marley ~ dog or ferret? you decide

i'm starting to think that our ferret marley, pictured with me at left, was a dog in a previous life. way back in 2008 when i got my first ferrets i was told by a ferret owner (i say owner in this case because this person was not a ferrent. he did not take care of his ferrets the way they should've been cared for. that, however, is a tale for another time). so i was told by him that ferrets don't eat people food. which, until i met marley, appeared to be a true statement. everything i'd ever read online stated that ferrets imprint on food when they are kits, often before they even make it to the pet store.

often it is difficult, if not near impossible, to get an older ferret to eat new treats or switch to a different food. if the manufacturer makes changes to the food formula it can cause a ferret to stop eating the food they were previously eating. for this reason many ferrents will mix two or more brands of food so that if any ingredients are changed their fuzzies will have less of a problem with the change. one of the ferrets i sometimes babysit, dexter, is a super picky eater. the duk soup that my ferrets love he doesn't even recognize as food.

when i got marley in 2009 i figured she would be like the rest of my crew (which at that time consisted of cassie, sunny d, nyddah, doodle, & podo). the rest of them only ate their ferret food, ferret treats, and the occasional piece of twizzlers. twizzlers make all mouths happy. nyddah would wake up from a sound sleep at the smell of a new bag of twizzlers being opened. just like her momma nyddah especially enjoyed black licorice. she's pictured at right snacking on a small piece of black licorice i'm holding for her.

anything else that i would eat my ferrets would investigate, but pretty much take no notice at all. they may come up and sniff my plate, but if i wasn't eating their food, which i wasn't, they would move along. even though ferrets are carnivores they never even saw chicken, turkey, or other meats which graced my plate as food. yes, chicken is often the first, and main ingredient, in ferret food, ferrets don't see real chicken as food. they really wouldn't know what to do with an actual live chicken.

marley had been living in our home for maybe a day or two when i was sitting on the couch eating some canned ravioli. she came up to me and i did what i always did with the ferrets. i held out my dish so she could sniff it and then move along. ferrets are very persistent and playing keep away with your plate just makes them want to know what's on it even more. i had learned with the other five that the best course of action was to let them smell my food, decide they weren't interested, so they would move along and i could eat in peace. i nearly fell over when i held out my dish and she stuck her nose right in and pulled out a ravioli with every intention of stealing and consuming the pasta. i managed to grab her quick and retrieve the ravioli before my carpet was stained with pasta sauce.

the ravioli incident was not an isolated event. any time i eat, even now, marley likes to sidle up to me and see if she wants a nibble of whatever i happen to have. some of her favorites are pizza, spaghetti o's, scrambled eggs, bacon, guacamole, and ice cream. marley really really loves her ice cream, but sadly she is lactose intolerant so i have to severely limit her dairy intake. if she has too much dairy she throws up, has diarrhea, or both. i haven't really looked but i'm pretty sure there aren't any ferret medications to help digest lactose since, well, ferrets don't eat dairy.

she's started teaching some of the others about the joy of human food. lucy, pictured right with marley sharing ferret vitamins, is now very fond of pizza and burrito bar night. lucy isn't as big a guacamole fan as marley is, but i'm sure that given time she will also be begging for a nibble when she sniffs guac on my plate.

most of our gang still shuns human food as not fit for the ferret palate. but two of our ladies are now turning into quite the foodies when it comes to human cuisine. every time i see marley begging for something it makes me think that perhaps before she was a ferret she was a dog. or maybe even a goat. or perhaps even a human. going from human to ferret, would that be a step down or a step up on the evolutionary ladder?

even ferrents need vacations

sometimes being a ferrent means going away and taking some time to recharge away from the carpet sharks. but it can be a difficult task to manage to get away when you have ferrets. finding a ferret sitter, especially when you have a business as large as we do, takes some tenacity, a bit of luck, and some really good friends.

fry & i just got back yesterday from a weekend up north at legendary waters resort and casino. february is a big month for us. we have our anniversary (the 3rd), my gastric bypass rebirthday (the 11th), & valentines day (the 14th). we decided to treat ourselves to a little weekend getaway. we've only been away from home twice. once we spent the night at a B&B for new year's eve (2010 into 2011) and the other time we spent one night away from home when ry's grandpa died. we drove to omaha for the funeral, spent one day in nebraska before coming back.

the previous times we left we had all the ferrets in the cage. not ideal, but one night away from them is ok. the first time we had 11 and we were gone for a little over 24 hours. we came home to some very mad ferrets, the cage trashed, and litter boxes in desperate need of scooping. the second time was after podo passed away. the ferrets were alone for about 36 hours, give or take. once again the cage was trashed, the litter boxes had to be completely dumped, and the fuzzbutts were mad at us. this was before nyddah went on her prednisone so it was ok that they were alone. {at right, cassie hanging out in his favorite place: the hamburger}

having a ferret on meds plus leaving town for a couple of days takes planning. there are places that board animals, but i honestly would not trust any of them with my babies. not because i've heard bad things about them, but just because ferrets are an exotic animal, and they need special considerations. i'm also very persnickety about my fuzzbots and their care. ferrets, even if they don't have special needs, require more attention than a dog or a cat.

when we were planning our getaway it was before nyddah crossed the rainbow bridge. nicole and her husband said they would watch nyddah and her BFFs for us. they have experience with ferrets on meds, plus, if there was an emergency to occur with nyddah i wouldn't've wanted her anywhere else. we had watched some of their furries in the past and they were willing to help us out this time. obviously they wouldn't've been able to take all 10. but they were going to take 3 which was going to leave 7 at home in the cage. my sister agreed to come over to our place, take the others out to play, scoop their litter boxes, and check to make sure they had enough food and water. so everything was all set and planned.

after nyddah passed away nicole said they would still watch three. which i thought was awesome. which left 6 at home in the cage. considering the cage they have is like ten feet tall and 6 feet wide we could have left the 6 alone for the two days. the cage has 8 litter boxes in it, two 64 ounce water bottles, 5 food dishes, and 17 beds/hammocks. with ferrets it's not just about basic care needs. they have social needs which are just as important. they like to play and be pet and cuddled and bounce around. so my sister still came up saturday to spend a few hours with the other six giving them the interaction time they needed.

considering the fact our family dynamic has changed with nyddah gone i was very worried about my babies. ferrets can get depressed and that can make them sick just like depression can make humans physically ill. so far the six that stayed home are doing well. i've seen them all and played with them all since fry and i got home. cupcake does not seem phased that there are only six here instead of nine. she actually really seems to be enjoying life without the rest of the gang. lucy seems to be missing rynus. poor sunny d is in a tailspin with nyddah gone and his brother cassie still over at nicole's. i think bandit is missing smoke-doggg a bit, but she sleeps so much that i haven't seen her much. {pictured at left is sunny d, front, doodle, back}

i'm heading over tonight at dinner time to collect my remaining three fuzzbutts. there is a lot less chaos in the house since there are only six here right now, but the house is missing something. i'm looking forward to having my business back together again. nicole has kept me updated on the kids she has. cassie, smokey, and rynus have been very entertaining. i think if we go out of town again they are more than welcome at nicole's house. now, a week long vacation, that would require quite a bit more planning and maybe an in-house ferret sitter. for any that don't go on a vacation themselves.

fare thee well, mamma nyddah

monday february 6th nyddah said goodbye to this world and made her journey across the rainbow bridge.

it's been nearly a week and i still can't think that or say that without tears. as i type they roll from my eyes and cut salty streaks down my cheeks. it's taken me this long to be able to write this blog.

it's not that it came as a surprise to me. it didn't in anyway. i've known for a long time that each day i have with her is a blessing and it was only a matter of time before she and i would part ways in this world. recently i wrote about her in having a special needs ferret. that post was difficult to write when i listed out her medical problems because it made it all the more real that she really was not immortal.

no matter how much you think you've emotionally prepared yourself for the loss of a pet, you never really are fully ready to let them go. but, as a pet parent is the most important decision you will make. it is also the decision that is the most compassionate for your companion.

there was no great trauma or tragedy. it was just nyddah's time. monday night i was sitting in the living room loading songs onto my computer and nyddah walked over to me, crawled up on my slippers and looked up at me. i picked her up to cuddle her and she started shivering. her tiny body shaking so hard. i held her close and she still shook. i folded her into my fleece jacket and pressed her to my body, kissing the top of her head. she stopped shivering, looked up at me, and in her eyes i saw that she was asking to go home.

i knew it was time to say goodbye just as sure as i knew she was meant to come home with me when i held her for the first time at the humane society. just like i saw her eyes begging me to bring her home with me that august afternoon i saw her asking me to let her go. i kissed her again and held her against my heart.

when fry came home a bit later she was tucked back in napping with her siblings. he told me that the day before when i was at work she threw up for nearly twenty minutes straight and he thought we needed to think about putting her to sleep. he said he couldn't bear to tell me the night before, but that he couldn't keep it from me. immediately i broke down. nyddah had been fighting for so long and now she needed us to step in and help her leave with dignity.

i sent a text message to my vet nicole asking her if she would be in clinic the next day because it was time to let nyddah go. she called me back and i told her about holding nyddah. the look in her eyes. fry's experience from the day before. nicole said she was in clinic, but that she could come up that night if i'd prefer.

it was a tough decision. i wanted one last night with nyddah. i wanted to sleep knowing my sweet girl was in the next room. i wanted to kiss her and cuddle her and tell her over and over that i loved her and wished there was more i could do. i wanted to stop time and stay holding her until the pain was a dull throb instead of a searing stab. but i also knew that was the selfish route. i asked nicole to come up to my house.

i gave nyddah some of her favorite food. and waited. and second guessed myself. and waited. and watched her. and wished i'd taken more pictures. and wished she had gotten to go on more walks and had more outdoor playtime. and waited. anything to avoid imagining my life without her in it.

while nicole gave nyddah the injection i held a dish of duk soup for her. she went quick. so quick that it was like her body was so tired of fighting. she was ready to go. i cried. nicole cried. all the ferrets came up to sniff nyddah's body and, in their own fuzzy way, say good bye. except for bandit who slept through the entire thing, which is, kind of bandit's way (i swear that ferret sleeps 23 1/2 hours a day,but that's a story for another time). sundance was the most impacted. he sniffed nyddah and then lay down next to her facing me, he put his head on his paws, and just looked at me. he and nyddah had bonded the moment i brought her home. they were BFFs. {pictured at left is nyddah on the left with cupcake, right, taken this past summer}

since nyddah passed away i have noticed some differences in the rest of the crew. doodle has started biting me again. he used to bite when i first got him. i managed to get him to stop doing that, then he started again after podo died last year. he just stopped around thanksgiving. he doesn't break the skin, but he knows how to bite hard enough to bruise me. it's like he needs to let me know he's hurting and the only way he can do that is by hurting me. sundance is sad and wants more cuddles than normal. the rest are just slightly muted.

each of my ferrets has a theme song. the song that if their life was a movie it would be their theme. nyddah's is hey hey hey by michael franti and spearhead. the part that makes me think of nyddah is:

• "there’s a crack in the gutter where a flower grows / reminding me that everything is possible / yeah, reminding me that nothing is impossible / you gotta live for the one that you love you know / you gotta love for the life that you live you know"

every time i looked at her she filled me with love and hope and belief that i could do anything. her little face made me believe. made me fight. made me want to be as wonderful as she thought i was.

all my ferrets are special to me. even the ones that were "originally" fry's before we moved in together. but there was something so precious and extraordinary about nyddah. she was an exceptional soul in a fragile furry body. i know that the universe sent her to me because we needed each other. and i know that i was, correction, i am blessed to have shared my home, my life, and my heart with her. i still feel her presence in the house. and i keep expecting to see her scramble out from under the ottoman, use the potty, and the look up at me to see if she can get me to get her some wysong or ferretone or duk soup. it seems bizarre to say, and i realize this, but the house feels kind of lonely and empty now that nyddah has crossed the rainbow bridge. but, i won't be getting another ferret anytime soon. like nicole said to me the other day. it hurts when any of your furkids move on, but there are just certain ones that are remarkable and it hurts worse when they leave.