From:
ncferretmom@yahoo.com
Date: 2001-11-23 13:23:00 UTC
Subject: Re: grieving ferret
My first ferret was a rescue who was a loner. He developed a
relationship with my daughter's cat and when I moved (with the
ferret) I was afraid he would get lonely. So, I got him a pet - a
lovely Little Girl (the name stuck!) kit from the pet store. Six
months later he died of lymphosarcoma. In the meantime my daughter
had picked up another critter for me and he joined us just before
this happened.
When Sammie died, Li'l Girl went into mourning. She had been with him
most of her life and was despondent, mopey, the whole 9 yards. What
did Smokey do? He lay there beside her. He went everywhere she went
and just was there. No playing, no nothing. Just sat there with her
while she mourned.
And then, suddenly, an amazing thing happened. Exactly 3 weeks after
Sammies' death, Smokey grabbed Li'l Girl by the neck and dragged her
out of the cage. He nudged her and encouraged her until she began to
play. I believe he literally saved her life. He also became her best
buddy. It was interesting because while Sammie was alive, she wanted
nothing to do with Smokey.
Four years later Smokey died following his last adrenalectomy. It
broke my heart. A month later LG was ill with symptoms of
cardiomyopathy. She died about 16 months later and never developed a
*loving* relationship with the other ferrets. She was never
symptomatic but when we opened her for exploratory about 6 months
after Smokey died, we just closed her up to love her. I am grateful
for the extra 7 months I got after that.
Can ferrets grieve? Oh yes. Maybe you can re-introduce the two.
Animals seem to know better than humans how to deal with these
things. Who knows? They might form a bond now.
Take care.
renee :)