Tinkerbell came into my life about 4 months ago on the very night I had my
old boy Dexter pass away peacefully in my arms.  Before the shock of his
loss registered my front door rang and there was Tinkerbell, a female twin
to my foster Dexter.  Tink was surrendered to the Toronto Humane Society,
mostly bald from adrenal and suffering from insulinoma.  The THS was going
to euthanise Tinkerbell as she was considered unadoptable until their
volunteers contacted the Ferret Aid Society and asked if we would take her.
Of Course we would!
 
The original plan was I would take Tink in overnight then bring her to the
shelter the next day.... Needless to say that never happened and I claimed
her as my foster.  I still had duck soup mixed from Dexter so I went right
to work trying to get Tinkerbell strong enough for surgery.  A few weeks
later we were able to afford her adrenal/insulinoma operation and she was
strong enough to attempt it.  I am happy to say she came through with
flying colours.  She started to regrow her missing fur however her
insulinoma symptoms returned, we started to treat her with prednisone and
she was doing great and enjoying life.
 
Three weeks ago, I was awoken to the sounds of painful screaming.  I ran
to my guest room to find Tinkerbell in full seizures screaming in pain and
confusion.  It took the next 48 hours but thanks to around the clock care
and an amazing vet we were able to stabalize her blood sugar levels enough
that we were sure she was on the road to recovery.  The first couple days
were very painful to me as I watched Tinkerbell struggling to walk or even
eat, during this time I kept wondering if I was being selfish keeping her
with me.  Slowly but surely she started to regain strength, she was
enjoying her duck soup and starting to gain control of her back legs again.
Over the last couple weeks she started to once again take interest in her
surroundings and could be found clucking with joys as she wandered though
my living room stealing treats during her run times.
 
On Saturday the best thing possible happened.  Tinkerbell was doing great.
The sun was out so I decided for a change to bring my little girl outside.
Tinkerbell loved it, she spent the longest time trying to dig up my newly
planted flowers then found a pile of leaves and went snokeling.  When she
started to tire I brought her back in... When I went to return her upstairs
to her room she started struggling so I put up the barriers and let her
play around downstairs.  Tinkerbell wandered through every room making sure
to put her scents on every toy that Fizgig (her enemy) had ever touched
then to my suprise walked to the food dish and started eating the hard
food.  After she finally found a blanket to curl up in I brought her
upstairs and tucked her into bed.  Later that night I passed by and found
her chuckling in the tubes and hiding food in her bed.  I sat down with
her and she greedily ate a full bowl of her soup and took her meds.
 
Sunday morning I came into her room to find her just barely breathing.
It was like she was waiting for me to come in, she looked up at me to say
"thanks for the perfect day" then after that her eyes went blank as that
was the only thing she had left to do before she went to the Rainbow
Bridge to romp and play.
 
I may have only had Tinkerbell for a few short months and I will always
wish it were longer but I am happy for the single perfect day that makes
you know it was worth meeting and falling in love with the brave fighter.
 
Good bye Tinkerbell
Love always
Paige
[Posted in FML issue 3404]