Buckwheat came into our lives with his brothers Alfalfa and Spanky.  We
took the three boys in when Gary Rentz couldn't keep them.  They had been
his brothers ferrets and Gary, with his loving heart took them in.  Gary
found that he couldn't care for them and wrote to the fml asking for
someone to take them.
 
Originally, Bucky was to go to a friend of ours, and the others to stay
with us.  Buckwheat didn't eat at our friends and came back to us.  He
had to be force fed for a long time, until one day we went on a picnic
and took him with [he was being fed every four hours around the clock].
One of the kids dropped a piece of brownie and Buckwheat found it.  He
began eating other foods soon after.
 
Buckwheat lost his brothers in 1999 and in 2000.  Their passing didn't
seem to affect him as he had made other friends here.  He had a passion
for frosted Cheerios.  He would do just about anything for one.
 
Buckwheat began showing signs of adrenal cancer last year.  He spent
the summer with friends along with most of our other ferrets as we were
'homeless' for a time while our house was being built.  He came back to
us in October.  It was good to have the little ones back, they were
missed.  He had surgery in the fall to remove a growth on the front of
his shoulder.  Surgery went well for him.  But in the past few weeks
things started not going well for him and we finally had to make the
decision to help him along.
 
I've gone through this so many times as many of you have also.  It never
gets easier, never.
 
If anyone here is still in contact with Gary, please let him know that
the Little Rascals are all together.
 
Buckwheat October 1994 - February 25, 2002
[Posted in FML issue 3707]