With a heart broken into as many pieces as the tears that now fall so freely from my eyes, I regret to announce that Bubbles, alpha male to the Furkid 3, First ferret extraordinary crossed the Rainbow Bridge at 02.25 GMT this morning in his daddies arms after a short and as yet undiagnosed Illness, having lived not quite half of his expected life span. He leaves his broken hearted family to Join Cussieangelweezil in a better place than this earth, leaving a dark void in my heart that can never quite be filled. He leaves behind two slightly confused girls Skweek and Rhoobarb along with 2 broken hearted humans.. and an assortment of cats. Sandee, it would mean a lot to me if you can tell him I am so so so sorry I couldnt make him well, and hook him up with his old playmate Cussie(angel)weezil, as here they were one of the "pair of pairs" we had, now they will be reunited safe from pain and illness. He loves roast chicken, I will never again see him hopity skipping around his morning "chukkie platter", and of course he loves ferotone raisins and kitbits, yeah cat treats... if you have any plastic bags, balls with rattles in or jingle toys he loves those, you may also want to hook him up with the rainbow bridge chapter of the Kouri club his membership card is in a frame on my wall Bubbles came here to a novice daddy, and immediately set about stealing the hearts of all around him, 99.9% litterbox accurate, his wardance was a sight to behold along with the shaking head that just expressed the pure joy of being a ferret, my wardancing weezil was too much of a mouthful so he became "da warweezil", and, as he liked me to "play ferret" with him, I soon found myself using his nickname for my e-mail addy, a practice which will continue as a memorial to the most fascinating pet I ever encountered. he was gentle with ever other creature he met, curious as any good ferret should be, and most people could see there was definately "something" between us. knowing Bubbles led me to rescue Skweek, Rhoobarb & Custard from appalling conditions (the poor mites didnt even have names) Cussie left us last year while undergoing surgery, I still shed a few tears whenever I think of her, and right now I am fighting back the flood, I cant sleep yet, and I need to do this while it is all fresh in my mind, he left us just one hour ago. Unkie Lee, his other hooman is only here now because of Bubbles, hed never met a ferret before, so Da Warweezil worked his charms and pretty soon Unkie Lee moved in here, such was the charm of this big guy I am still unsure what or how, Wednesday, I did the routine nail and ear session, which gives me time to look them over at close quarters while they indulge thier addiction to ferotone, nothing amiss, Thursday night he was fine, wardancing with the girls and trying to hog the treats, but then all 3 do, or should I say did. Friday afternoon I noticed he was "projectile vomiting" we went directly to the vet where I discovered that the guy who had been learning ferrets has left, and been replaced by a vet whose entire knowledge seems to be "yes thats a ferret". She suspected gastritis and gave him sub-q fluids and antibiotics, but Saturday Morning I found tarry stools in his litter tray and when I gave him his dose of antibiotic he immediatly vomited several bright green streams, so we headed for the vet again. I saw a different one this time, he thought that possibly it could be gastric ulcers, gave him fluids to the abdomen and a vitmain shot and a shot to help stop the vomiting, and some electrolytic fluid mix to help replace the elements lost in vomiting. He seemed to have acomfortable afternoon, indeed he drank unaided used his litter tray and settled down to sleep. however about midnight he took a turn for the worse, was having breathing difficulties and then I knew.. I just knew that he was going to leave us. I called the vet who said there was nothing he could do, apart from tell me to keep on with support care and see if he got through the night, well at 2.25 he had a siezure of some kind and stopped breathing. Thats when the tears started, I dont know when they might stop. I dont think I will ever again have such a big handsome guy as my Warweezil, and I am eternally thankful to Ulrike for pairing us up. I am also deeply sorry for any failings in my stewewardship that caused Bubbles to leave us at such a young age, I am already having an attack of the "coulda woulda shoulda's", and I think that my ferret vetinary needs are going to have some review, as tonight I felt that Bubbles just didnt matter enough to the vet, and if thats the case, I would sooner know that the local number is not worth calling, things seem to have changed there in recent months, and its a change for the worse. Im rambling, it hurts so much, and I feel as if its my fault. He will be cremated and his ashes will come home, Id just like to say that its unlikely I will be answering any mails for a few days or so, this hurts too much Ive hogged enough bandwidth.. sorry for rambling... Warweezil.. I will see you again one day, with lil Cussieweezil, thank you for beng as wonderful as you were Our thoughts to those with sick or angelled heart thieves Cris Page Unkie Lee Skweek & Roobarb Remembering Bubbles (Da Warweezil) & Cussie(angel)weezil Now frolicing pain free at the rainbow bridge mailto:[log in to unmask] [Posted in FML issue 4354]