We knew this day was coming, in fact, we have sort of expected it for a couple of months now as he was not in the best of health when he came to us, but it is still sad to say that Revel passed away peacefully in his sleep today.
A short time after Ripple arrived, the lady who found her, called us to say that a neighbour had found another ferret while out driving in the lanes. The weather had been awful, snow and freezing temps, and he was standing in the middle of the road drinking from a salty puddle. To be honest, he was in a real state, starving, matted hair, fleas and ticks, very long claws, and he looked very old and unloved. We bathed him, and while cutting off the badly matted fur, discovered some quite bad wounds on his body, which looked like he had been had by an animal fairly recently.
After a check out by the vet, it was decided that all we could do for a start was nurse him back to a healthy weight, before they could do a lot more with him, as he was too weak to risk being anaesthetised for the sort of checks she would like to carry out. He was given something for the fleas and ticks, and we had to feed him up with Convalescent Powder, and Soup which he loved from the word go. One thing that was really weird, was while spending time removing the ticks, and holding him as he had his convalescent food, he was always desperate to get to our faces. After about a week, things were looking up, and he was starting to regain some strength, and one night,while Suz's was relaxed and cuddling him, with out warning, he launched himself at her face, and just covered her with kisses.
We could not send him off to the Rescue after that, so once he was well enough, he was neutered, and moved in with our crew. He was always a weakly ferret, often stumbled when walking, and as time went on, we discovered that what we first thought were wounds, were in fact cysts that would start out as little red patches, and over time start to bleed, then scab, and finally go, returning again some time later. The vet looked at them, but there were so many, and owing to his advanced age, it was decided to let them be, unless they should get worse, or turn nasty.
He was a such a great little guy, and one of his life's tasks was to take Galaxy under his wing, trying, but failing to teach him a few manors, and how to play like a ferret. When he had the energy, would play so nicely with all the ferrets, but for some reason hated Ruffle, and hunt her out to antagonise her. Ironically, in the last few months of his life, he still hunted her out, only now it was for someone to cuddle up with.
Sweet dreams Revel, goodness only knows what sort of life you had before you came here, but I am pretty sure you loved the life you had here, and we will miss you.
Keep it nice, remember the 