Hello all:
It is with a deep sense of loss that I report the death of Tugg on Monday
afternoon.  Some of you may remember Tugg from his tough beginnings several
years ago.  Tugg was found near death in the street near a University in
Pennsylvania over two years ago by a lady who worked for the University of
Pennsylvania Vet School.  She turned the fuzzy over to a vet student who
was interested in ferrets to try and nurse him back to health.  Shortly
thereafter, he bit the vet student, which is how he got his name.  Sadly,
the vet student had to report the bite to his teachers who were going to
put him down and test him for rabies.  Along came Kym Barone of the PFRA on
her white horse who convinced the vet school to let her quarantine Tugg for
ten days.  They agreed and the PFRA nursed him back to health.  I adopted
Tugg just a little over two years ago.
 
When I adopted Tugg, he was a biter and got terribly stressed out living
with other ferrets.  We worked alot with him.  He eventually learned to
like other fuzzies and loved people.  He became a true ambassador fuzzy.
He was the only fur snake I have ever had that always held his tail in the
air, all the time.  Without being biased, he also had the cutest face of
any sable I have ever met.
 
Sadly, he had been going down hill the past couple of months.  My vet
tested for everything but could find nothing wrong and he is a reasonably
experienced ferret vet.  We kept thinking he might have a blockage but
could feel nothing.  A barium xray showed him to be clean as a whistle.
He finally crashed over the weekend and I rushed him to the emergency vet
on Sunday.  The vet got fluids and food into him and he perked up a bit.
Alas, my regular vet felt he had to take a look inside but felt Tugg's
prognosis of even surviving surgery was poor.  He died shortly before
surgery.  The necropsy did show a foam rubber blockage surrounded by fur.
I have always tried to be very careful keeping the fuzzy room clean of
anything that can hurt them.  I have no idea where the foam rubber came
from.  Maybe it got tracked in on somebody's shoe and missed during
cleaning.
 
Tugg joins his buddy Burt at the rainbow bridge who left us a year and a
half ago.  I know he will be happy and playful again.  He is certainly
missed.
 
Dale
 
Baby, Odo, Chloe, Willy, Dakota and New Guy, the Ferrets
Cameron and Kyra, the Ferret Play toys (Cats)
Missing Burt and Tugg
[Posted in FML issue 3483]