Aesa – 2006 – Aug. 6th, 2011

A few weeks ago Aesa was seriously ill.  She had a bad case of diarrhea and was very dehydrated.  It happen during a weekend while our normal vet was on vacation so we ended up finding a local emergency vet hospital that would take ferrets.  They stabilized her long enough so we could get her to the backup vet recommended to us by our normal vet.  Aesa was prescribed a strong antidiarrheal which was extremely bitter.  She did not like it at all.  So much so that the medication she normally took from a syringe with no problem was now an event she dreaded as much as the new medication.  For the past few weeks she has stopped eating unless we hand feed her (and then only sparingly) and recently she stopped drinking.  So much so that when we took her in for her 1-week followup she had lost .2 lbs, down to 1.1 lbs from 1.3 lbs.

Last night I came home to find her dehydrated once again and completely uninterested in drinking anything, though she was modestly interested in the food I was hand feeding her.  Being as it was a weekend again and the vet that was seeing her during this had already hinted it might be time to let her go we were faced with the choice of taking her in today or trying to keep her going until the early part of next week.  Obviously, as I am posting this, we decided to let her go this morning.

Aesa (left) & Samson (right) hanging out by Aesa's barrel

Aesa was one half of the bonded pair we rescued this month 5 years ago. Samson, the other half, we lost back in May. Aesa was a wonderful little girl who gave kisses to anyone who held her. She hardly squirmed and though she was a tiny sprite she often roughed it up with the boys. She let them know she was to be afforded respect due any lady, four legged and furry or not! Lately she took up residence in her favorite barrel. Aesa broke the cute meter every time she’d peer out from the darkness, her masked face taking it all in.

Of our original 3 ferrets only Fex remains. But he’s not alone. We adopted two more sprites, Xena and Xara, just two-and-a-half weeks ago. I’m sure Aesa spent that time letting them know they had to keep Fex in line.

Aesa and Fex

With Samson no longer with us we need to pay attention to Aesa.  We rescued Samson and her together.  He was the one constant in her life up until now.  Ferrets do grieve, especially for a ferret to whom they have bonded. They can become listless and refuse to eat.  Sometimes to the point of putting their own health at risk.  Because of this many ferret owners advise prospective ferret owners to not get just one, but get two, sometimes three.  This is why we originally decided to get another pair of ferrets.  We loved Fex but he was alone in his cage.  The cat and dog did not want to interact with him.  So we rescued Samson and Aesa so he would have fellow ferrets with whom to play.

Now it goes the other way.  We’ve been watching Aesa to make sure she comes out of her barrel, that she eats and drinks and doesn’t get into too deep a funk.  But the best thing for her would be to stick with Fex.  So this morning when she climbed into the hammock with Fex I had to snap a picture for my wife.  He’s crawled into her barrel with her a few times, too.  But it’s good to see her out and about, spending some time with Fex.

Aesa and Fex snuggling in the hammock