Hi all, Writing with sad news today...:( Wednesday evening I had to make that decision that all of us hate and take my fuzzy boy Percival to the vet for his final visit. He has been having problems with insulinoma and it had finally gotten the better of him. My morning today has felt so empty, because I don't have to give him his medicine or feed him or anything else. I didn't have to get up last night in the middle of the night to check on him, but still didn't sleep much. He was a marshal farms choclate sable that I adopted as rescues around the age of 1 and he has been with me for the last 7.5 years. So he has lived a long and happy life in a good home after he had been abandoned. I can happily say that. He brought a lot of joy to my life, and the usual ferret frustrations as well, but I'll miss it all. His poor cagemate Zoe, who I adopted at the same time as Percival is a little bit older than him (by about 3 months). She is beside herself this morning, running around the ferret room looking in all the nooks and crannies trying to find Percival. Now she is in the cat bed that he loved so much and scratching away looking as if she is trying to find him hiding somewhere in the fur lining of the bed. She is adrenal now, but at her age is not a candidate for surgery so is now getting monthly lupron shots. She is otherwise in pretty good health right now and still full of all the energy she has always had. Now I am down to a single ferret in my household. Sigh...Also I am feeling a little guilty today as well, as I feel as if a heavy burden has been lifted from my shoulders. It honestly has, but I feel guilty for feeling that way. The last month and a half have been really rough on all of us, because of Percival's sudden decline and fighting that frustratingly futile battle against insulinoma that most of us have faced at least once or more times in the past. This is the 3rd furkid I've lost to insulinoma. At least Percival will have company at the Rainbow Bridge where he can meet up with my first sable boy Loki and my silver mitt girl Cricket. Hoepfully they'll keep each other happy and busy until I can get there. Just like to say thanks to BIG for maintaining such a great list where I can post about my sadness to people who truly understand. Thanks, Butch Zoe, and the cats George and Kiku [Posted in FML issue 4121]