Long time no post

It's been a long time since I posted. Honestly, I haven't even looked at the blog since December or so. Every time I came here I thought about how when I started it, I had my original guys, and now they're all gone. It was just too hard, so I stopped.

I still miss them all so much, but I think I'm ready to let them go a little, enough to think of them without getting sad. They gave me so many wonderful memories, and I'll always have those, even if I don't have my fuzzies anymore.

With that said...

Not too much has changed since November. Ellie had to have the same surgery that Mr. Big did. She healed very quickly and with no problems. Thankfully her stone was much easier to remove than Mr. Big's because it wasn't nearly as large. We thought Frank had them as well after some weird bathroom behavior, but an x-ray showed he was clear. Abby never had any problems, and an x-ray to be sure showed she was just fine. We now know it must have been the Hills d/d diet - too much plant material and protein. I don't know if Jebabba would have had stones if he had lived, but I think he probably wouldn't have, what with his loss of digestive capability.

In further ferret news, both Frank and Ellie are adrenal. I have a suspicion that Mr. Big may be as well, but it's just a hunch at this point. There are no symptoms to prove it. Abby is completely healthy, or she's not showing any symptoms of anything anyway.

We have a second dog - Bella, Steve's family's 9 year old German Shepherd, black lab, something mix - and the ferrets love to play with her. She was raised playing with Steve's first two ferrets, so she's great with them. Nia, our 9 month old German Shepherd puppy, is still too excitable to be allowed to play with them, but she gets to sniff them when she's on her leash, laying down, and heavily supervised. Mr. Big gave her kisses on her nose this morning.

So that's that. You'd think I'd have more to report after 7 months, but surprisingly not. Sure, there have been some health scares here and there, but for the most part it's all good. I do find though that my relationship with these guys is different. I love them very much, but sometimes I feel afraid to love them as much as I loved my last guys. It just hurt so badly to lose them, and I don't know if I can go through that again. But I try to let myself just feel, and most of the time it works.

Tags

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ferret, ferrets

Jebabba Remembered

When we first met Jebabba, he was probably about 4 to 6 months old. A friend's ex-girlfriend's neightbor found him in the woods in October in Northeastern PA. They were keeping him in a tiny hamster cage with shredded newspaper for bedding and pieces of bread for food. The ex-girlfriend convinced them to give Jebabba to us, and we went over to meet him. He was a tiny thing, an adorable dark brown sable, and I fell in love right away.

We took him home and introduced him to our group. He was accepted fairly quickly, and he latched on to Cheeba first, then Mojo, then Sohpie. He was very playful, and loved to run and jump all the time. He was a whiz at going through the tubes, and he was incredibly fast and agile. I can't remember how many times I would watch him take off across the room like a shot. He loved to dig too, and he was always digging in the dig box, at the carpet, and anything else that entertained him.

Jebabba was kind of a scaredy-ferret. He didn't like change very much, and loud noises scared the heck out of him. Like Rascal, Jebabba absolutely hated the vaccum, so after every time I used it, I would have to go searching for him. He was usually at the highest point in the cage, and I would pull him out and cuddle him against me, soothing him and giving him treats.

He loved going outside, and he was definitely one of those ferrets who had to be on a leash. There were times that, even with the leash, I would have to dive to catch him before he escaped. But he loved rooting in the dirt and war dancing across the grass, so the grass stains and grass I ate was worth it!

As he grew older, he became very sweet. Whenever I would spend time with them in the ferret room, he would lay flat next to me and wait for me to pet him. He liked to give kisses, but only on my arms. He rarely kissed my face. He loved to have his belly tickled, and he would roll around and dook when I did it. Jebabba was definitely a very vocal little guy, and I could always tell when he was in a playful mood by all the noise he made.

Jebabba loved chicken baby food. When Cheeba first started having problems with ulcers, I had to make sure to feed him when Jebabba was asleep, or he would try to eat all of Cheeba's food. Sometimes he would smell it, wake up, and come running out of whatever hidey hole he was sleeping in in search of it.

As he grew older and the other ferrets started to pass away, Jebabba and Bonk grew very close. By the time Cheeba passed away, Jebabba and Bonk were inseparable, and they went everywhere together. After Bonk died, Jebabba seemed to slow down, but there didn't seem to be anything specifically wrong with him. Then, in July of 2007, we did an intestinal biopsy and found out that he had IBD. He had had digestive issues in the past, but his response to medicine seemed to indicate that it was ulcer related. We got him on an IBD diet and he perked up right away.

At the beginning of August, we brought home some new friends for him because it was obvious that he needed some fuzzy companionship. (He was always a ferret's ferret, and human companionship just couldn't compare.) He had a great time running around with them and curling up together for long naps. They couldn't replace Bonk, but he definitely acted less lonely. He stopped looking for his lost friends and enjoyed his new friends.

But Jebabba's time with us was short. On Thursday, September 20, we helped him over the Rainbow Bridge. An autopsy revealed hepatic lipidosis had destroyed his liver. Even with treatment, it would only have prolonged his condition rather than cured it.

I miss him so much, but I would like to think that he thoroughly enjoyed his last couple months here with his new friends. Though I have lost him, I gained four new fuzzy friends who will help me honor and cherish his memory and the memories of all of my lost fuzzies who are gone but will never be forgotten.

Jebabba, I will always remember you, and I'm so thankful that I got the chance to be your mom. You were a very special little ferret.

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Baby Jebabba







Gimme some Cheetos!! (don't worry, he didn't get any!)



Playing with his buddy Mojo



Chowing down on an N-bone



Chilling with the Bonkman in mom's lap - March 2007



Snuggling with his new buddies the night we brought them home - Jebabba is top left



Content on Mom's shoulder



Resting during his last few days with us



Jebabba and Mr. Big just a couple days before Jebabba's death



Are you coming, Mom?


Someday, my little angel. Shine on.

Tags

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ferret, ferrets, IBD, Rainbow Bridge

Jebabba is back with me

Last week, Steve picked up Jebabba's ashes for me. After he brought him home, I rearranged all of my lost babies on their shelf and lit a candle. Cheeba is in the middle, Bonk and Jebabba are on either side of him, and then Sophie and Mojo are on the outside. They're all together again. As I sat there and looked at their ashes, I thought about all of the wonderful memories they gave me and how much I missed them, and I started to cry. Frank came wandering over to see what the deal was, so I picked him up, and he licked my tears. He licked my cheeks and my eyelids very persistantly, and even in the midst of my tears, I couldn't help but laugh. That's why I love ferrets - even when you're feeling horrible, they know what to do to make it better.

An autopsy revealed that Jebabba had hepatic lipidosis caused by an inability to absorb nutrients (caused by his IBD). A normal liver is brown, but his was bright yellow. Every normal liver cell had been replaced by fat cells. A normal liver can heal itself and regenerate normal cells again, but his wasn't. The liver failure caused nausea, vomiting, clotting problems, lethargy - all of the symptoms I saw in the week leading up to his death.

It's odd that even with a better diet than he had been eating he still wasn't able to digest food properly. My guess is that even though we were controlling the inflammation, he had lost so much of the absorptive surface of the intestines that what happened was inevitable. I took comfort in the fact that the vet said there was nothing we could have done because he was too far gone and too weak to heal himself. I would have hated to let him go if there was something I could have done to make him better.

Tags

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ferret, ferrets, IBD

Life moves on in this four ferret household

Jebabba's ashes are back, and Steve is going to pick them up for me sometime in the next couple days. (the vet's office is near where he works, about an hour away.) I still miss him a lot, and when I did ferret laundry yesterday, I set aside the bag he slept in or on for the last couple days he was with me. It smells like him, and I just couldn't bear to lose that yet.

But overall, I'm doing well. The remaining fuzz are playing like little loonies, and Frank is giving me even more kisses than usual. It's like they understand that I'm sad, and they're doing what they can to make it better. They're handling the loss pretty well too, but then, they were only with him for a month or so. Frank seemed to take it the hardest - he stuck pretty close to me for the day or so after Jebabba died. It seemed like he slept with Jebabba more than the others did.

Mr. Big is continuing to recover well from his surgery. I put him back in with the others last Thursday evening (a week after his surgery), and he had a blast running around with them and playing. The surgical site is pretty much healed up, and he's already growing lots of hair back (unlike my little Babbies, who never grew the hair on his belly back). Abby was very glad to have Mr. Big back in the fold, since they like to curl up together for naps. Nine times out of ten I find him sleeping with her. She curls up against him so it looks like he's spooning her - totally adorable.

When I'm able to, I'm going to write the post remembering Jebabba's life. It's still a little too fresh to deal with right now, but hopefully soon.

Tags

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ferret, ferrets

Jebabba is gone

It happened so fast. I thought for sure on Tuesday that I was going to have to let him go last night at his follow up appointment. But Wednesday morning and afternoon, he actually seemed to be fighting it. He licked a little food off of my finger and the syringe, he got up to go to the bathroom himself, and he seemed more interested in being around Frank and the girls. Unfortunately, it seems now that the will to live he displayed that morning was the last he could muster.

On the way to the vet's on Wednesday evening, he got a bloody nose. He had some bruising, and some black in his stool (digested blood). We decided at the vet's that he probably had a clotting issue, but given his energy that day, we would try some different medications and vitamins to see if we could keep him with us.

We got home, and he refused to eat again after that. Then around midnight, he pooped, and it was half stool, half frank (red) blood. I knew that was the end of any hope that he might last longer. I spent the night with him, holding him and cuddling him. Then this morning, I called the vet and we took him in.

Jebabba passed away this morning at around 11 am. He died in my arms as I told him how special he was and how much I loved him.

He was the last of my original seven, and there's a huge hole in my heart right now. I don't know if anything can ever fill it. He was so special, as were they all. It was so hard to leave him there, but I take comfort in the fact that he is reunited with his friends. They are all whole, all healthy, all happy and playful. I know that he will be so happy to see Bonk again, and right now he's dancing and dooking up a storm. But despite that knowledge, my heart is breaking.

I miss you so much, my sweet Jebabba, my Babbers. Though you are gone, you will live on in my memories and the stories I tell of your antics. You were my sweet, crazy guy, and you brought so much to my life. I hope that you left knowing how much I love you and how much you meant to me.


Jebabba
Spring 2003 - September 2007

Tags

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ferret, ferrets

Jebabba is fading

Jebabba is still refusing food - he hasn't eaten voluntarily since Sunday morning, not even to lick it off my finger. The anti-emetic is continuing to work (still no vomiting), but I don't think it's helping. He's still getting nothing from the food he's keeping down.

I gave him fluids twice yesterday with no effect. He just lays in his sleep sack or on his bed. His stool looks exactly like his food, like it's going in one end and coming out the other with no changes whatsoever. I don't even know if that's possible, but that's what it looks like.

I keep wondering if I should move his appointment tomorrow night up to tonight to spare both of us another day of this, but I'm not ready to give up yet. I know I'm being irrational - when a ferret refuses food and treats completely the way he is and has the look in their eyes like he does, it's the end. But I keep hoping for a miracle. He's the last of my original seven, and it's killing me to watch him like this, but I can't let him go. I know that if nothing changes by tomorrow night, I have to. I can maintain him like this, but I don't want to. His quality of life is greatly diminished, and it's not fair. But like I've said before - I'm a selfish bitch, and I want him with me. Why is it that ferrets can so totally rip our hearts out of our chests when they leave us?

Last night I prepared him for what's coming - we spent the evening together with him in a sleep sack in my lap, and I told him all about the Rainbow Bridge. How he would be healthy and whole again, how he could have all the chicken baby food and treats that he can't have now, and how he's going to see all of his friends again, and they'll play together again - all young, all healthy, all happy. I told him that Bonk was waiting for him along with Cheeba, Mojo, and Sophie, and they would have a great reunion. I told him how brave he's been and how strong, and how if he wants to let go, it's ok.

I just hope that when tomorrow comes, I can make the decision I have to make without delaying. He deserves better than to linger in this state. I love him too much to let him do that.

Tags

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ferret, ferrets, IBD, Rainbow Bridge

Jebabba's not any better, but not really worse either

Well, so far today, Jebabba has kept his food down, and it's been about 35 minutes since he ate. I gave him the anti-emetic about 30 min before feeding him, and though he still didn't want any food (I had to force feed him with a syringe - he wouldn't even lick if off my finger), at least he's keeping it down for now. He immediately went to sleep in a hidey hole both after his shots and after his feeding. He let me hold him for a bit on my lap though.

He seems weaker, but I'm sure that's probably largely due to barely eating anything for 2 days and having issues keeping down what he actually did eat. I'm going to try to feed him every couple hours or so to see if I can get his strength back up. I'm not sure it's doable though. He seems to have given up - he fought me when I fed him, but not nearly as much as he has. I just hope he realizes soon that food isn't something he needs to fear anymore.

I have a little more hope today, but not much. If I could just get him eating again... I will force feed him to get him through something, but I will not force feed him for the rest of his life. That's traumatic for both of us, and it's a crappy quality of life for him.

Tags

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ferret, ferrets, IBD

The hits just keep coming...

So last Monday I had to take Jebabba to the vet - something is going on with him. After eating less and less food all week, he started vomiting Saturday morning. I called the vet, and thankfully she was in. It was too late to take him up (it's an hour and a half away, and they were closing soon), but we talked over the phone for a while. Decided to take him off the antibiotic, since after 5 days, he should have been getting better, not worse, if it was going to help. Took him down to 1/3 of the pred he was getting, and she told me to come in to see her Sunday night (at the Lupron clinic).

He threw up again last night after I gave him his pred in the evening, so I didn't even bother to give it to him this morning. What's the good of treating his IBD if he can't even keep food down because of the meds? This morning he started whimpering a bit if I moved him too quickly or pressed on his stomach. She did an ultrasound and couldn't find anything obvious, though she said his stomach feels funny.

Anyway, we decided to take him off all oral medications since he stresses so much about taking anything orally. He's on pred, famotidine (pepcid), and Compazine (anti-emetic), all via sub-q shots. I hope this actually works. I have a very bad feeling about this though - I've had it since last night. And every other time I've had that feeling, I've lost the ferret within a week or two. He still has lots of energy to fight meds and food, but not for anything else.

I take him back in Wednesday for a follow-up so she can see how he's doing.

=========

As I finished typing that last sentence, he started throwing up again. He cried when he was dry heaving. I tried to help him, but what can you do when a ferret is throwing up? Not much other than try to talk to them and hope they even want you there. God, I hate this so much. I feel so helpless. All I can do is give him his meds and hope they work. I don't know if I'm making him feel any better or if he even wants me around. At least with Cheeba I knew that he was happy in my lap when he cuddled with me so much in the last months of his life. But Jebabba isn't a cuddler, and he isn't a lap ferret. I feel useless, completely useless.

Tags

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ferret, ferrets, IBD

Mr. Big is going into surgery today

I have some sad news - Mr. Big (yes, I've finally named our new DEW) has a bladder stone. Yesterday he started having trouble peeing, and he would try every five minutes when he was awake. The last couple times he went before we left for the vet's office, it had a definite orange-red color to it, so I kind of suspected it may be a stone. I was hoping it was just a bad UTI or bladder infection though. But they did x-rays, and determined that he had a stone. Thankfully there is only one, and he seems to be in good health otherwise. They're going to go in today to remove it, and I hope to have him back here with me tomorrow.

I felt so bad leaving him there last night, but he went home with the shelter mom who fostered him out to me because she's a vet tech at that animal hospital. I know he's in the best of hands, and she'll take wonderful care of him until he's back here with me, but I miss him so much already. I've only had him a month or so, but he's such a complete sweetheart - very cuddly, loves to give kisses. I really hope he pulls through the surgery ok. Claudia just lost one after a bladder stone surgery, but he was 11, and there were 8 stones. Mr. Big is only 5, and the x-ray showed just the one stone.

As upset and worried as I am right now, I'm very thankful that it isn't prostate problems. I had enough of that with Mojo to know that I never want to deal with that again if I can help it.

Tags

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ferret, ferrets, blader stones, adrenal disease, prostate, Mr. Big

Wonderfully busy

The new fuzzies have been keeping me quite busy. We had a scare with Frank (short for Frank the Tank, formerly known as Mitts) when he stopped eating. I was concerned it was him crashing, but it turns out he just doesn't like the new food. I put him back on his old food and started supplementing him with baby food. He's going to take longer to switch over to the new diet. He's doing much better now, thankfully.

Other than that, things are going really well. Abby is coming along with her biting, and she actually gives kisses now. I'd say in another month, we should have the biting cleared up completely. Ellie and Jebabba cuddle up for naps together a lot.

I still haven't decided what to name the DEW yet. I'm thinking of Barishnikov because the ladies love to watch him dance and he's so handsome. (The girls love to wrestle with him as well.) But I don't like the nickname Barry, and Barishnikov is a pretty big name for a little ferret!

Here are some cute pictures of all of them cuddling up together for a nap.

Tags

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ferret, ferrets, duck soup