Dear Sandee,
 
I am writing in the hope that you can check on two of my little girls,
who recently left for the Rainbow Bridge.  Please make sure they get to
meet up with Zeus, Chloe, Diamond, Shivvy BaldBum, & Winnie PinkNose.
 
Sneeka-Dook (nee Meeka) was a little rescue girl who came to me during
the summer of 2002.  By that fall, she was a confirmed insulinomic.  We
decided that due to her age (estimated at about 7-8 years at the time by
my vet), that medication & maintenance would be the best approach.  She
managed to hold on until this past February 8th.  I had left my cat &
the ferrets with my sister while I went for a long weekend in Northern
Virginia, searching for a job & trying to establish myself in an area
school.  After four days of endless driving, unmitigated frustration,
peeing against the wind, etc., I drove the ten hours back to Mass on 2/8.
I felt like life had just beaten the hell out of me, and I was really,
really looking forward to seeing my pets again for a little solace.
When I arrived at my sister's house, little Stinka was going in & out of
screaming seizures.  We jumped back into my car to rush her to the vet.
Sneeka was euthanized at about 7pm that evening.  Gah.
 
My birthday was this past Saturday - February 19th.  My sick, elderly
grandmother went into the hospital that morning, and there were several
other major & minor disappointments & frustrations following that.  I
went to let the ferrets out for their morning playtime, and noticed that
my ancient, blind, antisocial girl Spency didn't come out to play.  I
didn't think much of this, since she only comes out to play about 1/3
of the time - she was so darn old, and always preferred sleeping over
socializing.
 
I put the ferrets back in the cage a little while later, left to visit
my grandmother in the hospital, and then went out with my family for
dinner in the evening.  I came home a little, shall we say, *tipsy*, and
basically went straight to bed without saying goodnight to the ferrets.
I went to the cage the next morning to say the usual hellos and noticed
that once again, Spence didn't make an appearance.  I rustled around in
the sweatshirts & blankets lining the cage, and found Spencey cold,
stiff, & dead in her favorite sweatshirt.  I can't be sure of her exact
time of death, but given the level of rigor mortis, I would estimate
that she probably died at least 24 hours prior.  In addition to being
overwhelmed with sadness, I just felt like such a loser - my ferret died
of no apparent cause, alone, and was just laying there while I was out
getting moderately loaded on my birthday.  Another kick in the teeth.
 
Sandee, you will recognize little Sneeka by her regal, graceful, black
sable little self.  Sneeka was the last of my "cookie noses"; ferrets
who have mottled dark noses, thus named because the pattern of the nose
reminds me of a crumbled cookie.  Tell her I'm grateful that she was able
to hang on for so long, and bless us with her ladylike manners.  Spency
can be recognized by her silvery sable fur, and white toe fur.  I think
she may have been kicked in the face at some point in her life, so she
has the appearance of being slightly cross-eyed.  She is blind, so she
will need a good seeing eye friend to help her around the Fruit Bar.
Perhaps these two little old ladies can share a tandem Lark-mobile to
get around the Bridge?
 
As an aside, I realize how lucky I am to be on this side of the grass,
celebrating my birthday in the good company of family.  Whenever tempted
to complain about any circumstance in my life, I remind myself that there
are earthquake victims in Iran, flood & mudslide victims in California,
people suffering from illness, shelter overpopulation, etc.  I have it
pretty good.  I just sometimes throw my hands in the air & say "Christ
on crutches!  When will it stop???!!!"
 
Jessica L. Manson=
15 Monmouth St. #2
Boston, MA 02128
(781) 718-3885
[log in to unmask]
www.whimsyphoto.com
[Posted in FML issue 4798]