Hello all - I'm writing this on behalf of my dear friend Miranda who unfortunately does not have access to a computer and the support of great folks like you. Miranda had to make that horribly difficult decision the morning of Saturday, July 22nd and now another star joins the many others across the Bridge. Felicia, aka Stinky, was about seven and a half years old and was dearly loved by all who met her. In that last week or two, Felicia really started to slow down and when Miranda noticed that she had stopped eating and started to lose weight, she rushed her to the vet to have a series of tests done. The results showed that she had lymphoma and that her liver was starting to shut down. There was a mass in her abdominal area and the walls of Felicia's bowels were thickened. Poor little thing had lost a fair bit of weight - though you wouldn't know it from the full, soft coat that she sported. The spark had gone from her eyes though and it was evident when you looked at her and picked up her fragile little body that the time for her to cross the Bridge was unfortunately near. Miranda wanted to make sure that she didn't feel any pain - it was obvious at this time that Felicia was uncomfortable - so she made that final trip to the vet, with myself, Jasper and her friend Tammy. We left Miranda alone with the vet after saying our goodbyes and waited out in the hallway. After listening to Miranda's sobs, I couldn't hold out any longer and went in to offer my shoulder. We both had a good cry. Miranda had asked to have Felicia privately cremated. Felicia was a petite sable with a wonderful hop and a taste for ankles. Miranda and I met through Felicia and my guys accidentally. In university, we were both taking a class on children's literature and she had initially sat beside me because there was something about me she liked - partly my red henna hair. ;-> One day, I was doodling pictures of ferrets while listening to the teacher. Miranda glanced over and saw the pics, pointed at my page and then wrote - "I have one of these!!" We scribbled notes back and forth for abit and then after class gabbed more about our babies. I still have that page somewhere in a file ... Miranda would always scold me for playing too rough with Felicia. She was surprised to see how rambunctiously I played with the crew and they with me. I would gently toss them up and down, pretend to body slam them in our World Wrestling Ferret Federation (WWFF) bouts, etc and so I did this with Felicia sometimes when I was at her place. Funny thing is, Felicia would almost always come back for more!! We tried introducing Felicia to my crew on two occasions - the first time, Miranda almost had a cardiac because my guys went right into the "We're the bosses!" routine and Felicia screamed her little head off - of course. And of course, so did Mom - "My baby!!!!!!!!!!!!!" The second time didn't go any smoother - Felicia was definitely a loner. Loved being the centre of attention. And deserved to be so. So, Sandee check in on my 'niece' for me - I'm sure she's gotten used to all those ferrets being around her and wanting to heap all that well deserved attention upon her - especially the boys - she was quite the little looker, ya know! If anyone wants to direct any condolences to Miranda, please e-mail me directly since she doesn't have access to e-mail so then I can print them out for her. I'm at - [log in to unmask] Thanks everyone for listening and extra hugs to all! oxo George, Jasper and the Crew - missing Buster, Nik, Gushi, Geisha and now Niece Felicia [Posted in FML issue 3132]