I've had a really bad week. Tavi had to be set to rest. I had been expecting her passing for a couple of years actually be cause of her age and illnesses. I had time to prepare myself but it was still hard to let go. She woke me up one morning last week crying. She was having horrid seizures. She hadn't played in several months and I just couldn't bear to keep her in a non-ferret state for my own selfishness & decided to release her. She was 10 years old. Then saturday my poor little Smokey had a terrible accident. I woke to find that during the night he had destroyed his 2 level hammock and some how got caught and tangled in the seams. It was a relatively new hammock and I can't understand how it fell apart so easily. When I found him he was barely alive. My boyfriend had to cut him out of the mess and at that point I knew he wasn't going to make it. We rushed him to the emergency vet but there was nothing that they could do for him. I pray that he didn't suffer in that state for hours on end. I heard Tavi crying, why didn't I hear him, maybe he couldn't cry, I don't know. He was just over a year old. He was my boyfriend's first ferret & he is devistated by what's happend. Some people think "it's just a ferret" but if they have never had one there is no way they could ever understand how much we love them or any of our pets for that matter. All of my other ferrets have had to be put to rest because of medical reasons. This is the first time one has died to something else and I don't think I will ever forget finding him like that, nor will I forgive myself for his needless death. I find myself checking on Skooder and Daisy every 30 minutes now. I've lost 4 in the last year and a half, the last two were within a week of eachother also, I couldn't bear to lose another. I warned him that Tavi would be waiting for him at the Rainbow Bridge at full strength now & ready to clean his ears. Laura Missing Pharoah, Jasper, Booger, Vex, Tavi & Smokey. [Posted in FML issue 4370]