Appleton, Wisconsin           (920) 574-2277 (main number)

Eulogies
This page comes from the heart.  We wish to pay respects to those
in our care who have passed on.  We'll miss you...

Gollum arrived as a cruelty/neglect case on Oct 4, 2008.  He had multiple problems and spent several days in intensive care at one of our vets.  Unfortunately he didn't have what it took to recover.  Once he benefitted as much as he could from vet treatment he came back to FVF for comfort care.  He died warm and clean in his snuggy at about 8pm on Nov 13.  He deserved better.  His brother (Stinker) was in better condition when they arrived.  He is in the ferret room and may eventually be offered for adoption once he gains enough weight.

Big Boy (aka Biggie) went to the bridge on 10/5/08.  He and his sister (adopted 10/11/08) were surrendered when their owner moved.  Big Boy was just that, a big boy.  His spleen was somewhat enlarged, which isn't uncommon in older male ferrets.  He liked other ferrets.  He stold pens and the insoles out of shoes.  Here at FVF he had shown an interest in stealing the entire shoe-even trying to get them off the feet of FVF volunteers.  He also liked to chase the vacuum cleaner.  According to owner report, Biggie was born spring/summer of 2003.  Both these ferrets are good with the litter pan as long as it is kept clean and like cats.  Vet check and distemper shots done on 7/18/08 (AMC). 

Sassy went to the bridge quietly and unexpectedly Aug 15, 2008.
Sassy arrived with four cage mates in early Feb 2007, following the break up of their owner's relationship.  The four other ferrets have been placed.  Sassy is energetic for his age and enjoy wrestling with other ferrets and his person.  In the course of this play he may sometimes nip, but it is not hard or mean, just overexcited.  Sassy was probably born late in 2003 or early in 2004, which made him the "odd man out" in the group.  He has adjusted well to other ferrets in the ferret room and we do not believe he will have trouble adjusting to a new ferret friend when the time comes.  Annual vet check and distemper done on 4/30/08. (NH).  Sassy had adrenal surgery done 8/23/07(LS).  During surgery a growth was found on his liver and removed-there is a chance it could grow back.  On 4/24/08 Sassy had an adrenal tumor on his right gland debulked (LS).  Because the tumor could not be completely removed, he had a ferretonin implant on 6/12/08 (LS).  On the upside, there was no sign of new growths on his liver at that time.  Because Sassy has inoperable right adrenal involvement and will need ferretonin implants every four months for the remainder of his life, the decision has been made to make him a permanent resident.

Gizmo (Gizzy)
Spent over a year at FVF before going to the bridge on 5/15/08.  She had recently undergone adrenal surgery and was recovering well at first.  roughly two weeks after surgery she started having difficulty and on 5/14 she was taken to in to the vet since she needed more supportive care than we could provide.  X-rays showed what appeared to be fluid around her lungs, but when the vet attempted to aspirate the fluid nothing came out.  An ultrasound was done and it was discovered that the "fluid" was actually a solid mass.  Because this fast growing tumor could not be removed, and it was effecting Gizzy's ability to breathe properly, the kindest thing we could do was euthanize her.  Gizmo was surrendered after the other ferrets in her household all passed away of old age.  She has been at FVF over a year now.  She is happier with other ferrets and MUST not be an "only".  Gizmo sometimes plays a little too rough with people, this was likely caused by her former owner playing roughly with her.  Based on vet records transferred to FVF, Gizmo had a vaccine reaction, but she'd been given both a rabies and distemper shot on that occasion.  She was given a "pre-shot" the first time FVF had her distemper done (2007), and had no reaction to her most recent distemper shot, done on 4/30/08-even without a preshot.  Based on records, she was born in Feb or Mar of 2003.  Gizmo will nip at faces-it is best not to put her up by your face.  Gizmo had adrenal surgery on 4/24/08 (LS).  She is ready to meet potential adopters and will be able to go to her forever home after about 10 days.

Frodo

Frodo came to us from a pet store with his sister Arwen. He was a wonderfully dispositioned ferret. Dawn loved him especially. He contracted ECE early in his life and barely survived it. He made a full recovery though,and continued to be a blessing to our family. He never caused any problems and even when he was dying of lymphoma,he was always a sweet ,loving animal. We were crushed when we were advised that putting him down was the best thing for him by our vet. He was laid to rest in our back yard by his compadre Spongbob. It is so sad to lose one of these loving creatures. We wish they could live forever. God rest your soul Frodo. We will love you and forever miss you. You were a wonderful addition to our lives.

Chris and Dawn

Nox

Nox was brought to our home along with "Jade" in July 2005. Although his mate( Jade) did not live with us very long ( 9 months ), Nox kept us happy for nearly 2 years. Nox quickly became our favorite fuzzy because of his gentleness, never getting into anything and most of all using the litter ALL the time. Nox loved his play time in the kitchen with his humans as the floor was slippery and he could do his "war dancing" without looking out for the others that would attack him. This was HIS time and he knew he was safe. Nox was closing in on B-Day number 7 but didn't quite make it. Nox will be missed by mom and dad as well as his 13 brothers and sisters.
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Nox had a heart problem ( murmer ) as well as the oncoming of adrenal problems and at the end we found out that his blood sugar level was real low. For the past couple of weeks we had him on a heart med. to see if that would help but it did not. Nox's condition worsened in the last week to the point that he wasn't using the litter the last few days
So we did the humane thing and ended his suffering. It is such a hard thing to do to let a loved one go but it was the right thing to do.
Thank you for letting us keep Nox in our home for the past 2 years. Kevin & Celeste Droz
 

Rikki (Lulu) 10/24/06

Click the picture to enlarge

Earlier this evening, after a hard 3 weeks of constant battling of her newly discovered juvenile lymphoma, "Ricki", who we renamed, "LuLu" and I called "Sugar" was put to rest.  I just wanted to let you know how much of a gift she was in our lives even thought it was only for a short 6 months.
About 3 weeks ago, I noticed her lymph nodes had become swollen under her armpits. Lulu went about her daily activities and acted happy and normal, and yet unfortunately it took 3 different veterinarians to figure out what was wrong with her.  She completely ignored any sign of discomfort until the very end thus fooling the doctors  because LuLu would never complain, she was that patient and sweet.  I knew better, though.  She began to lose weight very quickly despite changing her diet to a high protein diet that wouldn't feed the huge tumors rapidly filling her chest cavity.   After two weeks breathing became a challenge because there was increasingly sparser room for her little lungs to operate, yet she still didn't complain and tried her hardest to play and love us and our cats.  Finally last night, RJ and I brought her into the emergency room, tired of being told to just wait for the prednisone to work, and were planning on putting her down.  We were given a little hope at 4 am when the emergency doc. pulled out 10 cc of fluid from her chest cavity, thinking perhaps the built up fluid was moreso the problem than the tumors.  Another chest x-ray this morning showed we were wrong, tumors everywhere.  I consulted the oncologist at the UW veterinary school since I am a first year vet student and she was honest and told me prognosis was not good at all.
When we returned to the emergency clinic tonight she perked up in her incubator when she saw us.  The entire staff knew it was time and were all commenting on how sweet of a ferret she had been to take care of, giving kisses, as usual, and always wanting to be near a person if possible.  It was the hardest thing to let go of such a caring and loving 2 year old.
It is so hard to think that only 3 weeks ago she was happy and healthy, but at least I know now she is okay.  Lulu was a thrill at home.  She loved baths, wrestling with the cats, stealing little pieces of food, and her favorite was playing hide and seek behind any object she could find.  Her little eyes lit up when the yogie container shook each day and she longed to make RJ and I laugh with her goofy noises and stellar moves!!  Not to mention she tucked herself away in my bed every night after exhaustion from play and just hated having to go sleep in the cage!!  What a great friend, I miss her so much!!  As a first time ferret owner I am forever changed by this friend and will be a ferret owner for life.  Hopefully someday soon another one will walk into my life, yet never fill her pawprints!!

BEAR 9/2/06
My name is Rebecca,  I adopted Bear and Odin a few years ago.  I wanted to let you know Bear passed away yesterday.  I also wanted to thank you for the opportunity to get to know this wonderful furry friend.  Because of Fox Valley Ferret, I had four great years with a very loving, very sweet ferret.  We will miss him very much.

RALPHY 8/2/06
My partner Jessica and I (Tessa) adopted 2 wonderful ferrets from you about 4 years and 3 months ago. We then came back and adopted a third ferret angel to add to our family, Ralphy.(3 years 1 month ago) We wanted to let you know that after a few months battleing Insulinoma, Ralphy passed away. As Ralphy started having episodes we started taking him to the vet where he was diagnosed. During the following months he was on prednisone and showed no signs of worsing. Unfortunatly on August 2nd I went to give him his morning dose of medicine and found that he was not doing well.
After taking him in for an emergency visit to the vet I was told that nothing more could be done for him as his lymph nodes were enlarged and there was a mass in his abdinmon. The cancer had moved extremly fast. Although he lived a short life (roughly 5 years) I know that during his time with us he was happy and will be missed.

JEWEL  7/10/06
"Precious" Jewel is what she truly was.  She was a courageous little girl who lived most of her life (5 years) with a disability.  At a young age, she suffered a head injury resulting in brain damage.  But disability or not, Jewel was your typical "fuzz butt".  You would have a hard time convincing her that anything was different about her, or to try and limit her ferret antics.  Some of which were;  attacking the squeaky toy and my hand, trying to climb the couch, chasing me, digging in the bean bin, climbing her stool so she could lick water from the bathtub rim, and when she was finally tuckered out - climbing into the bottom dresser drawer to rest up for her next round of play.
There was one thing however, that was very different about her, something very special.  It was the way she weaseled her way so deep and large into my heart that I have never loved a ferret as much as her.  In my eyes, she was always a special little girl that never quite grew up,and was always my little "kit".  I was her mom for a year and a half and truly feel blessed to have had her in my life.  Because of her, I was able to feel a love I have never experienced before.  And it equally hurts for her to be gone from my life.  I will forever miss you and love you Jewel.
Mom.

Elton (5/9/06, probable stroke) came to FVF after arriving at BAHS as a stray. He is a nice ferret, very mellow. He arrived as single, but adapted well to the other ferrets here. He has become very attached to a slightly older female ferret here and would probably like to stay with her, although he may do just as well in a home with another mild tempered ferret. He arrived slightly underweight, but we believe he will shape up to be a beautiful boy. He was probably born early to mid 2004. Vet check and distemper done on 3/27/06 (AMC).

Jade (Jaders) passed on 3/7/06. She was only with us for a short time after being adopted from FVF. She quickly became one of our favorite fuzzies. ( we have > 8 ) (Puck, Pan, Nox, 3 more FVFs,) Jingles, Freddie, Socks, Angel and the newest baby Sassy. 
Although she was a very laid back ferret, she would still stand up to any of our ferrets. Jade was a 100% litter trained. If there were an "accident" we were sure it wasn't Jade. She is loved and will be missed.

Kevin & Celeste

Rex is a beautiful albino who arrived on 3/7/04 with another ferret who was euthanized on 3/15/04 due to liver cancer.  He was probably born early to mid 1999.  Rex likes attention.  He is very sweet and has lived with a cat and a very young child.  Because he was with another ferret his entire life he should not be considered as an only.  Vet check and distemper done on 3/9/04.

Blizzard Man, who passed away 12/03/2005, was a very loved ferret with lots of ferret friends. He had his own little bed that he slept in everyday. He loved his kitten food and plastic bag. He left behind Persistance (his true companion), Oreo, Chicken, Spicy, Diamond and Passions. And of course Mom and Dad! We love you Blizzard and we miss you so much, your life ended to short and we wish you would have stayed with us longer. You were my Make-Out Buddy who gave the best kisses. I still want to look in the ferret room and see him sleeping in his round bed inside the cage. We miss you Blizzard, and someday we will meet at Rainbow Bridge. We love you!

Mommy and Daddy
(Dolly and Matt)
 

Panic
Panic was laid to rest on 10/15/05. Panic was very special to us and will always be our princess. We had many happy times together and we'll cherish those memories forever. No one could ever take her place in our hearts. I miss the cuddling in my sweatshirt sleeve, and all the naps she used to take there. We miss her war dances and princess kisses. We're sad to have lost you Miss Panic, but we know that you're back with Chaos (RIP) and the two of you are very happy together. We love and miss you very much! Love always and forever Mama (Amanda), Daddy (BoB), and Chief (Max) who misses your cuddles very much.

Chaos Feb 2001-Aug 2005

Chaos was laid to rest on 8/23/05. Our time together was precious and we wish it didn't have to end. She brought happiness to our lives and will always have a special place in our hearts. We will never forget you and all the wonderful times we've shared. We love you Chaos! Daddy (BoB), Mama (Amanda), Panic, and Chief.

"Sometimes an animal becomes more than a pet, they become a part of you. That is probably how i can best describe chaos. Chaos came to us at a very difficult time in my life and became like my best friend. I may have other ferrets but noone will ever fill the space in my heart that she left empty. She is loved and very missed by her life time partner Panic. And her playmate Chief who she watched over while he was sick. Her mom amanda who loved her very much. And me her broken hearted friend. we'll miss you. She is preceded in death by her good frien fiona. Who she is now resting with looking over the shore of lake michigan. May god watch over them.".
bob symitzzek

RIP beautiful, gentle Luca.

Luca: lighter ferret above

After a long stay at FVF, Luca was finally adopted into his forever home with his brothers. His new family gave him lots of love and attention, but Luca never became the active playful ferret he should have been.
On 8/29/05 his new vet discovered a large tumor. On 8/30/05 the tumor (described as the size of a duck egg) was removed. He lived through surgery, but despite the best efforts of his vet, including transfusions, the strain was too great and he died later that afternoon.
Luca was a special soul. He will always be loved and remembered here at FVF and by his forever family.

Stinky (crossed the bridge due to cancer 8/05) was surrendered to Bay Area Humane on 7/28/05 because the owners no longer had enough time for him. Although he is described as "extremely nice" by FVF's halfway house, he is also reportedly suffering the effects of living in inappropriate and dirty conditions. According to the halfway house, he is missing all the fur on his chest and belly, probably from being kept in wood shavings. He also has a bad case of ferret acne on his tail. The fur on his back is reported as healthy and fluffy. He was reportedly born early in 2000.

Rest in Peace Nomad

Nomad went to the bridge on 4/11/05. He was a wonderful ferret whose IBD kept him from being adopted. It didn't matter though-within a short time he had toodled his way so far into my heart I am not sure I could have given him up anyway.

Nomad came to FVF after being left along a roadway in his cage.  He is very sweet and likes to be held and cuddled.  It was recently discovered that he enjoys being in the grass on his harness.  He has a limp, which our vet believes to be the result of an old injury; he doesn't seem bothered by it.  He prefers his own cage, but will occasionally interact with older, mellow ferrets.  He was probably born mid 1999 to early 2000.  He had his vet check and distemper shot on 6/29/04.  Nomad developed chronic diarrhea that failed to respond to treatment.  Cancer was suspected and Nomad was removed from the adoption list.  When Nomad's condition remained stable for a length of time, exploratory surgery was done on 9/14/04.  The surgery revealed no sign of cancer and his spleen was removed at that time.  Biopsies of the spleen and intestines were clear.  Nomad is doing well on a special diet but will always have Inflammatory Bowel Disease

Fiona was laid to rest on 3/9/05. Her time was short but she left a love in our hearts that will never be forgotten. We know you're in a better place now where the treats are never-ending and there's all the toys you could imagine. We'll miss you and love you forever!    Amanda, BoB, Chaos, Panic, and Chief (formerly Max)

Peanut: we'll miss you..

Midnight passed on 5.25.04 while under our care.  We'll miss you...

Tennia (5/10/03)

Here is Tiffany's story in her own words...  click on the page below to see the larger version:

Fireball (9/28/02) passed on due to a respiratory problem.  Freak and Fireball had been adopted last year, and returned because the new owner of the apartment building refused to allow any pets. Freak is still adoptable and would do okay as an "only" since right now she is attacking other ferrets who try to cuddle with her.

TULIP  5/11/02. 

Tulip arrived unspade and in active heat.  Following bloodwork she was successfully spade and descented on April 25.  Just as she was starting to recover from being in heat and her surgery, she came down with ECE.  Because she was already debilitated, she had no reserves to fight off the virus.  Despite aggressive treatment, she became our first ECE fatality.  She will be missed by her cagemate Daffodil, who recovered from her own ECE.

3/02.  From Whiskey's Family: His time with us was too short.  We will miss this gentle, sweet boy and treasure the memory of the time we had together.

Whiskers .  He had been withdrawn from being adoptable because his tumor was inoperable. We'll miss you.

SHILOH.

Shiloh past away 12/27/01 as the result of ulcers which she developed very rapidly over the holiday weekend.  All possible treatment was provided, but Shiloh was a very tiny ferret and this worked against her recovery.  She was a very sweet ferret and will be missed. 

Shiloh is a dark sable female, probably between 4 and 5 years old.  She is very sweet and is open to sharing her life with other ferrets.  She arrived at Bay Area Humane as a stray and was turned over to FVF after her holding period.  She is playful and seems to be in good health aside from a head cold, probably the result of her brief period of homelessness.  She got her distemper shot 12/3/01.

BUDDY (L) 

Buddy (albino) succumbed to cancer on January 7, 2002.  He will be missed...