Badgersmama
Posts: 5
Joined: 8/13/2008
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On July 16th my dear sweet Badger went to the Rainbow Bridge to be with his brother Minky and sister Lucy. I’m so lost without my boy.
Five very short years ago I took a 4 hour drive to Arizona to visit a pet store in hopes of finding my first ferret. I walked in and saw this glass fish tank full of ferrets. Little did I know, I wasn’t there to pick out a ferret, I was there to be chosen by a ferret. I spent several hours with all the little “wees” and this little male sable ferret just wouldn’t leave me alone. Of course I thought to myself – what’s wrong with him, he’s so hyper; I walk out with him in my arms. He was a very little wee – 8 weeks old.
Anyway, 6 month later I felt he needed a friend. I called around to different pet stores looking for a female albino ferret, he needed a girlfriend. Off I went to pick her up; she was named Tiara….a year later came Electra. Over the years Badger, Tiara, Electra and I spent so much time together. Badger was my boy, my very special boy. He loved me so much, and put up with so much from all his brothers and sisters (by the time Badger was 3 he had several brothers and sisters). He was my ferret ambassador, and my protector.
When he turned 4 I noticed some balding on his tail, but at that time thought it was simple shedding, it was after all summer time. Several months go by and his hair didn’t return. He became ill in late Feb of this year, constant diarrhea so off to the vets we went. Over the course of 5 months he had several rounds of antibiotics, some the same and some different because we (the vet and I) just couldn’t seem to get his diarrhea under control. We ran 2 set of CBCs and everything came back normal. I even had a Tennessee Panel done to test for Adrenal Disease because Badger wasn’t stable enough for exploratory surgery. That test came back negative as well. Then we started talking about cancer…. The dreaded “c” word. No way, not my boy – he can’t be taken from me because of cancer, not at this age. In early July because of the constant diarrhea he ended up with a prolapsed rectum – off to the vets again, we treated it and it went away within a few days. By this time we were able to get his diarrhea under control and the prolapsed rectum healed so we started talking surgery again. Then in a matter of day’s his prolapsed rectum returned, so we did the same treatment and it was on it’s way to healing. Every single day I’d ask my husband how Badger was in the morning (he takes care of the kids in the am and I take care of them in the pm time). On July 15th I asked how he was and he said he was a little sleepy, but over all good. By the time I got home (8 hours later) I reached in to take my Badger out of his cage and noticed something just wasn’t right. I put him back and made him some soupie and put it under his nose – he didn’t want it. That was the first sign something was really wrong… my boy not want his soupie. I picked him up with the soupie and put him on the floor in their bedroom, and his hind legs gave out. I knew I had to take him in. I rushed him to the emergency hospital where his vet was working that night and we did everything we could while there. We reviewed all his blood work again, tested his BG levels – everything was normal. After a few hours at the ER I left and returned home with Badger, knowing I would have to sub-q him at least 2 more times through out the night and force feed him every 2 hours. I brought my pillow and blanket downstairs and set up a sick cage next to the sofa so I could tend to my boy. I set my alarm to wake me in 2 hours for his first feeding – that was at 12:30 am, now July 16th (I was awake just watching him till the first alarm went off). When I went to feed him, his jaw was clinched I couldn’t get him to eat. I ran up to wake my husband for him to try, and he wasn’t having any luck either. I called his vet to tell him we were on our way back in. Off we went, my husband drove as I held my boy close to me knowing it very well could be the last time I got to hold him.
His vet took him from my arms and told me he would start working on him ASAP. My husband and I walked out of the front door to leave, and something was just telling me not to go. I turned to my husband and told him I couldn’t go, I couldn’t leave Badger. We waited for a short time, which seemed like hours to be given the OK to go back and see him. He was in an incubator, which was not uncommon for ferrets to be placed in. He already had both front legs shaved and a catheter in one of them. He was breathing very heavy and looked like he was in pain. I petted him for about 10 mins until his vet came over. I kissed his little nose and told him to fight for me, that I wasn’t ready to have him leave, that I still needed him. We left so the vet could work on him; by the time we got home it was 2:30 am on July 16th. At 3:51 am, I got the call…. Badger stopped breathing. My heart dropped, what was I going to do without by boy? I cried for days, and as I type this I’m still crying. We had a necropsy done because I just couldn’t understand what took my boy from me. It was confirmed – Lymphoma, the silent cancer that is deadly in ferrets. I pulled away from his brothers and sister, because it just hurt to much to clean his cage, look in his cage and not see his beautiful face looking back at me.
I know this is a very long post, thank you for reading it, it has in some way’s made me feel better. I don’t ever want to forget my boy, I miss everything about him…. especially his whiskery kisses.
(I'll get a picture of him up soon.)
Badgersmama
_____________________________
Missing my dear sweat Badger.
www.lovingferrets.com
www.ocferrets.org
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