Bridge Greeters, With a heavy heart I am asking any of the Bridge Greeters to please greet our little gal Riley. I had to let her go earlier today. Riley was my first ferret I ever brought into my home a little over 5 years ago. She was could be considered an "impulse buy". My husband and I went into a PetCo for cat food and came out with a whole lot more. According to the paper work Riley was about 5 months old when we purchased her. It wasn't until I started reading "Ferrets for Dummies" that I discovered there were ferret shelters. Riley was an amazing little gal. So freaking smart!!! She loved her little red bear so much that she would "feed" the bear (bring it near the gravy bowl while she ate). I discovered her beloved red bear by the little box several times. I swear she was trying to litter train em! If she wasn't feeding to training her red bear it was safely tucked way in the top upper right side of the ferret nation cage. Any time Riley noticed I was cleaning out the cage she would quickly relocate red bear and the other "babies" (non were a dear to her as red bear) to a safe location. After relocating she would then "defend" her cage i.e. attack my hands as I changed the bedding. Diggy (RIP) and Teddy Bear are my only other furkids who have an attachment to the "babies". Riley loved her Totally Ferret Treats. She would not only beg for them, but roll over, and turn around. She never wanted to be given her treat without showing off her tricks. I guess you could call Riley our "gateway ferret". She let the way for many more furkids into our home including long term senior fosters from my local shelter Fbog (ferret business of Georgia). Loosing Riley today has brought our numbers down to 7. She has may brother and sisters awaiting her arrival (Cholo, Hanky, Bedlam, Annabelle, Marshmellow, Louie, Meeko, and Diggy). Riley and our little Agatha became the "enforcer divas" of our business. I'll never forget bring home Junior, he was just a baby and wanted nothing more than to play with his 5 brothers and sisters. Riley and Agatha took turns dragging him around by the scruff. Junior would submit to this, after they would release he would bounce up hoping to play..... Riley also loved going for car rides. That is if she was on a harness and leash with the window rolled down a bit (of course there would be more than one person in the car during this the passenger would hold Riley while she did this). Riley would put her head out the window, just like a dog, and take in all the smells. Riley was very mildly affected by adrenal disease. About 8 weeks ago she started "spacing out". Insulinoma set in. It was like a snowball. She kept getting worse. Hence her med's increased. I've seen one other ferret, our Annabelle, who's insulinoma worsened so rapidly. I had a feeling we'd loose Riley quickly to insulinoma just like Annabelle. But that didn't mean I accepted or completely expected it. Yesterday morning Riley ate all her gravy with her med's, cleaning her bowl and everyone else's too. When I got home from work she came out of the ferret room with her brothers and sisters for a bit. It wasn't until I went to find her for her evening gravy that I knew she was on her way out. I found her unresponsive. Sugar didn't do the trick. A dexamethasone injection didn't either. I kept trying both. I held her while she seized, comforted her when she was sleepy eyed grinding. Per usual all of this happened late at night, on a weekend. My husband and I made the decision to keep Riley comfortable through the night and hope for a miracle. After a very sleepless night we made our way to the emergency vet for a mercy shot. She passed on in my hands peacefully. Riley we will always miss and love you. After returning home from saying goodbye your brothers and sisters were looking for you. They had to inspect the carrier. Teddy Bear found Red Bear in the sleepy sack and immediately put em back with the other babies. He'll take great care of them all. He promised. Bridge greeters I can't thank you enough for what you do. I know all of us ferret folks have different "rituals"/ways to deal with loosing our beloved babies. For me, writing this post is part of my ritual. Wendy and Rex Hamilton in Atlanta, GA with Ahkee, Agatha, Tink, Junior, Baxter, Teddy Bear, and Polly Prissy Pants. missing Cholo, Hanky, Bedlam, Annabelle, Louie, Meeko, Diggy and grieving Riley [Posted in FML 7181]