Excellent post on pet loss, Bob. My entire life has been blessed with the company of four legged ones of one kind or another and the loss of any of them has always been very difficult for me. Ferrets have only been in my life for the past 12 years and I must admit that the grief I feel over their loss equals and sometimes even surpasses the grief I feel over a human loss, and I have felt great guilt over that. What is it about these fuzz balls that makes you voluntarily hand over your entire heart knowing that when they're gone, they WILL take a piece of it? I swear, there is no greater thief than a ferret! I have always buried my pets in my backyard and never even considered cremation until my ferret family of 7 came along. It was strange how this family was created; I only had one and suddenly every time I answered the phone, it was about a ferret needing a home for one reason or another. And then there were 7 and the ferret phone calls stopped and they were a family of 7. As Cleo, my little lymphoma, Ever-Ready battery, started to fail (2 years ago), I began thinking that this special little family should be together forever and I decided I would have them cremated and keep them together. I must say I was mentally prepared for Cleo to be the first to go; I was not at all prepared for it to be Rusty. I had my Russ cremated and searched and searched until I found the perfect container to hold his precious ashes. It is an Indian pottery vase with a pattern very like the pattern of a bedspread Rusty was laying on in my favorite picture of him. I then added dried flowers, rusty colored, and the vase sits on my dresser. At first, the sight of the vase was not very comforting, but as the grief process has progressed, I can now look at the rusty colored flowers and remember that rusty little face looking up at me, always begging for one more Cherrio, raisen, or sip of my tea. He was such a little begger!! As each of them pass, I will try to find flowers that remind me especially of that little heart thief. I find it strange that I did this as I am not one who finds comfort by visiting graves of loved ones. For some reason, I just need them to be together, my special little ferret family. Posted anonymously to protect the innocent in CA [Posted in FML issue 4049]