Wow! Did "Beyond the Rainbow Bridge" come at an appropriate time! We had to help our little Barney cross the bridge this morning! 10 days ago we took him to our vet because of itching and losing his hair. Even though he was only 15 months old, we suspected that he had adrenal problem, so a melatonin implant was injected and I continued giving him benadryl. 6 days later I discovered a mass under one of his front arms. Thinking it was a possible infection, I started giving him amoxicillin Throughout the week, he started having trouble breathing, stopped eating, except what he was fed by hand, and would only take a few steps before laying down. Today we had arranged an exploratory because he wasn't doing any better at all. X-rays showed that he had a huge mass that moved his heart further down his body, his spleen was 3 times normal, another mass was under his other arm, his lungs virtually had no air and the only air he was getting was from a couple of pockets. His organs were pretty much covered by this mass and couldn't even been seen in the xray. No surgery was done but a neocropsy was instead. As we feared, he definitely had Juvenile Lymphoma. This is so scary. To think that a couple of weeks ago he seemed healthy, except for a little itching. I KNOW that we made the best decision for him. He wanted to play, not be sick. He is playing now....with thousands and thousands of ferrets. My little Barney Trouble is gone and my heart has a huge hole in it, but I know that he's healthy and playing. Thank you for the Beyond the Rainbow Bridge poem as I really needed it today. As my friend said, Barney has sent us a message today. Goodbye Barney....I loved you and I will miss you, but you're healthy. Just be happy...and play nice. Missed, too by siblings Dudley, Fallon, Rudy, Jake, Kringle, Destiny, & Minx and Ivory & Molly (felines) & Duncan (canine) [Posted in FML 5940]