A woman at work called me one day, said she had an 'old' ferret that she was thinking of selling. I told her if he was old, I doubted that she'd be able to sell him, but if she wanted him to have a good home, just call me and I'd take him. I didn't hear from her for a while, and then mid-winter I had a message on our answering machine from her. She wanted to bring him over. It was after 10pm when I got back to her, but she brought him over. She walked in with this beautiful champagne boy in her arms, and he was licking from a bottle of Ferretone-his name was Chester. I asked her what he ate and she said kitten food, but she didn't have any. We talked for a bit, and she kept saying she hoped he didn't die on us. After she left we let him down, and he checked out the place, but he was very quiet. The next day I thought we were losing him, he was so down. I was holding him and Larry said he thought it was massive depression, and so did I. We took him to the vet to have him checked, but Chester acted fine, albeit quiet. And so began the odyssey to bring him out of his depression. We discovered he didn't like other ferrets, he'd jump and scream, and then we found out why. One night Larry was getting ready to put him up, came up behind him and reached down and touched him. Chester jumped, whirled around scared to death. That's when we found out he was deaf! If I were working on schoolwork, at the computer, or just sitting, he'd wander downstairs to me and lay his head on my foot, a signal to pick him up. I'd cradle him in my arms and he'd fall asleep there. When I moved him and was putting him up, he'd reach up and kiss me, stick his nose in my ear. Late April, early May, I was coming home from class and called Larry to see how things were going. He told me Chester had had a major seizure. Our daughter thought two of the Crew was fighting, but when she got upstairs she found Chester thrashing in a seizure. She ran outside, got Larry, and he got Chester out of the cage, but not before Chester had latched onto him without knowing it. He got pedia pred down him, and in about 20 minutes Chester had come around, but was truly out of it. We were going over to Julie Fossa's a few days later, and we took him so she could check his blood sugar. His levels were way down, and so we upped his medicine. A few weeks later we had another fuzzy to the vet, and we took him out and had the vet check him. His levels weren't any better, and so another increase. On June 18 we had exploratory surgery done for him, and he was full of tumors-pancreas, spleen, kidneys. One on his spleen was as big as my thumbnail. My vet and I talked, and he thought we could give him two to six months, and I said we'd give him that. He was doing fine, and on the 25th he was playing in the tubes, and the green teddy bear they all play with went bouncing across the room. I was ecstatic. Then on 26th his body weight started to disappear, he was having trouble walking. On the 27th he had lost at least 50% of his body weight, and he couldn't walk, passed a black tarry stool, and saw semi-comatose. I held him that night on my chest, and two of my cats blocked him so he wouldn't fall. He started to pant and I placed him beside me, made sure he was warm. I found him at 2am on the floor, and he'd messed himself. I had to have our daughter take him to the vet on the 28th, and he checked Chester over, and then called me. His vital signs were good, but he was stunned at the paralysis of his hindquarters. We both concurred that his quality of life wasn't good, and he agreed with me to help him to the Bridge. I know that Sandee has already found him at the Bridge, and that he's met the Crew. Chester was a special boy, and when he left, he took a piece of all our hearts. Have fun, Chester my Jester, and wait for me, along with all the other members of the Crew. You are truly missed. Rebecca and the Crew of Merry Mayhem [log in to unmask] "Do not meddle in the affairs of dragons, for thou art crunchy, and taste good with ketchup" "Support bacteria, it's the only culture some people have" [Posted in FML issue 4565]