Fur & Feathers

PAGE UPDATE UNDER CONSTRUCTION – 08/26/2011

This is a republish of a post from 09/13/2009.  In retrospect, it captured a lot of detail (and pictures!) about our beloved ferrets and I thought it would be nice to have it on a separate page, to “keep it on top of the pile” so to speak.

A Furry Tribute

Well, I’ve wanted to write about our dear furry fuzzy ferrets for a long time, but never found the time to do the topic justice, as well as pull out a good representative picture gallery.  Unfortunately, our very first (pet) baby, and our last surviving ferret, Mynx, died on Thursday, Sept. 10th.  We had gone out of town the weekend prior and when we returned, our elderly furry had clearly taken a turn for the worse.  We nursed her and attended to her and kept her comfortable as possible for the next couple days until she slipped away.  The house feels infinitely emptier now.

Anyway, FF and I got Mynx shortly after we got married, and she was our contraband pet in the tiny apartment we lived in at the time.  As anyone who has ever had or been around ferrets knows, they all have very distinct, intelligent personalities.  Mynx was thoughtful, intellectual, mostly serious, methodical, and always eager to give ferret kisses.  Even as a baby kit, she was incredibly well behaved, and the only time she ever bit anyone, EVER, was during the ride home from the pet store.  FF was in the front passenger seat, holding the travel carrier, and he took her out to pet her and reassure her during the trip home.  He held her up for a moment to look at her cute little face, and she promptly bit him on the end of his nose and refused to let go for a good two minutes.   It was the start of a beautiful relationship.  It became apparent pretty soon that Mynx needed a partner in crime, and so a few months later, we brought home Munchkin, the cutest, tiniest, craziest ferret you could ever imagine.  Her personality ran towards hyper, crazy, playful, camera-ham, spunky, silly, bouncy, and boisterous.  She was always the instigator of any bad ferret behavior and she always kept Mynxie on the go.   She was like Mynx’s blonde, party-girl, evil twin.  She was never as cuddly or interested in human affection, but she’d play with you 24/7 if you’d let her.

Our furry babies were the center of our universe until, surprise, along came K.  We did the best we could with the balancing act between figuring out the new parent gig, and staying good ferret parents, but it was always a challenge.  Their free-run years unfortunately got curtailed to a series of increasingly secure playpens and cages, for their own protection against toddler antics, but of course they still came out to play and have some fun pretty frequently.

Unfortunately for our aging ferrets, our last crappy living arrangements included painfully hot summers with minimally functional A/C.  Ferrets do NOT tolerate heat well at all, and we did everything we could to keep them comfortable last summer but still, I know it was hard on them.   Sadly this spring, Munchkin passed away suddenly one night, with no warning.  We debated for weeks on whether to try and find an adult rescue ferret to act as companion for Mynx, or even possibly getting another kit, but in the end, we just didn’t know if our intellectual and serious baby would tolerate or appreciate a stranger.

Sadly, the lack of her beloved playful companion and another hot summer in the hell-house really took a toll on Mynx.  She never really was quite the same after Munchkin passed away, despite our attempts to give her lots of love, attention, treats etc.  I don’t know if I would say she consciously grieved her buddy, but I do know she was aware of the void.

K was very attached to Mynx and this has opened the whole dialogue about loss and grief.  It sucks and I just don’t feel like I’m qualified to handle this and support her appropriately.  Most of the time we’re not sure what to say or how to say it, but we are trying to keep it simple and honest.  We’ll see how she deals in the next few weeks–I hope so much that she does not get into that extreme anxiety/fearful state that I know children can at times.  Tomorrow we are going to bury her and plant some flowers, which I hope is a positive for K but I don’t really know.  We are so lucky that the Cookie Cat came into our lives a few weeks ago, as it gives K another pet focus and outlet.   And at least the house is not completely empty of pet companionship.  As it is, K has already asked me several times “are we going to get another Mynxie soon?”  If only.

Well, to wrap it up, this was not meant to be a story about sadness and grief but to remember the amazingly happy years we had with our furry children.  Mynxie–you will always be remembered as the Smartest Ferret of Them All.  Munchkin–you will always be remembered as the craziest, silliest, and Cutest Ferret of Them All.  We loved you both more than you know, and we had so many good times throughout the trappings of 4 homes, 3 cats, 2 toddlers, and much more.

You will be forever missed.

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