11
The Rainbow bridge / Re: Humbug has gone to the rainbow bridge.
« Last post by star on November 23, 2021, 11:14:59 AM »
DIP Humbug, so lucky to have found such a great place to spend the last of your time.You can't ferret proof your heart
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DIP Humbug, so lucky to have found such a great place to spend the last of your time.12
The Rainbow bridge / Humbug has gone to the rainbow bridge.
« Last post by lazy-ferret on November 22, 2021, 12:02:52 AM »Humbug arrived on the 22 of March 2019, as a result of being handed in to a local vet, and them asking us to take him. He was in a real state when he arrived, very tiny, thin (dangerously), covered in fleas and ticks, full on in smelly season, rotten teeth, missing patches of fur, and only ½ an ear lobe overall. To be honest, we were not sure if he would live very long, as he looked like a very old ferret totally on his last legs.
The first problem was, we had 2 young jills, who were full of potential raging hormones, and he would not leave them alone. In fact, he was a bit of a monster to all the Jills, and would argue with the other hobs, even though they were all twice his size, half or less of his age, and fit as fiddles.
With us though, he was as soft as butter, although, he was a fiend with feet, so basically just like other ferrets.
The next problem was the teeth, we were not sure he was strong enough to face surgery, but bad teeth made it hard to get food into him. My soup, plus RC convalescence became his friend, along with softened food, but by the 4th day, with a small amount of progress, we decided that if we wanted him to survive, we needed to take the bull by the horn, and put him in for the teeth to be done, and at the same time, have him neutered, then pray like mad he was strong enough to cope with it.
A big step, but the vets agreed it was probably the best way forward. At this point, everyone who had seen him, decided he was 5 or 6 years old, so age was always going to be the most significant factor anyway.
As he got over his surgery, he was still being boisterous with the other ferrets, and what ensued was a very funny exchange. If you have seen "How to train your dragon", Bourneville is just like the dragon, Toothless, in fact, if I had seen the film before we got Bourneville, it would have been his name. In the film, when Toothless is in a fight, one of his strengths is he basically moves so fast and fires a supersonic screaming lightning bolt that hits his aggressor before they even know he is there... Bonny, who had not bothered to get involved with the autications up to now, decided he had had enough. Humbug was getting a bit carried away with the kits, made them cry, and suddenly, out of nowhere Bourneville flew in, with an almighty scream, and had him by the neck, shook him and was gone. Humbug had no idea what had got him, and naturally assumed it must have been one of the kits. After the second go, with him again not seeing Bourneville, he suddenly had a lot more respect for them, and acted a lot more like a gentleman.
Once his teeth, etc were sorted, he gained a 1/3rd of his weight in a week and started on his road to being a “Lazy-Ferret”, which given his age, he settled into very well, loving finding places to cuddle up with his new found friends.
He settled in, and was a very docile boy, who when he wasn’t sound asleep, liked a small play, that would wind him up, causing him to rush around like a mad thing, then go back to bed. He was a demon for treats and seemed to always be there if they were being handed out. One thing with Humbug, he knew “starving”, and now he was never going be starving again!
Unfortunately, after just over a year of him being with us, we discovered a lump… We took him to the vets, and after tests, it was found to be lymphoma. They said the way it had progressed between the vet visits, it was aggressive, and he probably only had a couple of weeks left to enjoy, so spoil him rotten.
Luckily, Humbug liked it here, all the food he could eat, friends to cuddle up with, and plenty of place to explore, so was not in a hurry to leave, and managed to live for another 16 months. Having said that, he did have a very lucky break, as the Steroids he was on becoame totally impossible to buy for about 4 weeks over Christmas, and since that was all that was keeping him alive, we thought that was going to be the end, but luckily a gardian angel, in the name of "Ken", was able to get some to us, which managed to tide us over until the they became available again.
We noticed he was getting a bit “out of it” lately, things like, not making it to the litter tray, then wandering around like he was totally lost, and then there was the “not wanting treats” which was definitely not Humbug like. The other night, he actually asked Suz for a cuddle, wrapped around her hand, and pulled it in tightly, falling asleep there for ages, until he suddenly needed the loo. This was also not “normal” Humbug, and it did set the alarm bells ringing.
The next morning, he did not want his medicine (very not Humbug), and was acting even more strange. We knew this was not a good sign, but we had to go out, so we made sure there was plenty of bedding down for him and left him in the company of his friends.
When we got back, we found he had decided to go out into the run, and we found him just lying on the concrete floor, cold. We took him in, and realising he was not actually dead, got the heated pad out, plus a fleece, and cuddled him, warming him up. We took turns snuggling him for a couple of hours, but he had gone into a coma, and just laid there “hopefully” being comforted in our arms, being stroked.
Humbug was always very self-conscious of his missing ears, and it was a very long time before he would even let us touch them to clean them, let alone just scratch them, and as a result, he never seemed to enjoy head rubs like the other ferrets do. Subconsciously, while cuddling him, I started gently rubbing his head, and behind his ears, and I felt him relax right into it. Then after a few minutes, I realised he had gone.
Humbug, we always knew we had you on borrowed time, and then with the lymphoma, this was re-affirmed, but we had 2 and a half years, and gave you the best life we could. I hope our kindness more than made up for what ever it was you went through before you came to us from the wicked people who made you so scared and cut off your ears.
Sweet dreams little one, have a ball at the rainbow bridge, reunited with your ears, and also re-united with the likes of Topic, and the others who found you were nice and warm to cuddle up with once they got to know you.
This last picture was taken the day before he passed away. In the morning, I get the sleeping ferrets out from under our bed, and arange them in a mosaic, take a picture, then post it up on Twitter. Humbug was in most of the Mosaics, often buried under all the others, but this was his last picture.
The first problem was, we had 2 young jills, who were full of potential raging hormones, and he would not leave them alone. In fact, he was a bit of a monster to all the Jills, and would argue with the other hobs, even though they were all twice his size, half or less of his age, and fit as fiddles.
With us though, he was as soft as butter, although, he was a fiend with feet, so basically just like other ferrets.
The next problem was the teeth, we were not sure he was strong enough to face surgery, but bad teeth made it hard to get food into him. My soup, plus RC convalescence became his friend, along with softened food, but by the 4th day, with a small amount of progress, we decided that if we wanted him to survive, we needed to take the bull by the horn, and put him in for the teeth to be done, and at the same time, have him neutered, then pray like mad he was strong enough to cope with it.
A big step, but the vets agreed it was probably the best way forward. At this point, everyone who had seen him, decided he was 5 or 6 years old, so age was always going to be the most significant factor anyway.
As he got over his surgery, he was still being boisterous with the other ferrets, and what ensued was a very funny exchange. If you have seen "How to train your dragon", Bourneville is just like the dragon, Toothless, in fact, if I had seen the film before we got Bourneville, it would have been his name. In the film, when Toothless is in a fight, one of his strengths is he basically moves so fast and fires a supersonic screaming lightning bolt that hits his aggressor before they even know he is there... Bonny, who had not bothered to get involved with the autications up to now, decided he had had enough. Humbug was getting a bit carried away with the kits, made them cry, and suddenly, out of nowhere Bourneville flew in, with an almighty scream, and had him by the neck, shook him and was gone. Humbug had no idea what had got him, and naturally assumed it must have been one of the kits. After the second go, with him again not seeing Bourneville, he suddenly had a lot more respect for them, and acted a lot more like a gentleman.
Once his teeth, etc were sorted, he gained a 1/3rd of his weight in a week and started on his road to being a “Lazy-Ferret”, which given his age, he settled into very well, loving finding places to cuddle up with his new found friends.
He settled in, and was a very docile boy, who when he wasn’t sound asleep, liked a small play, that would wind him up, causing him to rush around like a mad thing, then go back to bed. He was a demon for treats and seemed to always be there if they were being handed out. One thing with Humbug, he knew “starving”, and now he was never going be starving again!
Unfortunately, after just over a year of him being with us, we discovered a lump… We took him to the vets, and after tests, it was found to be lymphoma. They said the way it had progressed between the vet visits, it was aggressive, and he probably only had a couple of weeks left to enjoy, so spoil him rotten.
Luckily, Humbug liked it here, all the food he could eat, friends to cuddle up with, and plenty of place to explore, so was not in a hurry to leave, and managed to live for another 16 months. Having said that, he did have a very lucky break, as the Steroids he was on becoame totally impossible to buy for about 4 weeks over Christmas, and since that was all that was keeping him alive, we thought that was going to be the end, but luckily a gardian angel, in the name of "Ken", was able to get some to us, which managed to tide us over until the they became available again.
We noticed he was getting a bit “out of it” lately, things like, not making it to the litter tray, then wandering around like he was totally lost, and then there was the “not wanting treats” which was definitely not Humbug like. The other night, he actually asked Suz for a cuddle, wrapped around her hand, and pulled it in tightly, falling asleep there for ages, until he suddenly needed the loo. This was also not “normal” Humbug, and it did set the alarm bells ringing.
The next morning, he did not want his medicine (very not Humbug), and was acting even more strange. We knew this was not a good sign, but we had to go out, so we made sure there was plenty of bedding down for him and left him in the company of his friends.
When we got back, we found he had decided to go out into the run, and we found him just lying on the concrete floor, cold. We took him in, and realising he was not actually dead, got the heated pad out, plus a fleece, and cuddled him, warming him up. We took turns snuggling him for a couple of hours, but he had gone into a coma, and just laid there “hopefully” being comforted in our arms, being stroked.
Humbug was always very self-conscious of his missing ears, and it was a very long time before he would even let us touch them to clean them, let alone just scratch them, and as a result, he never seemed to enjoy head rubs like the other ferrets do. Subconsciously, while cuddling him, I started gently rubbing his head, and behind his ears, and I felt him relax right into it. Then after a few minutes, I realised he had gone.
Humbug, we always knew we had you on borrowed time, and then with the lymphoma, this was re-affirmed, but we had 2 and a half years, and gave you the best life we could. I hope our kindness more than made up for what ever it was you went through before you came to us from the wicked people who made you so scared and cut off your ears.
Sweet dreams little one, have a ball at the rainbow bridge, reunited with your ears, and also re-united with the likes of Topic, and the others who found you were nice and warm to cuddle up with once they got to know you.
This last picture was taken the day before he passed away. In the morning, I get the sleeping ferrets out from under our bed, and arange them in a mosaic, take a picture, then post it up on Twitter. Humbug was in most of the Mosaics, often buried under all the others, but this was his last picture.
13
The Rainbow bridge / Re: Sweet dreams Mars
« Last post by star on October 19, 2021, 09:07:55 AM »
So sorry guys , Sweet dreams Mars have fun over the bridge.
14
The Rainbow bridge / Re: Sweet dreams Mars
« Last post by girly-lazy-ferret on October 18, 2021, 11:27:43 PM »Just recently Mars would lay between the two cushions beside me on the sofa with her head hanging out mainly napping but knowing I do tend to move about a fair amount which means I will always be moving past the treat box, if awake she would be on the corner of the sofa meerkating me.
I have a few photos of her at what seemed to be one of her favourite places, she loved the atmosphere of the steam fairs and really seemed to enjoy people and noise, so was in her element when we stopped for a hot cider it was a look of bliss on her face as she took it all in. I am hoping the photos will surface soon.
Covid has meant we haven’t been able to take them away and add to the memories, but we are around with them continually, so I think/hope they have enjoyed us.
Mars was always on the move, she danced with her daughter all of the time and we spent a lot of time watching and taking in them making us smile, but because we enjoyed watching and playing, we didn’t get many pictures that weren’t on the go.
When she rested, she loved spending time with Bourneville, Magic, Kit and Kat.
I’m privileged that Mars chose to spend her life with us, I hope she has a ball and keeps and eye out for us all until we are together again.
I have a few photos of her at what seemed to be one of her favourite places, she loved the atmosphere of the steam fairs and really seemed to enjoy people and noise, so was in her element when we stopped for a hot cider it was a look of bliss on her face as she took it all in. I am hoping the photos will surface soon.
Covid has meant we haven’t been able to take them away and add to the memories, but we are around with them continually, so I think/hope they have enjoyed us.
Mars was always on the move, she danced with her daughter all of the time and we spent a lot of time watching and taking in them making us smile, but because we enjoyed watching and playing, we didn’t get many pictures that weren’t on the go.
When she rested, she loved spending time with Bourneville, Magic, Kit and Kat.
I’m privileged that Mars chose to spend her life with us, I hope she has a ball and keeps and eye out for us all until we are together again.
15
The Rainbow bridge / Re: Sweet dreams Mars
« Last post by lazy-ferret on October 18, 2021, 04:50:45 PM »
16
The Rainbow bridge / Sweet dreams Mars
« Last post by lazy-ferret on October 18, 2021, 04:26:54 PM »Back in 2016, our ferret numbers had dwindled, and the house was feeling empty, so we decided it was time to pop to the rescue and pick up a couple of young Beenie Boys to liven things up… We used Suz’s birthday as an excuse… As usual, it was a very hard decision trying to work out which of all the gorgeous ferrets we wanted to take home. We found pair of Beenie boy brothers, , but there was also an equally lovely Beenie boy, with a Poley brother… then, at the end of the line, in a big court, there were loads and loads of beautiful really dark Polecats… Now, I love Beenies, through and through, but there is something about the dark Polecat colour I also love, and not only were these dark polecats, these were extra fluffy as well… The guy at the rescue was hesitant to let these ferrets go though, as there was a story behind them. So after admiring them through the bars we decided to see which pair of the 4 we had whittled it down too, were going to come home with us.
Decisions, decisions… We decided to let our current ferrets choose, so put the 4 into a run with ours, to see how things would progress. While this is going on, Suz and Chrissie stay to chat, and keep an eye on them, while I go with the Roy to the Polecat court again (he knows I love the Polecats), “just to have a closer look”, while he tells me their story. We go into the court, and immediately, a gorgeous little jill decides to climb up me, and cuddle in. Roy tells me that she is actually the mother of all the other 12 that are in the court and won’t be up for re-homing. We put her back on a shelf, and pick up another little jill, but within seconds, the mother had shot down the ramps, and is back up in my arms. Roy says how she has always been aloof with people, and this was not like her. He takes her off me, and double checks to make sure it is the “mum” before putting her back on another shelf. In the meantime, the other little jill is gently chewing on my fingers, and so fluffy… Before I know it though, the mum is back in my arms as well.
We Put the mum back on a shelf, and leave the court, but I have managed to sneak the little jill kit out to try with ours, and the other however many are left after the introductions. I get back to Suz & Chrissie to see that not only are both the pairs of new ferrets getting along with each other, but they are getting along with ours as well. I pop the little Jill in, “just to see”, and she promptly finds the others and start playing.
We sit down to have a cup of tea, and give them a bit of time, all the time trying to think which 2 we are going to keep, when Roy disappears, then reappears with another polecat, and pops her in… It’s the mum, and she promptly settles down and starts playing mum to them all.
We end up taking all 6… (there’s a surprise!!)
We called the mum, Mars, as it seemed to fit, she was nice and dark like a Mars bar, which fitted our chocolate name theme, but also the way she acted, I thought of her as a bit like “Ma Larkin” from “The Darling buds of May”. She was half Wild Polecat, and half Angora (explains the fluffy). The person who originally had her, had been given/sold one of Roy’s wild Polecats (Bourneville’s brother), but had not had him neutered, as per the agreement. They had then used him to breed with the angora, to try and make a very dark fluffy ferret, but it had not worked, as in Mars case, it had lost the very long coat, and was now just very fluffy and soft, which was not their aim. For some reason, they then bred Mars back to the same Polecat, and had produced the other 12 kits in the court. So not only were they not supposed to be breeding from the polecat, but they were also inbreeding, and when Roy found out, he stepped in, which ended up with him having all the ferrets.
Roy had decided that since we were the first people Mars had ever taken an interest in, she would like it with us, with the bonus, she would get to keep one of her kits.
Mars just settled in, and while not out there as one of the terrible troublemakers, or super cuddly ones, she made a point of “being there”, a real fiend for treats, and would spend hours play fighting with her daughter “Magic” in the garden. She loved “her extended ferret family”, and could usually be found at the bottom of a pile of the boys and her daughter.
She liked an amble on the lead, but really came into her own, when we took her out in the evenings at Steam Fairs. Furthermore, she loved the sounds of the fairground, the bustle of people, and could not wait for us to sit down with a drink, and a bite to eat, where she would sit on our lap and watch all the sights, flashing lights, and smells of what was going on around us, usually helping us with our food. Not only that, but she also loved meeting new people, always ready to give a little cuddle.
She lived without any medical problems right up till she was 6 and a ½, but one day, we found a 2 small lumps, one in the inside of her rear leg/groin area, and one on the back of the same rear leg. The one at the front rapidly increased in size, and after several visits to the vets, to try and find out what it was, trying various medications and a biopsy, it started to really bother her, and made her lose the use of her backend, I made her a trolley to make it easier to get around, but in true Mars independence, she hated it, refusing to let me put her in it, and continued to try and make her back end work. We had a glimmer of hope, after the operation to try and remove the lump, as she rallied round, and was a lot happier, even re-gaining some use of her back legs. Unfortunately, the lump came back very quickly, and even when we thought she had given up, she would wake up for her meds, and a treat. Last night though, she was refusing any food or drink, and just wanted to cuddle. We knew that she had had enough, and she passed away at 1:30am, cuddled up on us, going to the rainbow bridge with one last little contented sigh.
Sweet Dreams Mars, for some reason you chose and were determined to come and live with us, which we are very grateful for, and I really hope we gave you the life you expected, and hopefully made it even just a little better. You played Mum (cuffing many round the ears) to so many ferrets over the years, many of whom are already up there waiting for you at the Rainbow bridge, so we know you will have a whole pile of ferrets to snuggle under.
I know it’s asking a lot, but could you please keep an eye on Bourneville, and especially Magic, as they are already missing you.
Sweet Dreams Little Girl
Decisions, decisions… We decided to let our current ferrets choose, so put the 4 into a run with ours, to see how things would progress. While this is going on, Suz and Chrissie stay to chat, and keep an eye on them, while I go with the Roy to the Polecat court again (he knows I love the Polecats), “just to have a closer look”, while he tells me their story. We go into the court, and immediately, a gorgeous little jill decides to climb up me, and cuddle in. Roy tells me that she is actually the mother of all the other 12 that are in the court and won’t be up for re-homing. We put her back on a shelf, and pick up another little jill, but within seconds, the mother had shot down the ramps, and is back up in my arms. Roy says how she has always been aloof with people, and this was not like her. He takes her off me, and double checks to make sure it is the “mum” before putting her back on another shelf. In the meantime, the other little jill is gently chewing on my fingers, and so fluffy… Before I know it though, the mum is back in my arms as well.
We Put the mum back on a shelf, and leave the court, but I have managed to sneak the little jill kit out to try with ours, and the other however many are left after the introductions. I get back to Suz & Chrissie to see that not only are both the pairs of new ferrets getting along with each other, but they are getting along with ours as well. I pop the little Jill in, “just to see”, and she promptly finds the others and start playing.
We sit down to have a cup of tea, and give them a bit of time, all the time trying to think which 2 we are going to keep, when Roy disappears, then reappears with another polecat, and pops her in… It’s the mum, and she promptly settles down and starts playing mum to them all.
We end up taking all 6… (there’s a surprise!!)
We called the mum, Mars, as it seemed to fit, she was nice and dark like a Mars bar, which fitted our chocolate name theme, but also the way she acted, I thought of her as a bit like “Ma Larkin” from “The Darling buds of May”. She was half Wild Polecat, and half Angora (explains the fluffy). The person who originally had her, had been given/sold one of Roy’s wild Polecats (Bourneville’s brother), but had not had him neutered, as per the agreement. They had then used him to breed with the angora, to try and make a very dark fluffy ferret, but it had not worked, as in Mars case, it had lost the very long coat, and was now just very fluffy and soft, which was not their aim. For some reason, they then bred Mars back to the same Polecat, and had produced the other 12 kits in the court. So not only were they not supposed to be breeding from the polecat, but they were also inbreeding, and when Roy found out, he stepped in, which ended up with him having all the ferrets.
Roy had decided that since we were the first people Mars had ever taken an interest in, she would like it with us, with the bonus, she would get to keep one of her kits.
Mars just settled in, and while not out there as one of the terrible troublemakers, or super cuddly ones, she made a point of “being there”, a real fiend for treats, and would spend hours play fighting with her daughter “Magic” in the garden. She loved “her extended ferret family”, and could usually be found at the bottom of a pile of the boys and her daughter.
She liked an amble on the lead, but really came into her own, when we took her out in the evenings at Steam Fairs. Furthermore, she loved the sounds of the fairground, the bustle of people, and could not wait for us to sit down with a drink, and a bite to eat, where she would sit on our lap and watch all the sights, flashing lights, and smells of what was going on around us, usually helping us with our food. Not only that, but she also loved meeting new people, always ready to give a little cuddle.
She lived without any medical problems right up till she was 6 and a ½, but one day, we found a 2 small lumps, one in the inside of her rear leg/groin area, and one on the back of the same rear leg. The one at the front rapidly increased in size, and after several visits to the vets, to try and find out what it was, trying various medications and a biopsy, it started to really bother her, and made her lose the use of her backend, I made her a trolley to make it easier to get around, but in true Mars independence, she hated it, refusing to let me put her in it, and continued to try and make her back end work. We had a glimmer of hope, after the operation to try and remove the lump, as she rallied round, and was a lot happier, even re-gaining some use of her back legs. Unfortunately, the lump came back very quickly, and even when we thought she had given up, she would wake up for her meds, and a treat. Last night though, she was refusing any food or drink, and just wanted to cuddle. We knew that she had had enough, and she passed away at 1:30am, cuddled up on us, going to the rainbow bridge with one last little contented sigh.
Sweet Dreams Mars, for some reason you chose and were determined to come and live with us, which we are very grateful for, and I really hope we gave you the life you expected, and hopefully made it even just a little better. You played Mum (cuffing many round the ears) to so many ferrets over the years, many of whom are already up there waiting for you at the Rainbow bridge, so we know you will have a whole pile of ferrets to snuggle under.
I know it’s asking a lot, but could you please keep an eye on Bourneville, and especially Magic, as they are already missing you.
Sweet Dreams Little Girl 17
The Rainbow bridge / Re: Goodnight Squishy
« Last post by girly-lazy-ferret on July 05, 2021, 09:15:12 PM »Aw Squishy. sweet cuddles little one.
What a life, and I guess what a way too go if you have to go. Big hugs.
What a life, and I guess what a way too go if you have to go.
Big hugs.18
The Rainbow bridge / Re: Goodnight Squishy
« Last post by lazy-ferret on July 05, 2021, 09:03:09 PM »Sweet Dreams Squishy.
19
The Rainbow bridge / Goodnight Squishy
« Last post by star on July 05, 2021, 10:22:08 AM »Squishy tripped over the bridge in his sleep last night.
He will be so missed by everyone. He was a squishy ferret hence he never ended up staying Baloo as he was named, the ultimate cuddle ferret, loving nothing more than to snuggle, get belly rubs and be adored. Sleep well my old friend. Play hard again with your buddies. xxx
100_0334 by Lesley Duggan, on Flickr
He will be so missed by everyone. He was a squishy ferret hence he never ended up staying Baloo as he was named, the ultimate cuddle ferret, loving nothing more than to snuggle, get belly rubs and be adored. Sleep well my old friend. Play hard again with your buddies. xxx
100_0334 by Lesley Duggan, on Flickr20
The Rainbow bridge / Re: My sweet sweet sausage Louis
« Last post by star on December 14, 2020, 07:06:13 PM »Thank you both I last saw him about 10.30pm tucking into mince, he must have gone to bed with the others and just slipped away, he was still toasty warm from the heat of the others when I found him. Although I am really sad he has gone, it is a relief with all his problems that he went so peacefully, so counting that as a blessing.
I last saw him about 10.30pm tucking into mince, he must have gone to bed with the others and just slipped away, he was still toasty warm from the heat of the others when I found him. Although I am really sad he has gone, it is a relief with all his problems that he went so peacefully, so counting that as a blessing.