This may be a cross post for those of you on the AFA ferret list, but I
wanted to share my sad news with you all.  We lost one of our babies
Sunday afternoon to an awful accident.  My partner and I dont block off
the kitchen from the fuzzies.  We have the fridge completely blocked off
so they cant get behind it.  Ally got into the stove once a long time
ago but she had stopped several months ago and we assumed she had gotten
too big to fit under the broiler.  Unfortunately she proved us wrong
yesterday.  Somehow she climbed up to the top of the stove and fell into
the back portion of it that holds all the wires.  We still cant figure out
how she could've gotten there.  It doesnt look like there is any possible
way she could've gotten back there.  Anyway, before we could unplug the
stove or get the back panel off, she was electrocuted.  My partner and I
are so devastated.  We had just been talking the night before about how
awful it would be when one of them died.  of course we were thinking from
old age or a n incurable disease, not this!
 
Ally was always the one who challenged our ferret proofing--she was always
the one who got into things that you just wouldnt even think of!  We had
only had her since April--she was barely 8 weeks old.
 
I feel so guilty that we should've found a way to block off the kitchen.
But we had no way of knowing that she would have ever ended up where she
did.  Still, I feel like the worst pet owner on earth right now.  This
happened the day before I start classes to complete my Vet Tech degree
after a 3 year absence from the program.  Being a Vet Tech feels like the
last thing I want to be doing right now.
 
I guess I have a practical question about all this--in your experience,
how have your surviving fuzzies handled the death of another fuzzy?  We
let the other 3 out yesterday one at a time, and let them see Ally.  They
nudged her and laid down beside her.  They seem so subdued since this
happened.  We had them out last night and they were asleep within about
15 minutes--totally not like them!  They didnt run around and play at all.
I am so saddened to see them behaving this way.
 
Thanks for listening, everyone.
Becky and Heather
The "A"-Team: Abby, Andre and Annie...missing Ally
Jack the cat
Mendel and Madison, the white mice
[Posted in FML issue 3656]