Trying to cope..
So I woke up this morning and found Missy laying in the bottom of her cage eyes glazed over and completely none responsive to any stimulus. After several minutes with her trying to get her to respond I finally came to the reality that no matter what, my efforts would be fruitless and I couldn't stand to watch her suffer any more. I've spent the majority of my day away from the apartment forcing myself to not think about it, I am home now though and have nothing to do but that. I have a cage, food bowl, water bottle, hammocks and litter box to clean and put in storage. I have three ferrets who adored her searching where her cage used to be and staring at me like I'm a monster (I know this is only in my head but I still feel that way). Missy was my first rescue from HOFA and my second ferret. She was about 6 years old when I adopted her. She won me over when in the first few minutes of holding her, slid down the neck of my shirt and fell asleep. The first few months with her were rough. She had a partially prolapsed rectum and needed antibiotics for a tummy issue, so most of the first couple months was me rubbing crap on her ass or shoving meds she didn't like down her throat. To top it off my other ferret (Nakyta) was a younger female, I learned later that if you're going to have two ferrets that it shouldn't be two female ferrets.
To fix the issue I introduced Aengus to the family. Aengus was maybe 6 months old, Missy took to him like a mother and that relationship never relented. She would follow him around cleaning him and generally annoying the hell out of him, he loved it. The two slept together when they were in the same cage and even when I had to put Missy in her own cage, when I let them out she would find him right off the bat. With Aengus in the mix Missy and Nakyta's relationship became much better and Missy became much more social. She even accepted the 10 month old fireball Albert when I introduced him almost a year later. I give her much credit for being able to put up with his constant early shows of dominance and laughed at her often well planned and expertly implemented retaliation to remind him that she was really in charge. Watching a nearly 3lbs male ferret trying to run away from a barely 1 1/2lbs ferret firmly attached to his neck is really quite funny. Missy would diagnosed with Adrenal Disease about 2 years after I adopted her when I noticed some hair on her tail and butt. Her health would fluctuate up and down from that point on especially over the last 8 months where some days I would wonder if it was time to give up; but she never showed signs of pain and despite periods of weight loss always acted alert and excited to get out of her cage and run around even if only for a few minutes before finding her favorite sleeping spot to take a nap and then get back up later to explore.
Missy was best known for her toe biting antics when I would have company over. She seemed to get no better pleasure than watching grown adults squirm in fear of their toes getting nibbled or her crawling up their pant leg/shirt sleeve. I think this was her way of rooting out the weak. If you could restrain from jumping around you must be okay, and if you were brave enough to let her she would crawl into your shirt and take a nap followed by kisses on the nose as your reward. Barely a year ago now I introduced the third boy, Porthos into the family. He came from CAHS and needed some socialization training. I credit her tenacious attitude for helping towards his behavior modification. Despite serious Alpha struggles between him and Ablert which probably caused him to act even more dominant towards the only female, she treated him much like she did Aengus. Like with Albert too though she was very good at using her size and agility to get the upper hand on him and occasionally put him in his place. Despite having to put her in a separate cage due to health issues though, as soon as I opened the door to their cages the first place the boys went was her cage to check in on her before going off to play.
I've learned a lot from Missy in the short 4 years she's been with me. It may sound absurd but she's helped me learn patience, love and humility. Through her and my other fuzzbutts I've learned how to better deal with my own anger and rage issues. There were days that I would come home after having a bad day and if they hadn't been around I would have just exploded and been violent. It's tough to be violent though when you have a warm, cute and utterly defenseless creature nibbling your toes, licking you face and ears, crawling up your pant leg, down your shirt and dancing around like a Charismatic Southern Baptist at a Tent Revival. I was forced to quell my temper and my ego and for this I am a better person.
Thank you Missy for everything, you will be sorely missed.
To fix the issue I introduced Aengus to the family. Aengus was maybe 6 months old, Missy took to him like a mother and that relationship never relented. She would follow him around cleaning him and generally annoying the hell out of him, he loved it. The two slept together when they were in the same cage and even when I had to put Missy in her own cage, when I let them out she would find him right off the bat. With Aengus in the mix Missy and Nakyta's relationship became much better and Missy became much more social. She even accepted the 10 month old fireball Albert when I introduced him almost a year later. I give her much credit for being able to put up with his constant early shows of dominance and laughed at her often well planned and expertly implemented retaliation to remind him that she was really in charge. Watching a nearly 3lbs male ferret trying to run away from a barely 1 1/2lbs ferret firmly attached to his neck is really quite funny. Missy would diagnosed with Adrenal Disease about 2 years after I adopted her when I noticed some hair on her tail and butt. Her health would fluctuate up and down from that point on especially over the last 8 months where some days I would wonder if it was time to give up; but she never showed signs of pain and despite periods of weight loss always acted alert and excited to get out of her cage and run around even if only for a few minutes before finding her favorite sleeping spot to take a nap and then get back up later to explore.
Missy was best known for her toe biting antics when I would have company over. She seemed to get no better pleasure than watching grown adults squirm in fear of their toes getting nibbled or her crawling up their pant leg/shirt sleeve. I think this was her way of rooting out the weak. If you could restrain from jumping around you must be okay, and if you were brave enough to let her she would crawl into your shirt and take a nap followed by kisses on the nose as your reward. Barely a year ago now I introduced the third boy, Porthos into the family. He came from CAHS and needed some socialization training. I credit her tenacious attitude for helping towards his behavior modification. Despite serious Alpha struggles between him and Ablert which probably caused him to act even more dominant towards the only female, she treated him much like she did Aengus. Like with Albert too though she was very good at using her size and agility to get the upper hand on him and occasionally put him in his place. Despite having to put her in a separate cage due to health issues though, as soon as I opened the door to their cages the first place the boys went was her cage to check in on her before going off to play.
I've learned a lot from Missy in the short 4 years she's been with me. It may sound absurd but she's helped me learn patience, love and humility. Through her and my other fuzzbutts I've learned how to better deal with my own anger and rage issues. There were days that I would come home after having a bad day and if they hadn't been around I would have just exploded and been violent. It's tough to be violent though when you have a warm, cute and utterly defenseless creature nibbling your toes, licking you face and ears, crawling up your pant leg, down your shirt and dancing around like a Charismatic Southern Baptist at a Tent Revival. I was forced to quell my temper and my ego and for this I am a better person.
Thank you Missy for everything, you will be sorely missed.