It was a couple of week ends ago now, but it is only now that I feel I can write about it. I lost Crissey and Whitney witin 2 days of each other. I have lost many ferrets over the years and it never gets easier. My hear is broken (again). It is a wonder there is any of my heart left, as each one that leaves me takes a little piece along with them. Whitney and Crissy were 2 little kits that had been shipped to our local pet store, at Christmas time almost 7 years ago, and were in realy bad shape when they arrived. The third ferret that had been shipped with them had died over night and the owner of the store phoned me and asked me to make up some duck soup because he had 2 sick ferrets. So off I went to town with duck soup in hand, and what I saw was quite a shock to me. These 2 little babies were skinny, dehydrated, and still had their milk teeth. They had been shipped with a little bit of kibble and no water. The poor little things were in really bad shape and I talked the owner into letting me take them home to do some intensive care nursing. I was pretty sure that I could pull one through, but the other one I thought would probably die. For the next 2 weeks and over Christmas, I fed them evry 2-3 hours, day and night. I even kept them a little longer so they wouldn't have to go back to the pet store and be sold for Christmas gifts. That was my plan anyway.LOL Needless to say, they became permanent fixtures in my home. I just couldn't let them go back, so I went to the owner and taked him into selling them to me at a deal price.I called one Whitney because she had 2 whilte knees and Crissy, because when I was feeding her, she would lay on the table with her liitle legs crossed. They were cage mates for the rest of their lives. About a year ago Whitney developed the adrenal disease and I was treating her with lupron and melatonin implants.On Friday eveing, a couple of weeks ago, I went to the ferrets to relaese them for their roam time. I opened the cage door and Crissy didn't come out. She was all curled up and I thought she was just in the famous "ferret deep sleep." I shook the bed a little to wake her and still no movement. I put my hand in to help her out and realized that she had passed in her sleep. I was devastated. She hadn't shown any signs of illness, The day before she had been out and playing, her food and water intake had been normal and she had been urinating and pooping normally. On Sunday I got Whitney out of her cage to feed and medicate her. On her last vet visit about 4 days earlier, she had some discharge. We thought she had a vaginal infection, so she was on antibiotics. She was not well. I had a feeling that I was losing her. I sat up with her until 6 am. Her breathing was irregular and she was leaning and moving to the left, almost as if she'd had a stroke. She was really restless. She finally seemed to calm and settle into a peaceful sleep, so I put her in her hannmock and I went to bed for a bit. I woke up at noon and went to check on her, fully expecting a trip to the vet, possibly to help her cross the bridge. She was still all curled up and had diesd in her sleep. I couldn't stop crying for a week. I understood that Whitney's time was precarious, but why Crissy? I am thankful that they went peacefully in their sleep, but that is the only comfort I get. Bridge Greeters. please see that they find each other and their 18 brothers and sisters that hev gone before them. Tell them how much their Mommy loved them and that I miss them so very much. Sally St Germain and her 5 Little Saints and her 20 Little Angels at the Bridge I am a ferret-a-holic. [Posted in FML 6007]