I have felt so bad for all the folks whose fuzzies have gone over the
Rainbow Bridge, - and foolishly thought it would be years before I'd
have to think about that as I only have had Fur Kids since December.
Well, I was wrong, its happened already.  I just got little Miss Baby,
a dark eyed white or champagne colored little ball of fur 9 days ago
and today I found that she has gone to the Rainbow Bridge.
 
I know I only had her such a short time, but it was love at first sight.
I really wasn't planning on getting another ferret, Jamie & Jennifer [who
only came to live here in December] were enough, -what with my two people
[grand]children to care for too.  But she was such a little doll baby, I
couldn't resist bringing her home last week.
 
And did she ever win my heart, she was the absolute cutest, most adorable
little ball of golden-white fur anybody could ever see, and what a
personality!  When it came to food, the "big guys", Jamie & Jennifer,
who're 5 months old now, learned real quick, to stay out of her way as
she was very serious about eating!  First she'd dive in, grab as much as
she could, jump over the other guys & her bed to get in behind it in the
corner so she could hide back there & eat alone.  After a while though,
you could see her saying "the heck with all this running & jumping, they
just need to get out of my way"!  And so she'd stick her head down in
the food bowl, while she had both paws going, one on each side of her,
smacking Jamie & Jennifer and knocking them away from the dinning area!
They just kind of sat back, looking at her in amazement, guess they
figured if she's that crazy, we'll just let her chow down & wait until
she chills out some!  It was funny!  And that's not all, you guys may
remember how I asked for ideas on treats for Jamie, as he didn't like
anything I tried, but then I told you how my new baby loved everything
and anything edible?  Did she ever!  I gave her a tiny piece of a ginger
snap, and she dropped it & she was so excited & upset that she thought
I'd taken it from her and flung the biggest temper tantrum I've ever
seen, it was hilarious!  [even though she bit the you know what bit
out of me!]  My 11 yr. old, Nicole, thought I was exaggerating, and she
picked up the food dish while Baby [& Jamie & Jennifer] were eating, and
Baby went off on all 3 of them as she didn't know who took the grub!  She
was hopping around in a circle, making squeaky MAD noises & trying to
bite the other ferrets and Nicole!  Nicole ran and jumped up on the sofa,
screaming, and I was about to die laughing, hey, I did try to warn her!
A great big girl, who weighs almost 100 lb., running scared from a little
ball of fun that you can still hold in one hand!  It was too funny guys!
 
From laughter to tears again, and again, guess it will be that way for
a while now.  It is still hard to believe she is gone, she wasn't even
sick!  The pet store even said they'd never seen this happen.  It made me
think of what you hear of with human babies, I think they call it SIDS.
for Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, or something like that, you guys will
know what I mean.  She was fine last night at play time, running around &
having a grand time terrorizing her big brother and sister as usual.
Then, this morning I went to feed them, and had to wake them up as they
were all curled up together in their new round, foam pet bed, - but I
could not wake Miss Baby up.  I finally had to realize that she was not
going to wake up, she was no longer there, it was just her fur body she'd
left behind when she crossed the Rainbow Bridge this morning.  The Pet
store people told me to call Marshall Farms, which is where she came from
[as did my others] & that they would want an autopsy done as they are
guaranteed.  And I thought, "Good, cause I want to know what happened, if
it can be determined, & at least be sure its nothing the other kits/kids
can catch."  But when I spoke with the people at Marshals, they said that
no, they didn't require an autopsy, just a verification from someone at
the Pet Store where I bought her that they saw her today, and a copy of
the papers that I got with her.  In other words, if I wanted an autopsy,
I'd have to pay for it myself, which when I got a price, just was too
much for me right now, - when I don't have to do it for the guarantee.
Marshals seemed to think that I should just keep a close eye on the
other 2, as since they all 3 have had their shots...  I am wondering, of
course, has anyone ever had a similar experience, and/or any ideas what
happened to her??  Maybe I should have paid to have it done, I don't
know, I couldn't think straight I was so upset, my thoughts were [and my
kids - the human ones] just let's have a nice burial for her, which we
did, so I could quit looking at her poor, precious, tiny body.
 
I hope that Sara Ferret and all the other Angel Ferrets will take special
care to watch out for her, she is just a baby, she wasn't quite 11 weeks
old.  She was born on Jan. 11, my son [grand]'s birthday too..
 
Jamie & Jennifer still seem to be fine, I will continue checking on them
thoughout the night...
 
Judi
[Posted in FML issue 4463]