To the anonymous poster,
 
Sorry for the delay in responding but I have been out of town and am just
now catching up on my FML.  Back during the Christmas Holidays I had a
similar occurrence.  I don't know if this is common, but it has happened
to others.  Some ferrets bond so closely that they can't handle the loss
of a loved one!  Below is a post that I sent to the FML on this matter
back in Jan.
 
To All Interested,
 
For those of you who knew Stretch or were fans of his, (Stretch the
Ferret Electrician) I deeply regret to inform you that Stretch had to be
helped to the Rainbow Bridge Monday morning.  Some of you may remember a
few days ago I posted of Morgan's passing.  She was Stretch's cagemate
and constant companion for nearly 6 years.  Though I took it quite hard,
it seems to have been more than poor little Stretch could handle.
(Stretch was about 6 yrs old at the time).  Less than a week ago they
were both bouncing, wrestling and chasing the cat.  The day he woke up
and found that Morgan was no longer there by his side he seemed to loose
the will to live.  Despite all the attention, playtime and treats I tried
to give him, he just started rapidly going down hill.  He quit eating,
regardless what you offered him, and just laid in my lap making little
whimpering sounds.
 
I stayed up all night Sunday holding and petting him.  Monday morning we
were waiting at the door of the vet's office when they opened.  After a
thorough exam came the hardest decision a ferret owner ever has to make!
They said that all his organs seemed to be shutting down.  They offered
to do exploratory surgery but the prognosis wasn't good.  After watching
the suffering poor little Morgan had to go through less than a week ago I
couldn't see putting him through it.  It seemed he was missing Morgan so
much I decided to let him join her.
 
I was going to write a short eulogy for Morgan but I've decided to
combine them since they were inseparable in life.  I had mentioned for
the bridge keepers to keep an eye out for her since she didn't know
anyone there but now she has her best friend in the world with her.
 
"Sandee Ferret" did a really touching Bridge Greeting about them.  If
the anonymous poster or anyone else would like to contact me for further
discussion on this topic you may reach me at the email above.
 
Mike
[Posted in FML issue 5168]