Maxi Mil was carried into our house the Friday evening after Thanksgiving Day 2006. Her blood sugar level was only 28, so low she should have been dead. Her owners had 'adopted' her off of Craig's List where she had been posted as a 4 year old. She was 8 1/2 if she was a day and her medical condition so severe the person giving her up, a volunteer for another ferret shelter, had to have known. In less than a week she had already had three grand mall seizures and her screams had terrified her new owners. They had met me the year before when looking for information on a baby ferret they had purchased and after seeing where Max had been, it seemed logical to them when in the night and on a holiday, Max had 'passed out' and needed help, to bring her here. I remember looking at her and knowing instantly her blood sugar had again plummeted, but for safety and curiosity about how low, I checked her levels. When it came back a measly 28 it is safe to say I freaked out, began grabbing needles and meds as fast as I could desperate to head off what I was sure then would be her last seizure. Max's blood sugar was a challenge to manage even for someone who'd had lots of practice, but we managed. She was a happy little girl, her favorite game mimicking a human baby playing with a blanket - she would crawl under my carpets, roll over on her back and play with the rug with all four feet, bouncing and rolling it. Even when she was weak and could only walk a foot or two, as soon as she'd had her soup, she made her way to the nearest rug to play. In addition to her blood sugar problems, she had insulinoma, adrenal and cardiac problems. I would tell people she 'had about every thing a ferret gets', but she never stopped being happy enough to play with her rugs. Max was ferret aggressive, like a little old lady with her long dress, collar buttoned to her chin, parasol in hand. She had no use for new comers, never mind she was the new person. Lori was my little Red Haired child, and despite their ages, Lori was only 6 or so, they developed a relationship. Lori was the only ferret Max would tolerate near her. They would pass each other in the hall, going opposite directions like two old ladies, one on either side of the boardwalk. You could just about see the "Good day", "Good day", the epitome of politeness and civility, and not one speck more. It must have been a 'good breeding' issue as oppose to those 'others' who weren't quite up to snuff as far as Max was concerned. The day I found them sleep under the same blanket, back to back of course, I almost fainted from shock - then I laughed and covered them back up. After that it was not uncommon to find them together, but maintaining a 'proper, respectful' distance of course and only when asleep. Lori left us several months ago and Max and the rest, every one liked Lori, looked for her for several days. The others had shoulders they could lean on, or is that lie on? But not Max, Lori was all she had had. I felt so bad for her loosing her 'old,dear, friend'. Well, today Max decided to go sleep next to Lori again. Her blood sugar levels destabilized and despite every thing I could do, and trust me I tried really hard to convince her other wise, I could not get them back to a level sufficient to support any kind of a quality of life, so, after reminding her to tell Lori and the rest of the People I loved and missed them, I let her go. Of course I buried her, back to back next to Lori. [Posted in FML 5916]