To All my friends on the FML:
 
It is with great sadness that I must tell you of the passing of our ferret
Bruno.  He died quite suddenly on Thursday, April 15, 1999 of intestinal
lymphoma.
 
Bruno was a ferret rescued from one of my husband's coworkers.  He came to
us with a tail that was missing the hair at the end.  Half of his tail was
bald because of poor nutrition.  The rest of his hair was orange from the
food coloring in the Acme brand cat food he was eating.  (The food only had
9% protein and 8% fat in it.) This was not intentional--she didn't know any
better.
 
After he was convinced that Innova and Totally Ferret was good stuff, he
started eating and didn't want to stop.  When he put on his winter weight,
he would just barely fit through the clear dryer tube.  He earned the
affectionate nickname of "the plug." When his winter coat came in he became
a gorgeous chocolate siamese with a thick glossy coat.  He didn't win any
prizes at the March LOSPA show, although he earned an unofficial Mr.
Congeniality from the judge.  (She didn't want to give him back.)
 
Bruno loved to lie on his back in the hallway with his legs spread open and
wait for one of his unsuspecting fellow ferrets to pass by.  Then, SNAP!
he would bring his legs together and catch him or her for a good wrestling
match.  We called this his beartrap manneuver.
 
He was the kindest, gentlest, sweetest and most loving of any ferret I've
ever met.  If there was someone who was nervous about ferrets, I would
introduce him to Bruno.  He invariably would win their heart.  He was truly
an old soul, and I miss him with all my heart.
 
How can a large cage filled with six ferrets still feel empty?
 
I didn't know that the diarhhea that he was having was a sign of real
trouble--I thought that I was just giving him too many treats.  The cancer
had started to strangle his intestines.  The first real sign of trouble was
Wednesday night with he came over to me and flattened out by my feet.  When
I picked him up, he was a limp as a rag, with a glazed look on his face.
When I felt him, there was a lump the size of a jumbo egg in his belly.  He
had been fat during the winter, and the weight he was losing was I thought
normal spring loss.  He didn't have this lump three weeks ago, the vet and
judge would have mentioned it.  His gums were pale, and we rushed him to an
emergency vet.  He was judged well enough to see his regular vet the next
day.  Some pancake syrup helped him revive.  On Thursday, he went in for
surgery, and was found to be filled with small tumors as well as the large
one.  They were starting to bleed out.  We decided not to wake him up.
 
He is survived by Furry, Sweetie, Friskie, Angel, Pepper, and his former
cage-mate Silver.  They had a wake on Thursday night consisting of a saucer
of cream.  They had a chance to say their goodbyes on Thursday morning
before he was taken to the vet.  And also grieving are me, Mike, Michelle,
and the two dogs--Munchkin and Coco.
 
Melody Tomaszewicz
and the sad six
[Posted in FML issue 2651]