OK, this is long folks but I would like to share it with you. It is from one of the adoptors back when - well shell tell you all about it: On Jul 22, 2014, at 1:18 PM, wrote: golly I am bawling my eyes out for the pain you have but also for the love you gave that deserving little boy. How few would know the personality and habits of one of these guys as well as you noticed in him and the others.........I am so proud he got to share your lives. May I share this on Face BOOK? Millie Sanders at Txferretrescue.org with Texas Ferret Lovers Rescue and connecting Foster homes and sanctuaries . From: Brenna Wingett Sent: Tuesday, July 22, 2014 5:04 AM To: [email protected] ; [email protected] Subject: update on our adopted babies Hi Millie & TXFLR! I have been meaning to update you on the 4 ferrets that we adopted back in October, but...well, I am just a slacker. Sorry! So here goes :) We had originally come to look at Duke, a chocolate, one of your older ferrets, who I fell in love with by hearing his story. Poor guy first had a bonded cage mate who had cancer, and had to be taken away, you told us he pined and pined for his friend, then began to bond with a new cage mate. Unfortunately, that little ferret began having liver problems, and had to go where he could get treatments. I just knew that there was something special about that boy from the beginning. Duke, though not a cuddeler, was a lover. He soon began giving me kisses every day, and they would just melt me heart. Duke soon claimed his bed as the bottom drawer of our dresser, and claimed a round cat tube/house bedside my nightstand. He had a heart of gold, and he was so brave! That boy would go head to head with our doberman to steal the squeaky toys right out of our dobies mouth, and scurry off upstairs with it. Duke loved his squeaky toys! One night, while we were sleeping, he took our dogs 6 foot squeaky snake, drug it all the way upstairs, and stashed it behind the dresser! Duke began to bond with our original 2 ferrets (Bella and Dexter), as well as with Simba, Nala, and Finnegan (that we got from you), but he and Nala soon began to become great nap buddies. Duke and Nala loved to curl up together in the cat tunnel and nap together, with their little arms around each other. In January, the flu hit our whole family, and although all precautions were taken, that nasty virus hit all our ferrets, hitting Duke the hardest. I separated him from the others, as he was the first sick one, and although he was sneezing, and coughing, he still had a great appetite, and ate his soupie every day. After that nasty virus ran its course, life went back to normal. In March, I noticed that Duke was having yellow diarrhea, I thought he had a little ferret virus, and so I continued to monitor and feed. But within just a few days, it had not cleared up, he was dehydrated and weak, and no longer taking any soup from the syringe (not like him). I immediately took him to the 24hr ER that our vet recommended. The wonderful vet there, took x-rays and found that he had a very aggressive cancerous tumor on the outer lining of his stomach. She felt that it was something that was rapidly growing, and that it was causing a lot of gas to build up in his little belly, and that when she tested his stool, it was positive for blood- so he already had a GI bleed. (I had not seen evidence of blood in his stool at that point.) She gave him some subcutaneous fluids, pain medicine, and encouraged me to not let him suffer (I would never want that to begin with). She said that she could help him to the Rainbow Bridge that day, or I could take him home and keep him comfortable, and that she would send him some pain medication home. I decided to take him home and pray that I would not have to make that decision, but in my heart, I knew that we would be back later that day. After I got him home, I set up a bed for him in a laundry hamper with a heating pad, blankets, his toys and I laid beside him, rubbing his head, and talking to him. I told him how very much I loved him, and how all I ever wanted for him, was to live out the rest of his life as a happy little ferret, and that I hoped that I had done everything that I could for him. He napped for a little while, and then popped his head up and wanted to get out. I put him on the floor and he went to the food bowl, so I made some fresh soup for him. He was obviously feeling better from the SQ fluids and pain medication. I was hoping that he would stay that way, I wanted to live in denial and have things back to normal, unfortunately soon after that, he lost control of his bowels, dark black- obviously blood, he was so embarrassed, and then he started having trouble with his back legs. I called to my husband and he agreed that the others needed to say goodbye to their sweet friend. They seemed confused, but they all got to see him one last time. We were packing him back up to head back to the 24 hr Emergency Vet, and I saw a toy that I had just bought, special for him, so I grabbed it for him. At the vets office, they took us right back (we had only been there a few hours before, so they recognized us). The vet let us say goodbye, I held my sweet boy, and did not want to let go. Then he started kissing my nose and my neck. I picked his squeaky toy up and squeaked it, and his little face lit up. He was still very weak, but he wanted it. My husband said goodbye to him, and had to leave the room when they took him from my arms- he had tears running down his face. We even had the vet in tears. I just remember thinking what an honor and privilege it was to have had him, and to have loved him. We only had him from late October until March, just a few months, but he touched our hearts. After she assisted him to the Rainbow Bridge, she brought him back to me, and I held him and rocked him, and talked to him, and kissed him, knowing that I would never again have one of his sweet kisses. They set everything up for us, for cremation, and the cedar box with his name on it. I was very grateful. At home, Nala was the most distraught out of our little business. She would look for him, and refused to sleep in the cat tunnel by the nightstand. I think that she knew that was their special spot. What is funny, is that she refused to even go into the cat tunnel, until the day that we picked up his ashes. I placed the box on top of my nightstand, right above where they slept in the cat tunnel. The night that we brought his remains home, that night, Nala went in the tunnel and went to sleep. It was as if she knew her buddy was home. About a week later, the 6 foot squeaky snake made a mysterious appearance- none of the other ferrets showed interest in it, and the dog never played with it. We believe it is our Duke watching over us. Ok, so now that I am crying, I will move onto the others! Simba and Nala were the 2 that Alvin Hook and others worked hard to get to the rescue. Their story was that due to their former owners children going to college, they were dropped at a shelter. Everyone worked hard to get them to the shelter, and the plan was Alvin would take them in January. We thought we would just foster them for Alvin, and agreed to take them, as they were a very bonded pair. We are foster fails- we cant foster without adopting. I talked to Alvin, and he was fine with us adopting them, and I am so glad, because I love them so much! Simba is a big beautiful boy, champagne in color, and so sweet. He loves to cuddle and get neck rubs. Nala is a very dainty chocolate girl, she is the caretaker of the group, and will groom all of the others whether they like it or not. Nala doesnt run, she hops, almost like a rabbit! Simba and Nala are just the sweetest little pair. Of all of the ferrets, I feel most protective of Nala. Finnegan (Finn) is the baby, he came as a pair with Duke, but they werent bonded, just friends. Finn is a big beautiful boy, and he is ALL boy! It seems he never, and I mean never sleeps. He turned 1 in May, and has not slowed down yet. He plays hard, but when we first brought him home, our original ferret, Bella, showed him who the boss was. She is alpha, and she made sure that he knew that. It was funny, b/c she is half is size, but would make him cry when wrestling. Finn likes to get into all sorts of shenanigans with Bella and Dexter. I call them the 3 stooges. So what began with going to rescue one ferret- so that we would have 3, turned into getting 4 and having 6, now 5. I wouldnt have it any other way. Yes, we are foster fails, we have a lot of ferret poo mines, and hidden shoes, bras, and dog toys, but we love it, and love them. Thank you for everything that you do, and the lives that you save. Love, Brenna, and Zach Wingett
Posted on: Wed, 23 Jul 2014 01:59:54 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015