He came with a group of Angora, Pastel, and one Butterscotch Denmarks in
Oct 1997.
 
Their journey began with shipping from Denmark to Washington then on
to Texas.  Because the kits were so bitey they couldn't sell them to
petstores so through a set of circumstances, the 9 kits ended up in
Kansas.  One kit had a damaged eye, or so we thought at the time.  The
others seemed healthy enough though needed intensive gentle bite training.
One by one they were placed in homes, some being driven many miles to
reach their forever families.  The one kit with the damaged eye was given
to me as a christmas present.  I named him Pumkin.  In Oct same year,
several ferrets were rescued from an exotic animal auction.  One neutered
adult male (est 2 yrs, sold as a breeder) who had a damaged eye we named
Rusty.  Pumkin and Rusty formed a very strong close bond.  You could see
the joy in their furry little faces, eyes sparkling with dancing lights
as they bounced around their rehab room.  They played with the others but
these two seemed to light up when playing with each other.
 
Pumkin's eye was the result of a lymph node problem.  After multiple vet
visits and medications, Larry dug out the offending node and left the site
open for me to rinse and clean several times daily.  It took so long to
heal, but when the wound was finally healed, Pumkin didn't have further
problems though he was permanently blind in that eye.  Rusty's damage was
from physical trauma and was not fixable so he too was blind in one eye.
 
Through the years their bond stayed strong.  Rusty was a gentle leader and
Pumkin became known as my death meter.  When someone was dying, Pumkin
would become very agitated and pick fights with others.  It took me 1 1/2
years to figure out what his trigger was.  With Pumkins early warning
signals we were able to catch serious ailments early.
 
Late last year Rusty died.  Pumkin was devastated.  He still enjoyed his
cuddles and scritches but the spark was gone.  Six weeks ago Pumkin became
ill.  Three days ago at 4 a.m. Pumkin joined his forever best buddy,
Rusty.  Necropsy results were: necrotic kidneys (Larry said they looked
like they came from a 3-4 day old cadaver), pyloris growth, and
hypertrophic heart disease.  Larry was amazed that Pumkin stayed with us
for as long as he did.
 
These were my two special boys.... And now they are together again,
forever.
 
hugs to all. tle
Troy Lynn Eckart
Ferret Family Services
http://www-personal.ksu.edu/~sprite/ffs.html
http://www.geocities.com/Petsburgh/Haven/5481/
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[Posted in FML issue 3770]