,
they were acting strange. They came into the kitchen, standing side by
side, with something behind their backs.

After some guessing and prodding, they pulled this by now large ferret
kit from behind them. They had gone to the pet store and purchased my
little buddy for me. We called him Ranger, and he quickly took over the
house. He loved to play with and chase the "kids", and was particular
friends with Digger who passed earlier this year.

In 2008, Ranger won the right to be "King" of the MaFF Frolic for 2009.
King Ranger reigned over the frolic with great dignity, and enjoyed
meeting many of his subjects.

This year, age and infirmity began to catch up with Ranger, first he
showed signs of Adrenal Disease, and lately Insulinoma. Not long ago,
he had a bout of something that we were sure was going to take him
from us, but with some antibiotics and lots of TLC, he pulled thru.
Apparently, things were only put off for a few weeks and now they have
caught up with him. He started going off of his food, fighting us with
his soup and meds, and just going down hill. Tonight, he started
turning purple and having really bad poops. After conferring with our
vet, and waiting for shelter mom to get back from a church meeting,
King Ranger quietly drifted away in my arms.

He was loved by both of us and by all of his "subjects" and all who
knew him and rubbed his tummy.(he loved that) He will be reunited with
his best buddy Digger, Rustle and many others that have gone thru here.
He has instructions to give kisses to everyone and to make sure that
they are waiting for us.

The King is Dead, Long Live the King!!

Love Dad Jim Kennedy, Director Ferret Rescue of Maine A State licensed,
501c3 Non-profit shelter. Donate to shelter ferrets by clicking
igive.com/from

[Posted in FML 7215]