Post by Sherry on Nov 20, 2011 14:00:41 GMT -5
I thought I should write up our ferret's reactions to losing their friend Sinnead. Boris' reactions were somewhat...unusual.
We brought Sinnead back from the vet's after helping her cross to the bridge, and put her on a blanket on the floor in the bedroom/playroom.
Vincent approached her, sniffed her, went under the blanket and would nudge her, like he always did when playing with blankets or towels. He'd do this several times, then peek out at her to see if she was going to get up and play. Each time she didn't move, he'd go back under the blanket in a different area, and try nudging her again, then peeking again.
After several attempts, he gave a hugh sigh, came out, and started grooming her face and ears.
Lucrezia went up to her friend, sniffed her, and started to whimper. She then washed Sinnead from top to bottom, over and over, whimpering and crying the whole time. She finally gave up, gave a hugh sigh, and lay down across her friend for a while before curling up with her and going to sleep there.
Boris. He really surprised me. He came up, sniffed his bonded mate, made an odd sound, and took off racing the perimeter of the room- non stop. And he looked...angry.
He did this for almost 10 minutes, came about 6" away from Sinnead, sort of hovered his head over her, sniffing, made the same odd sound, and took off racing again. After another 10-20 minutes, he found a corner, and curled up there. He wouldn't look at her, he wouldn't come near her, nothing. If an animal is capable of being in denial, he was.
We wrapped up Sinnead's body, and put them back up in their cage.
We kept a very close eye for the next few days, and they all seemed to be getting back to normal. Yes, they would keep an eye out for her, but they weren't going out of their way constantly searching.
This went on for about 3 weeks. One day, it was like Boris suddenly realized his bonded mate was never coming back. This was the start of a downward spiral for him.
He started refusing food and water both. I wound up resorting to using lots of Bach's rescue remedy, and syring feeding. However...he truly did not want to eat. He even resorted to very deliberate warning bites to make us leave him alone. Not breaking the skin, but very hard all the same. And oh, so very deliberate. He'd look at us while he was doing this. Then he'd get down, run away to find some little corner, and just...curl up. We knew he didn't want to live without her.
Feeding had literally become a massive fight, with him constantly struggling to get away, whimpering the whole time. My husband and I finally made the decision to let him go if that was what he truly wanted, since living was evidently so painful for him. We did not make this decision lightly, but only after much thought.
However- his cage mate and brother Vincent had also obviously made a decision. He decided that Boris was going to live. Pure and simply, he did not allow him to curl up and slowly starve to death.
Every single time Boris hid and curled up, Vincent followed, grabbed him by the scruff, and dragged him out into the middle of the living room. He'd groom Boris, then start dancing on him and around him, trying to entice him to play. After a couple days of non stop harassment, Boris made the decision to give in and live
He started coming out and exploring, accepting small amounts of food. Going to the water dish on his own and drinking.
Don't get me wrong- it was a very long haul! And his IBD is still out of control today, 7 months later. It was doing well, and almost better until Sinnead died. Shortly after that, he started refusing the only food he did well on, as well as any foods with any kind of supplement. He is now taking his reishi mushrooms again, and the colloidal silver. We will work on the rest with time.
But because of his brother, we still have him with us today
We brought Sinnead back from the vet's after helping her cross to the bridge, and put her on a blanket on the floor in the bedroom/playroom.
Vincent approached her, sniffed her, went under the blanket and would nudge her, like he always did when playing with blankets or towels. He'd do this several times, then peek out at her to see if she was going to get up and play. Each time she didn't move, he'd go back under the blanket in a different area, and try nudging her again, then peeking again.
After several attempts, he gave a hugh sigh, came out, and started grooming her face and ears.
Lucrezia went up to her friend, sniffed her, and started to whimper. She then washed Sinnead from top to bottom, over and over, whimpering and crying the whole time. She finally gave up, gave a hugh sigh, and lay down across her friend for a while before curling up with her and going to sleep there.
Boris. He really surprised me. He came up, sniffed his bonded mate, made an odd sound, and took off racing the perimeter of the room- non stop. And he looked...angry.
He did this for almost 10 minutes, came about 6" away from Sinnead, sort of hovered his head over her, sniffing, made the same odd sound, and took off racing again. After another 10-20 minutes, he found a corner, and curled up there. He wouldn't look at her, he wouldn't come near her, nothing. If an animal is capable of being in denial, he was.
We wrapped up Sinnead's body, and put them back up in their cage.
We kept a very close eye for the next few days, and they all seemed to be getting back to normal. Yes, they would keep an eye out for her, but they weren't going out of their way constantly searching.
This went on for about 3 weeks. One day, it was like Boris suddenly realized his bonded mate was never coming back. This was the start of a downward spiral for him.
He started refusing food and water both. I wound up resorting to using lots of Bach's rescue remedy, and syring feeding. However...he truly did not want to eat. He even resorted to very deliberate warning bites to make us leave him alone. Not breaking the skin, but very hard all the same. And oh, so very deliberate. He'd look at us while he was doing this. Then he'd get down, run away to find some little corner, and just...curl up. We knew he didn't want to live without her.
Feeding had literally become a massive fight, with him constantly struggling to get away, whimpering the whole time. My husband and I finally made the decision to let him go if that was what he truly wanted, since living was evidently so painful for him. We did not make this decision lightly, but only after much thought.
However- his cage mate and brother Vincent had also obviously made a decision. He decided that Boris was going to live. Pure and simply, he did not allow him to curl up and slowly starve to death.
Every single time Boris hid and curled up, Vincent followed, grabbed him by the scruff, and dragged him out into the middle of the living room. He'd groom Boris, then start dancing on him and around him, trying to entice him to play. After a couple days of non stop harassment, Boris made the decision to give in and live
He started coming out and exploring, accepting small amounts of food. Going to the water dish on his own and drinking.Don't get me wrong- it was a very long haul! And his IBD is still out of control today, 7 months later. It was doing well, and almost better until Sinnead died. Shortly after that, he started refusing the only food he did well on, as well as any foods with any kind of supplement. He is now taking his reishi mushrooms again, and the colloidal silver. We will work on the rest with time.
But because of his brother, we still have him with us today
I love animals...they are amazing creatures. 
That is so sad, they love their mates and there is no denying that!!
Just so sad, so loyal to his mate.