From:
"carol owen"
Date: 2005-02-03 02:50:32 UTC
Subject: Re: [ferrethealth] the surviving ferret
To: <ferrethealth@smartgroups.com>
Message-ID: <001301c5099b$2246e6e0$bfe26d51@yourvsa8xygmg8>
Hello Regina,
I lost a ferret for the first time earlier this month. She was part of a
group of 4 jills. A very bonded group, and I too had fears about how the
other 3 would cope with her death. All, I can do is tell you what I did in
the hope that it would make it easier for the others to come to terms with.
One of the jills had spent over 4 1/2 years with Ellie, and the other 2, a
little over 3 1/2 years, so almost the whole of their lives.
We lost Ellie during surgery, so I brought her home and laid her on a towel
in the middle of the floor. I let the three girls out at their normal
playtime, and just let them sniff her. I left Ellie there for about 15
minutes, so that they could go and come back to her if they chose to.
Then I put her in a carrier and left the door open, so that they could go in
and see her if they wanted to. I just hoped that it would go a little way to
helping them understand where she'd gone. Rather than her just disappear.
This happened several weeks ago, and they do seem to have coped extremely
well. Ellie had been ill for many months, which meant that she no longer
played with them, so perhaps that also helped prepare them.
I also left bedding in their cage that Ellie had slept in for over a week
after she died and think that might have helped too - rather like she had
gone, but not completely, and hoped that it would be a gradual acceptance.
The three girls are doing fine, and seem to have just accepted her passing.
Whether that has anything to do with how I did things, I honestly can't say.
I just know that I couldn't have wished for a better outcome : - )
If you do decide to let your other little one see Pan, then perhaps doing it
at home in a familiar environment would be better and less stressful for
Seti.
I hope Pan has many more months with you and Seti, and best wishes for
whatever you decide is best for Seti when the time comes.
Carol
----- Original Message -----
From: "- Z -" <badriya@rcn.com>
To: <ferrethealth@smartgroups.com>
But in the meanwhile, I am
> wondering how Pan's loss will affect Seti. Most specifically,
> I wonder if it would be helpful for Seti to come to the vet's
> with us when it's Pan's time to go. What do people with more
> experience think? Does seeing the other ferret pass on help
> the surviving ferret understand that they are gone? Or am I
> just anthropomorphizing here?
>