To all,

It is with a heavy heart, and many tears that I have to announce the
passing of Artemus Da Ferret, from The Fuzzy Albuquerque Idiots group.
Artemus was the last of my "fab three" group, and my heart right now,
is breaking. The "original group" included: Helena, Rickie and Artemus.
Artemus was lovingly labled "Da dumb ferret". He would take chances
that no one else would take. He'd make leaps that most times fell
short, and resulted in his landing on the floor, with a look on his
face that said: " Who moved da couch!??!" He was our joy filled "jumbo"
ferret that could bring a smile to even the most angriest of people.
Him being an albino, taught us alot about albinoism, and the questions
that people asked helped me learn. We knew it was coming, but didn't
expect it this quick. My son found him passed away yesterday, in his
sleep area. That was so hard for him, as Artie was his favorite fuzzy,
and he was instrumental in helping feed da soup and pred. We were kind
of startled by this, as he seemed with the prednisone he was getting -
he was getting better. I just recently started giving him my own recipe
for "duck soup". With the soup, he started putting weight back on. And
boy did he love that soup. I feel horrible that he passed the way he
did. But also, feel glad that he was with his other mates, so he wasn't
completely alone. I am praying that I didn't "miss" something - and
that his passing was just due to the Insuloma. He had insuloma for
about a year. On Saturday, we did notice that he seemed to be having a
bit of trouble breathing - but that was during one of his "attacks",
and he came out of it, right away after karo on his gums. We sure
didn't see this one coming. We knew that with the Insuloma, that he was
destined to go a little quicker, but not this quick. I'm not sure how
long a fuzzy with this disease can live using the prednisone. He was
never a candidate for surgery, due to his advanced age (he was 8).
Damn, I wish someone can come up with a vaccine or something, that
could prevent these diseases in our fuzzies.

Bridge Greeters:

Could you please also help Artie find his way across the bridge? Hang
on tight to his little paw though. He doesn't do bridges well. Could
you please help him find Rickie, his brother who went on last summer,
Helena, who left for the bridge 4 years back, and Sinbad Da Cat And
remind them all, that they MUST wait for Mommy there, and not cross
into Heaven til I can go with em! I'm hoping thats the direction I am
going anyways.......as always, I thank you in advance for helping him
with this. Tell him one last thing too, ok? Tell him Mommy loves him,
misses him, and will always be thinking of him. And that when I get
there, I will cuddle him so much, he'll never want another hug again!

Can't type too much more. Tears on the keyboard make it difficult to
keep from getting "zapped". Much love to all the fuzzies out there.
And to their hoomans: remember always, ALWAYS hug your fuzzie before
bedtime. I do this, and am so glad that I had one last chance to hug
him before he left for the Bridge. Gotta go all. Thanks for reading -
and understanding. My God how can such a little furry creature have
such an impact on our hearts? How can our hearts mend, over and over,
so that we can keep doing it all again? A huge chunk of my heart left
with all my fuzzies, and I'm pretty sure I'm down to only one quarter
of a heart here.......

Kim and Her Army of Fuzzie Albuquque Idiots, crying tears for their
missing now fuzzies, Helena, Ricky and Artemus.

Lord, help me to be grateful for what I have, and not greedy for what
I want.....

[Posted in FML 6226]