2011

[huronna]

Remembering Mattie


I planted you among my flowers today
Where the forget-me-nots grow in my garden to stay.
As I dug each shovel full of ground
I remembered the days/years you were around.
Quite "the shark" when you were a boy
Maturity turned you into a delightful "bundle of joy".
Loved the tubes, eggs and "box of fun"
Filled with toys and peanuts...you sure could run
Upon hearing your name, Matador, Mattie or Mr. Black
Asleep...inthe closet,in a box,or in a sleep sack.
With Hobo(Mr. Brown) and Twinkle(Miss White) you did reside
As cagemates and playmates, your life's ride.
A handsome black fella with an all black nose
With a personality and heart, pure as any white rose.
Family, friends, and vets...a favorite to them ALL
Unpleasant moments, Fighting snits...I cannot recall.
Much to my horror....It's just NOT fair
Too young, the lumps, cancer 'severywhere.
You slipped away peacefully in your sleep
No more feet in the air upside down....I did weep.
Your time here on Earth was short and sweet
Ahhh those years I wish I could repeat.
When the road I've traveled has come to an end
Please wait for me just around the bend.

RIP Matador May 5, 2006-Feb. 3, 2011

ferratootsie

[huronna]

Bonita


She arrived in Florida in April 2005.
She and her brother Clyde had been in a pet store in Alabama for over a year.
She arrived like her name sakes…..Bonnie and Clyde.
She soon was renamed to Bonita , pretty little girl, which she definitely was.
Pretty, little….but a definite terror.
She moved right in and became the head of the household.
Move over Frick and Frack, here I come.





Bonita would always be the first to play with a new toy, but she would also be the first to loose interest.
She would always rather play with her brothers or sisters.





One of my favorite shots of Bonita was when she was playing on the bed,
jumping and romping usually going after my husband’s hand or the sheet that he was moving around.





Always a petite little girl, she was always full of energy though she never even weighed 2 pounds.





Bonita and Clyde were inseparable.





After Clyde unexpectedly died of aggressive juvenile lymphoma, Bonita decided that Frick was to be her favorite.
Though she always got along with every ferret, she always seemed to have a favorite





A couple of years later when it was time for Frick to leave us (he was 9 ½)
Bonita would stay by his side and let him rest on her.
You can see just how small she was in comparison with other ferrets.





Here are a few of My favorite photos of Bonita











She definitely looks like the matriarch in this one



Bonita who we affectionately called the speed demon or the ground rocket,



was always speeding along, so getting good quality photos of her was difficult.
But she did make it into a couple of graphics













Bonita, though you are gone, you will never be forgotten.

Your life was full of friends, all of whom you loved.

The winter of your life came suddenly and swiftly.

And now you are with the friends that came before you.



BONITA

more than a year before April 2005-May 27, 2011

[huronna]

Binky
2003 to 8-9-11

I found Binky on Craigslist. She was 5 years old, and had been dumped off at a pet store because she was no longer wanted. One of the clerks took her home, and put her online to find her a good home. She was listed for free. It cost me about $6o in gas to go get her. Plus she had a small mast cell tumor on her back....$180 to get that off. And $12 for her rabies shot. So I always called her my $252 *free* ferret. But she was worth every penny of that, and more. She came to me with the name Bianca, but from the moment I first held her, she was always Binky to me.


Binky was raised as an only ferret for the first 5 years of her life. So she didn't take to my existing crew very well. She tended to scream at the other ferrets whenever they got near. And boy could she scream loud. She had that deafie screaming thing down pat! The other ferrets would just look at me as if to say, "what's her problem, I just wanna be friends" It took her almost a year, but gradually I would find her sleeping with another ferret or two. She never really played with them, but she discovered how cozy a few bed partners could be.


Even though she had issues with the other ferrets, she loved people. She liked to curl up in my blanket and sleep with me. I took to keeping an extra blanket on my couch just for her. I sleep on my couch because of my back, and to turn over I have to go end for end. I would slide her blanket from one end to the other and she would barely even wake up. She loved to play with me. And boy could she war dance when I got her going! Her favorite game was when I would take a sock or washcloth and flutter it over her head. She would go nuts, and roll on her back and paw at it.

Binky was healthy up until the last 4-5 months of her life. The first sign I had that anything was wrong was when she lost the hair on her tail. Within a month she was mostly bald. She wasn't a good candidate for surgery because of her age. And by the time she started showing symptoms of her Adrenal, the tumors had already spread. She would have bouts of low blood sugar unless I made sure she ate regular. And she also had two small mammary tumors that seemed to pop up overnight. But she still managed pretty well. She would climb on the couch with me and stand on my head if I was sleeping and she wanted her soupies. She was still eating kibble, still doing all her normal ferrety things. So I decided to let her live out whatever life she had left, and if she ever showed that her illness was getting the best of her, I would let her go.


Binky in all her nekkid glory, taken a couple weeks before she passed away.

On her last day, she got up when I got home from work, ate her soup, and headed off to her favorite hidey hole to sleep. And that's where I found her after she had gone to the Bridge. She looked so peaceful. She went to sleep and just never woke up. And I think that was a pretty good way to go.

I miss you, Inka Binka Boo Boo. There is no little ferret curled up by my feet when I sleep. Nobody to stand on my head to wake me up. I miss the way you would curl into my arms and give me kisses. But I am happy to know that you are in a good place. You are healthy and happy. You have your beautiful champagne coat back. You have all the soup and tone you could ever eat. And I'm sure they have raisin Bandits there.
I love you forever and always.
spacecadet71

[huronna]

Jeremiah's Memorial



Goodbye my little man. Dr. Jim called me shortly after he began the surgery for your spleenectomy. There was a large tumor which showed up on your ultrasound and Dr. Jim had hoped it was attached to your spleen, but such was not the case. The tumor turned out to be lymphoma and was twisted among your intestines. It had already ruptured. Mommy had a decicion to make and I chose to let you go, Baby. Living in the intense discomfort and pain for the short time you would have left was not an option for mommy. Reanee, who was caring for you while mommy gets well, had noticed your swollen tummy indicated an enlarged spleen. I had thought you were just chubby from all the soup Mark and I had fed you. My heart aches at the loss of you, my Darling, and I will always love you. Reanee will pick you up soon at Dr. Jim's clinic so mommy can hold you one last time. Goodbye, my sweet little darling.
Love forever, Mommy

[huronna]

Delila joned her brothers(ASA & DESI) at the BRIDGE this morning due to renal failure. She didn't suffer(TG)...still getting around. eating a little yesterday. She was one of the lucky ones to have never suffered from adrennal or insolinoma, NO operations, never sick AND the sweetest of the bunch I bought from the breeder. She NEVER bit a human and always got along with EVERYONE. She's the next to the last of the group of nine that shared my HUGE Martin's penthouse cage and my 10 x 20 feret room. They were rarely(except for room cleaning) caged but she liked sleeping in the cube on the first floor in the cage at night. That's where she took her final breath.

RIP Dancing, Delightful. Delila
April 12, 2004- Nov. 29, 2011

Ferretootsie

[huronna]

Born a black roan mitt that got lighter over the years
A St. Paddy's Day litter of five little dears.
Your half-sisters, the Zeathens names started with a Zee
So Zorro, not an Irish name it had to be.
Zorro: cute, cuddly, a soft little fellow
A people boy, loved tummy rubs, always mellow.
The "tubes", packing peanut box and balls galore
Made you dook and dance always looking for more.
Your fave: the kiddy pool of leaves, water, dirt or snow
You didn't care which, just jumped in, always on the go.
Winter weight was five lbs and summer was three
The biggest ferret that was ever owned by me.
Don't recall you ever sleeping with another, always alone
Hidey-hole hammy, sleepsack or in the blankets was your home.
Just like the Zeathens at the age of five
Genetic bad kidneys couldn't keep you alive.
As the disease progressed, you wasted away
Sadness filled my heart when you couldn't stay.
Held close in my arms with a heart filled with love
Peacefully, you crossed that Bridge high above.
So MANY shared moments and joy beyond measure
Pictures and memories I'll always treasure.
Your star in the heavens shines bright lighting the way
Wait for me.....I'll come get you one day.

Zorro Zorro-ba-doro Zor mama's boy
R.I.P. March 17, 2006-June 9, 2011

(Ferretootsie)

[huronna]

DESI



"Desparado"..you sure lived up to your name
Your creative incidents illustrated your fame.
Born one of three boys in a litter of seven
Along with four girls, all sable beauties from heaven.
Dalila(sis) and Asa(bro) were your life-long mates
Your loyalty and love showed you were top-rate.
Playpens and gates were not desi-proofed: why?
Over the top you went just as easy as pie.
Until the split tube over the top edge was set
Getting out and into mischief was a sure bet.
My neighbor's grand children visited the ferrets to play
After tasting a few ankles, "bitey boy" nickname did stay.
Your first show was a disaster, it's true
Biting the judge earned a ribbon far from a "blue".
Your best was a second, a large class I was told
Whew! you liked the judges at ten months old.
My sisters accopanied us to our last show
You bit Bari on her hand and the blood did flow.
Needless to say my show helpers I did lose
Another ferret show neither one did not choose.
A DOOKER and a DANCER, a hilarious clown
Sharpest knife in the drawer, an Einstein, hands down.
A perfectly marked "siamese sable" I've ever seen
Until a life-threatening reaction to a distemper vaccine.
The next shed cycle turned you into a roan
Health problems soon followed, I did moan.
Adrennal surgery, pedipred(insolinoma), implants too
Kept you healthy, playful, and happy that's true.
Until age seven you started to fade and age
Blind, hair loss, then seizures in your cage.
That dreaded phone call to the vet I did make
That merciful shot, your life it did take.
Over that Rainbow Bridge where bro Asa awaits
With Sunny, Butch, the Zeathens, Zorro your other cage mates.
Adventurous, adorable, creative for sure
Desparado, Desi, Desi-rada-rada-kid and more.
Pictures, laughter, memories, Forget you ? NEVER
One day we'll meet again and be together forever.

R.I.P. April 12, 2004-October8, 2011

Ferretootsie

[huronna]

AMBER


Cute fert, Fuzzy fert.
Digging in the plant's dirt.

Climb the chair fert, share the fare.
Stealing done with savoir faire.

Leap distances fert, clean dust bunnies.
Making me laugh at all the funnies.

Wrestle the friend fert, run the tube.
Taking it all in with ferret 'tude.

Under cover fert, chew on my toes.
Cleaning out cupboards, that's how it goes.

Loving freely fert, stole the heart.
Stolen from the very start.

Star ferret, Now Rainbow crew.
Told you fly free, you flew.

Amber- 6/04- 12/5/11

dookcitygang (Sandy)