GeekGasm - R.I.P. Li'l Miss

GeekGasm - R.I.P. Li'l Miss

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R.I.P. Li'l Miss

[May. 12th, 2008|07:39 pm]

[

mood

crushed

]

My wife's already pretty much said anything I might have said.

We've had ferrets since before we were married. We pretty much picked out Minkey together at college. She's now seven, a ripe old age for American ferrets. We got Li'l Miss only a year after we were married and just after we got our house. They didn't get along at first. Minkey wasn't happy about having another ferret in the house. She would bite Li'l Miss' scruff and drag her across the floor. After a month we thought we'd never get them in the same room, let alone cage.

But Minkey warmed to Li'l Miss. We should have known, no one can resist a girl that sweet for too long. Within a year they were snuggling together in the same sleeping bags.

And of course, there was much playing. We both expected Minkey to go first because she was older and cranky and skinny and has already had an adrenal gland removed. Not only that, but she's damned intelligent. Li'l Miss was sweet and loving and... not the sharpest tool in the shed. We figured she'd outlive all of our animals.

I took Minkey to the vet today just in case Li'l Miss had died of something contagious. Thankfully, Minkey got a clean bill of health. I described to the vet Li'l Miss' state and she was almost positive it was insulinoma. Basically, it's not uncommon for American Ferrets who are spayed earlier than any other ferrets in the world to get pancreatic tumors. This causes low blood sugar which can lead to seizures and death. The only real signs of it are changing in behavior and lower energy. But as Li'l Miss was five (American ferrets live five-nine years) we just attributed her lesser energy to age. The vet told me that even if we did catch it, there's not much you can do. There are some very expensive medications, but they're not 100%. And you can't remove the pancreas or the tumor.

Still, I can't help wishing we would have caught it so we could have at least said good bye.

I actually didn't cry last night. Or this morning. My main concerns were Mel and Minkey. I took a half day so I could take care of things like the vet and also get Li'l Miss buried before the sun went down. Last night we wrapped her in a towell and put her in a box in the garage. This afternoon we buried her in her cardboard coffin in our front yard next to a small tree my mother-in-law gave us.

That's when I cried.

We put a couple rocks over her grave and I knelt down to pay respects and it just hit me all at once.

Well, I ended up writing a little more than I originally intended so I'll leave on a stupid video I did. It is dumb, but the beginning's not what's important. It's the intended punchline at the end. It stars my Li'l Miss doing what she loved doing most.

Good bye Li'l Miss. I love you and miss you.

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Comments:

From:

katje0711
2008-05-13 12:43 am (UTC)

(Link)

Awww. I'm sorry! {{{{{{{{{{{{{{{HUGS}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}

Lil Miss