Where do you begin to say goodbye?  I guess you begin where it all
started.
 
June 8, 2002 our shelter had a meeting with Ferret Friends Shelter in
Tucson.  It was decided that we would take two ferrets to our shelter so
that they didn't get full and hopefully we could adopt them out soon.
So Zorro and Sammy came to stay with us.  Sammy was adopted out last
weekend.  He was so happy.  He had a new daddy and a little cage mate
named Samantha.  Zorro couldn't be adopted out that quickly.  Oh yes, we
had plenty of people that wanted him.  But you see, Zorro was too skinny
and needed to be fattened up.  We didn't know that there was anything
else wrong with him.no one knew at that time.
 
We soon learned that Zorro was afraid of other ferrets because he was so
skinny they could hurt him so easily.  But he got a long with two ferrets
here, Buster and Chocolate.  So he was caged with them and they tried to
take care of them.  My little Princess Pepper tried to help too but she
was much bigger than him so he would get scared and cry.
 
Zorro loved to go outside on our porch.  We took him out there every
night.  Just mom, dad and Zorro.  It was his special time and he loved
it.  He even found a rubber ball that he had to keep in his hidey hole
that he found outside.  If you took it from him he would go after you
and get it back.
 
Zorro also loved paper towels and toilet paper.  I can't tell you how
many rolls that he went through!
 
After coming here we saw that he was having trouble breathing.  We took
him to the vet and she gave us some antibiotics and told us to keep an
eye on him.  He got worse.  We took him back in and it was decided that
he would need exploratory surgery, and maybe remove his spleen.  The date
was set for July 2nd.
 
July 1st his breathing became worse and we called the on call vet.  After
talking with him we decided to go ahead and keep an eye on him until the
surgery date the next day.
 
July 2nd the vet decided to do an x-ray before doing surgery.  The x-ray
showed a large mass in his lungs.  Most likely it was lymphoma.in the
advance stages.  We brought him home without doing surgery and put him
on pred.  And lasiks.  On July 3rd, thanks to our friend June we found a
pain medication that we could give him to help.  We also ordered a herb
called Essiacs and it was due to arrive today.Friday.
 
July 4th we stayed home all day with Zorro.  Hoping and praying for a
miracle.  He was in so much pain.  Were we doing the right thing?  Was
this going to work out?  But how could we give up on him when he didn't
seem to want us to?  After having his evening medicine Shawn set him up
on his favorite blankies and put his laptop computer in front of Zorro
with a DVD movie (Dr. Dolittle 2) playing for him.  He laid there until
it was time for his next feeding.just so sweet.
 
July 5th I woke up at 7 am and Zorro helped me get his food and medicine
ready.  He went back to bed with me to have his breakfast in bed.  Then
he went back to sleep while I checked my email.  Then he was up and had
to go potty.  I couldn't get him comfortable again so we got daddy up.
He laid down with daddy for awhile and then got up a little.  I went out
to the living room to get some breakfast.
 
At 9:28 am Zorro ran to his daddy and he picked him up and held him close.
Zorro flinched a couple times and then let out a breath and died.  He died
in his daddys arms..
 
How do you let go?  How do you say good-bye to someone who shouldn't have
died.  It wasn't his fault.  He was a good boy.  But he was so tired.
 
Shawn came up with a wonderful idea on what to bury him in..a tube.  A PVC
tube.  I thought it was nuts but then again.what would a ferret want be
buried in?  He lined the tube with Zorros blankie and even made him a
little pillow.  We took a picture of each of us with a message on the back
for Zorro.  We put in some treats and his favorite rubber ball.  We also
added a paper towel and some toilet paper.because he loved both of these.
 
Then Shawn inscribed the tube with Zorros name, date and a message from
mommy and daddy.  We buried him in the backyard after reading the Rainbow
Bridge Poem.
 
In case you are wondering.the herb Essacs arrived at one o'clock.almost 4
hours too late.
 
Sandee.please show Zorro the way.  He doesn't know anyone up there.  If
there is a place for him to play with paper towels please show him the
way.  Please watch over him and tell him that his mommy and daddy cry all
of the time.  This is our first loss..though I wish it were the last.
Zorro meant so much to us.
 
Zorro.mommy and daddy love you and will never forget the time that we
spent together.
 
Joanne and Shawn
 
Ferret Corner Shelter
[Posted in FML issue 3835]