Hello shelter friends-- It has been a very long week, losing Pasteur and two nights later losing Missy, one of our shelter elders. Our dear old friend Missy has finally left the confines of Ferret Wise and her companion Lulu to go on to a better life. Missy was fine last night-- and shelter Mom gave her the usual pred dosage. Within 20 minutes Missy had decided to curl up and she just never rallied no matter what we tried. In the AM when it was apparent her end was this time near, she had managed toi revie from 3 insulinoma comas in the past year-- this time it was not going to happen. Shelter Dad drove her over to the vet. Missy now rests and we will give Lulu, her lifelong companion, all the support we can as for the first time in seven years she faces life alone. Thank you who were so kind to sponsor Missy's hospice care over the past few years, without your support and kind thoughts she well may not have made it this far. Missy and Lulu were first introduced to Ferret Wise in 1995, give ups transferred from Laconia NH humane society. Lulu was a nippy gal-- and was termed a biter. The first six months at the shelter we did note that Lulu would nip, but usually when she was not given her way -- she was NOT a biter. Missy was a love! But the two WOULD NOT under any circumstance tolerate other ferrets. After 9 months we found what we thought would be a wonderful home in Berlin NH-- Missy and Lulu went to live with a gal in her 20's on her own and seemingly happy to have them. We never heard back until approximate 1 1/2 years later when we received a call-- seems this same gal was upset with our girls-- she called them savage beasts etc. It seems she kept and allowed them to play in the same room that she kept a cat which had just had a litter of kittens. ( Doesn't make sense to us either!!) The long and sort of it is that she was going to turn them lose if we didn't get them NOW. I urged their return and subsequently called the local ACO for intervention. In the end they were returned to the shelter by the same gal ( accompanied by boyfriend) and was told how terrible they were-- for one had actually picked up a kitten and dragged it off- in the end the kitten died-- The two seemed to be totally unenlightened by the explanation given that THEY were negligent in placing the kittens in such a precarious situation. Missy & Lulu had been severely reprimanded, they were frightened and upset-- it took another 6 months to get them back into a healthy mind state. In the end they stayed at Ferret Wise in a protected environment. We know that we are facing a hard year as the new millennium arrives in shelter we have now more than eight seven year old residents, and outside the shelter 11 more who range in age from 6-9 years of age. We give the very best care we can no matter how old our "kids" are. I guess that is why they stay so long. We look forward to making life easier for more ferrets this year-- and as Missy would say-- "thanks so very much"! She will certainly be missed. Alicia for the many faces of Ferret Wise http://www.dartmouth.edu/~crassi/index.html PS- The following ebay auction items will help keep our rehabilitation and hospice programs running. The ferrets will thank you for the support! Please consider checking out this selection of fine bedding products. Deluxe top sleeper hammock - a full 14 x 22 inches crafted by X-tasy Ferrets, Etc http://cgi.ebay.com/aw-cgi/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=266177062 Custom dragonfly top sleeper hammock by X-tasy Ferrets, Etc. 14x 16 inches http://cgi.ebay.com/aw-cgi/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=266183642 Western print top sleeper by X-tasy Ferrets, Etc. 14 x 16 inches http://cgi.ebay.com/aw-cgi/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=266187792 Seaside Holiday top sleeper by X-tasy Ferrets, Etc. 14 x 16 inches http://cgi.ebay.com/aw-cgi/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=266191305 Sunflower print Peeper Sleeper by X-tasy Ferrets, Etc. 14 x 16 inches http://cgi.ebay.com/aw-cgi/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=266195005 [Posted in FML issue 2967]