by Sharon Cannon
About two years ago I decided to adopt a third ferret. My joy was boundless after bringing home a little black eyed white I promptly named Duncan. My other two fuzzies were curious yet accepting of the new arival. That night I took plenty of pictures and struted around the house showing off my new baby.
In the morning I awoke and my first thoughts were to go see how my boy was doing and to love on him a bit. When I got to the cage there was no movement. My heart broke when I discovered he had not lived through the night. I buried poor Duncan and decided that I would wait to get another ferret.
Days passed and I noticed a distinct weight loss in Fenris. I didn't understand what was happening so I took him to a vet. My beloved baby had contracted ECE or green slime disease. The vet gave me some medicine and sent me home. I desperatly searched the Internet for advice as Fenris declined rapidly before my helpless eyes. The vet was ignorant as to what to do next and within the month Fenris died in my arms after a hard struggle. I thought I would die. He had been my favorite and first ferret. A light went out in my heart.
After the death of his brother, I moved Bane into my room and we lived together over the next four months. It was then I decided to adopt another baby. I bought Gabriel from the pet store and took him home to live in my room with Bane. Nothing could replace Fenris, but Gabriel was like an angel from heaven sent to heal the black holes of loss drilled into my heart.
Things went well for a little while until Bane started exhibiting the same kind of weight loss. He too had contracted ECE. I didn't want to go back to the same vet who had asked me if he could disect the body of my beloved Fenris after his death, so I called the local Kansas City ferret shelter and asked them for an oppinion. They refered me to a wonderful man who knew what Bane needed, and after a stay at the clinic, I took him home. It was when I picked him up that I met a woman named Angie. She gave me a special soup she had created to help ferrets who were sick, and to this day I believe it is the only thing which kept my baby alive.
Time passed until one day Angie gave me a call asking me if I wanted a ferret. Mortimer had been found next to a highway and needed a good home. My heart said yes before my brain could react. I visited the vet where Morti was staying and saw this incredibly ugle little creature as big around as a stick, bald in places, sporting a yellow head. In two weeks I had this little guy fat and fluffy and as beautiful as any ferret I've ever seen. I had rescued a life. It felt good.
Almost a year had passed since Fenris' death and the battle for Bane's health had been an uphill struggle. Two weeks till the years aniversry of his brother's loss, Bane gave up the fight. He had more than ECE, he was the product of inbreeding so common in the mass production of ferrets in order to ship them out to pet stores as fast and as plentyfull as possible. He too died in my arms, it was not a peaceful death as Fenris' was and the memory of it still haunts me today.
After several months I knew it was time to rescue some more babies. I only had two ferrets and I knew this wasn't fair because I had enough love to accomodate more than that. So again I got in contact with Angie who procured me with two new babies from the shelter. Chakram is an eight month old little girl who probably had a mistreated ear infection and now runs in circles. Still, she is healthy (except for the circle thing which doesn't seem to bother her) and she loves to harrass the cats. Cocoa is a seven year old female who is missing a lower canine, but still manages to rule the house and my heart.
So although I have lost three babies who were and are more dear to me than any child of my flesh and blood, their deaths led me to Angie and the desire to rescue those babies who were abandoned through no fault of their own and only wish to know love again. I thank the Rainbow Bridge for offering me an oportunity to express my story, if anything, it has been theraputic for me.