From:
spriggy@earthlink.net
Date: 2003-02-26 16:48:57 UTC
Subject: Dickens and the group
To: ferrethealth@smartgroups.com
Message-ID: <26494329.1046278137526.JavaMail.root@scandium>
In February of 1998 a very handsome medium silver ferret named Dickens came=
to live with me. He was a beautiful ferret, the type that people noticed =
for his regalness before his cuteness. Strangely enough he was nearly 4 mo=
nths old by the time I discovered him living alone in a small Evanston pet =
store just north of Chicago. Dickens was my first male ferret after eight =
years and three females. He immediately moved in and took over not only my=
apartment but my heart. To my retrospective satisfaction he would annoy m=
y "at the time girlfriend" by biting her on the foot and then coming to me =
and putting his head on my foot and looking pathetic after she scolded him.=
He knew I was a sucker and he knew I would protect him. And so, as the y=
ears went by Dickens owned a special place in my heart. He hit the litter =
box 100% of the time, was playful but serious, loved to roughhouse but neve=
r knocked books off the shelf or stole my socks. He owned the house. Any =
new ferrets answered to him and every once in a while Dickens gave a good b=
eating to his nest mates....just to make sure they remembered who the HFIC =
(head ferret in charge)was. Through it all his intelligence was unquestion=
able. Even people who came to my apartment (I now live in NJ), whether the=
y knew ferrets well or not, always remarked that something else was going o=
n in Dicken's head....something more than most ferrets. He had an arroganc=
e about him, a self-assured look to him, he played with you but on his term=
s. Sometimes you could literally see him thinking and if he wanted somethi=
ng there was no stopping him. He would find a way. But through all this h=
e actually had a heart of gold and he showed it to his mother and father. =
My wife moved in as my fiance at the time and had never owned ferrets, but =
she quickly realized what we all know, ferrets own your heart but steal you=
r sole. Dickens regarded her carefully but he soon realized that she was a=
n animal lover and furthermore, he could see that she loved him. He fell i=
n love with his mother and I must say in many cases, knew he could not get =
away with his behavior around her. So it soon happened that Dickens had a =
mother and things were right with the world.
A few months ago Dickens started loosing some of his fur and we all know wh=
at that means. He was scheduled for surgery on Friday Feb. 21 and by the t=
ime he arrived his hair loss had accelerated a great deal around his hindqu=
arters. Never the less, he was in good spirits and hopped into the tub to =
drink nasty bath water and marked Claudia's (my wife ;-) shoes the morning =
he was taken to the hosptial. I kissed him goodbye and snuggled him and l=
eft him in the hands of my loving and caring vets in western NJ. As many o=
f you now know, the surgery did not go well for Dickens. We lost him on th=
e table at one point and although he was brought back up, he never recovere=
d from the surgery. He had a dual adrenalectomy and the tumor on the right=
was enormous and black in color. Dickens spent the night at the hospital =
and then Saturday and Sunday lying in a carefully made bed with a heating p=
ad at home. We nursed him, turned him, stroked his head, fed him , gave hi=
m his medicines, cleaned him when he soiled himself, stayed up through the =
nights to help him. Despite the INCREDIBLE outpouring of suggestions and s=
upport offered by the tremendously caring members of this list, as well as =
two veterinarians and a Texas based Ferret genius, poor Dickens slipped awa=
y to hop across the rainbow bridge on Monday morning. We had taken him to =
the hosptial Monday where our vet did everything she could to help him. I =
shall spare the lengthy details as it seems from the PM that his kidneys we=
re eaten alive with cancer and were so destroyed that nothing we could have=
done could have saved Mr. Dickens. Our vet was as floored as we were at t=
he incredible network of caring and dedicated people on this list who would=
take so much time to help fellow ferrets lovers. The suggestions and inte=
rpretations of the problems we described were dead-on and if Dickens had me=
rely been taking the surgery hard and had ulcers, we might have gotten him =
through. But sadly, that was not the case and my Dickens slipped away, warm=
and cozy, and free of pain thanks to my vet who gave him a strong dose of =
pain killers. =
I have lost many ferrets and remember each fondly, but not one ever touched=
my heart the way Dickens did. Losing him this fast after six years of his=
company has been very hard. Yet I want to thank all of you out there for =
you e-cards, your suggestions, your thoughts, and all of your sincere conce=
rn for my Dickens. It was very touching and it gave us great peace of mind=
to know such resources existed. Thank you to all of you and thank you to =
my Dickens for six great years of special friendship. Play nice Dickens...=
..take care of your fellow departed and give my love to Frettschen, Indri I=
ndri, Ricki, Slinky, Bear, Nutmeg, Bichi, Spriggy, and Old Man Jochan. I w=
ill never forget you. Love, Pai =
=