Hi to All Sadly our Oscar was helped make the last leap to the Rainbow Bridge on Tuesday. He was doing so well since he first became sick in March, after x-rays and blood glucose levels all we could find was a very enlarged spleen. He had lost weight rapidly, but after hand feeding the duck soup he had rallied around up until last Thursday. All of sudden, his weight dropped, he didn't want to eat and he was dragging his little self around only to collapse and be put back to bed to sleep. It was now Saturday of Easter weekend, and our nearest ferret vet was closed till Tuesday a.m. so after many phone calls I finally found a vet in Toronto that dealt with exotics and would wait for me to make the two hour plus drive. We arrived with March's x-rays in hand, only to be told that the x-ray technician was not in on weekends. So all we got was a very good but long and slow physical. Spleen still enlarged, nodules could be felt, some diarrhea and one very tired little ferret. Blood glucose was good though, strong heart sounds, unfortunately the only things that were good. After five tries to get enough blood (and not succeeding) for a complete blood workup, we gave up, and Oscar was sooooo glad, he just cuddled up in my arms and looked up at me. I am sure he was saying "lets just go home". The vet said his veins were so tiny and didn't want the risk of his blood pressure dropping by putting him out to get enough blood. So they gave him some sublingual ??? (not sure if that's the right word at the moment) fluids and some meds for his diarrhea and we headed home, hoping to keep him going till Tuesday when we could try again for some blood work. This vet who had never met us before was really very good and she was very honest in her suggestions, she said that yes they could try to do blood again (another day) and take more x-rays, but that in her opinion he probably had some form of cancer and was in pain and that he probably would not last long. Oscar managed quite nicely to ptooey at least fifty per cent of his medicine on me and anything else in close proximity, he hated it, and he was getting the same with his duck soup, and his weight was just dropping off him. I spend all the time I could just holding and cuddling him and telling him what a beautiful boy he was. He had the biggest eyes I have ever seen on a ferret and they could see right into your soul. Tuesday came and I knew that we were going to have to help Oscar the only way we could, by providing a gentle journey to the other side. I wrapped him up in his baby blanket and cradled him in one arm all the way to the vets, driving with my other hand. He just lay there looking up at me as if he knew and was saying its okay. I kept kissing the top of his little head, its a wonder I didn't kill us both in a car accident. So, together, with Oscar curled up in my arm, Dawn our vet administered that one last needle, Oscar turned his head to me and laid it across my hand, looked up and gently stopped breathing. But his valiant little heart would not stop beating and kept going for over a minute even after he stopped breathing. He had the strong little heart but it was mine that was feeling like it was being torn in two. I left him with Dawn to have an autopsy done, she found lots of calcified nodules in his pancreas, which was enlarged as well. His spleen was very enlarged, very seedy and grossly misshapen, all in all it most seemed to fit cancer of the pancreas, possibly in other parts as well. I picked Oscar up yesterday, brought him home and showed him to the five other kids. They all sniffed and pushed at him as if to say, come play. Then it was as if each one realized what had happened and they all just sat around him until I picked him up from the floor. It was a very haunting thing to observe and very memorable. We buried Oscar out in the lily garden, next to our first ferret Lilly. Soon I will plant some new lilies over Oscar and all summer long they will remind us........ of playing hide and seek, of digging holes in dads grass, of making tunnels in the snow on the back deck, of silly war dances while chasing the cats, of Oscar with his red teddy bear, of his favourite hidey hole and how he loved to steal the dog's bickies whenever he could and of a love given with no reservation. Oscar was just a year old, but he had had a rough start in life, I fostered him and his brother from our pet store. They were both Marshall ferrets and I truly believe they were shipped to young. Even with love and hand feedings his brother did not make it, so perhaps Oscar's problems were with him from the day he first came into my life. We'll never know for sure, but it doesn't really matter now, he gave us all so much love and joy from the day I first held him in one hand, (he was so tiny) till the last day when he rested in my arms in final sleep. Take care my little man, my golden boy, see you on the other side one day......Love the Mudder Mudder & the Orillia Dooks.....Sam, Molly, George, Tigger & Thomas [log in to unmask] [Posted in FML issue 5219]