Hello all,
 
Posting today through tears and with a heavy heart.  I had to have my old
lady ferret, Zoe, put down today.  Only a month ago she was still very
chipper and energetic for a 9.5 year old ferret girl, but then suddenly
got ill and has been on the decline since despite medications and
multiple vet stays for fluids and steroids.  I guess it is now her time
and after having more than 8 years of her company it is going to feel
damn strange and sad to not have her greeting me every time I head into
the computer/ferret room anymore.  :( At 9.5 she has had a great and
wonderful life.  I thank Todd and Andi, the rescue folks who I adopted
her from, for such a wonderful and enjoyable little companion.  It wasn't
always joy and pleasure with her, as she was so smart she could do things
like show me a fault in a new ferret cage and get out within the first
15 minutes of being inside it, but she had gotten so much sweeter as she
got older and especially since she became an only ferret when I lost her
buddy Percival (who I had also adopted at the same time as Zoe from Todd
and Andi) last April.  I will really miss her kisses. :(  Last night,
sensing that things were coming to a close, she gave me a ton of kisses
while I held her closely.
 
Another sad note is that at this time I will probably not be adopting any
new ferrets for a while.  That means that my 12 year run of being owned
by ferrets will come to a close for a while now.  Going to be weird not
having the little buggers around the house anymore, but within a couple
years I figure I'll have the need to go to one of the local shelters and
bring a couple new kids home.  I am certainly going to miss the folks
down at the Horsham Vet hospital at the Lupron clinics.  It was so cool
to hang around with so many adorable ferrets and great ferret owners each
month with no animals of any other kind in the waiting room.  Each clinic
was such an awesome experience.  I am also going to miss my ferret vet
Anna Edling.  I have followed her to 3 different hospitals during my
years being owned by ferrets and she is certainly super awesome and one
of the absolute best in the field between her amazing knowledge and her
incredible caring and support for her patients and their owners.
 
In September 1992 I got my first ever ferret Loki, and joined the Ferret
Mailing list not too long after that time.  It has been great seeing all
the posts and comments about ferrets and them having fun lives, and sad
and heart wrenching to read to continued stream of ferret owners who have
lost their beloved fuzzies.  I will most likely continue to lurk on the
FML as it has become a daily part of my mail reading that I am sure I
would miss.
 
Sorry this is so long and rambling, but so many things are changing for
me due to the loss of my last wonderful ferret that I just can't and
don't want to fully let go yet.
 
Goodbye darling Zoe, you gave me a super 8 years of fun and
companionship.  You and Loki, Cricket and Percival made life bearable
through some tough times for me personally and also some great and
wonderful times as well.  Unfortunately now I must face this finally
sadness without you...:(
 
Butch
And the cats George, Kiku and Callie
[Posted in FML issue 4499]