Sandee, I know that you are so busy these days, but I find myself again needing your help. Yesterday was my birthday, and it ended with me watching my neighbors dog get run over and killed by a car. He never had a chance. He somehow got out of the house while his owner was gone. He was following me while I was walking our dog, but since he was loose, and skitish, there was no trying to catch him. He stepped out in front of a van, and never saw it coming. It was over quickly. ;( So, if you have any connections on the dog side, please have someone keep an eye out for a beautiful Boxer named Max. He may be a little lame, but he was a big handsome guy and didn't deserve to go like that. And to make the b-day weekend even better, we took two of our "special" kids to see Dr. Katie today. (Sat) Nico came to us in May of 2001 along with one sister Ashley and brothers Pico, Ren, Mario and Leo. All of them have long since passed to your side, and I'm sure will be glad to see him again. Nico went to a "forever" home, but came back to us in June of 2003, and it was aparent that he would spend the rest of his days with us. When he left the shelter, he was a big beautiful Black Sable boy, who's only problem was a long healed broken toe. When he came back into the shelter in '03, he was blind and insulinomic. While we were glad to see him again, we knew it would only be a matter of time when we would have to let Nico go. Recently he was having more siezures, losing his balance and motor functions. He had to be cleaned every time he went potty, and had very little dignity left. It wasn't hard to see that Nico was uncomfortable with his forced feedings, and wanted to do nothing more than to sleep. Today we listened to him, and granted his wish. Along with Nico, will be a little scrawny boy named Cocoa. Cocoa came to us in early January of this year, after his owner said she was going to have him put down, because he was sick and she couldn't afford to take him to a vet. She said he had lost his cagemate about 6 months earlier, and that's when he starting losing weight. We took him in, and told her we would do whatever we could for him. Cocoa was very under weight, weighing barely 1.5 lbs. for a 4 year old male ferret. We could feel every bone in his body, but his eyes were bright and he seemed very happy and alive. We took Cocoa to Dr. Katie, had tests run, x-rays done, poked him and prodded him, and found nothing remarkable. We brought him home, and started feeding him duck soup to try and fatten him up. He seemed to take the soup well, but had to be encouraged at times. But he never seemed to put on any weight. He would eat his soup, maybe a piece of dog food if he could find any, and then curl up and sleep. He continued to lose weight, could not walk without falling over, and his eyes were no longer bright and happy looking. Whenever we picked him up to feed him or just to cuddle him, he would now groan and wimper in discomfort or pain. Dr. Katie also gave Cocoa a shot, and he left us to go to the bridge. Please have Oliver, Princess, Burton, Seth, Gabby, Fuzzy, Mario, Leo, Ren, Ashley and Pico greet both of our boys. Tell them both that we're sorry that we couldn't make them all better, and that we loved them both. Tell all of our babies that we love and miss them deeply...and we will see them again someday. Dad and Mom Ferret Rescue of Maine A State licensed, 501c3 Non-profit shelter. Donate to shelter ferrets by clicking igive.com/from [Posted in FML issue 4437]