We lost our brief battle with little Maya Ferret tonight. After an overnight stay in the hospital, we'd thought she was doing better. But, as today progressed, it became evident she wasn't digesting the food and fluids being pushed through her. She was starting to cry in more pain and our new vet felt it was time for us to face that tough decision.

I gathered the family together at the vet's office and we cuddled Maya. She seemed aware of us and that made it so much harder. A part of me wanted to say, "See? She's fighting and she wants us to fight too."

But our vet felt she was unlikely to make it through the night and we'd regret not having given her a peaceful ending for the faint hope of improvement (all the while, leaving her in pain). In the end, I leaned on Randy's advice more than I think I ever have in these tough pet calls---I knew I was too close to think clearly, but he knows how I feel about being humane without giving up for purely financial reasons.

She slipped away very fast, once the drug to stop her heart started into her IV port. I watched her little back feet relax---she'd had them pulled up against the pain in her belly---and knew exactly when she was gone.

We took her home and let everyone say good-bye to her. It's a crucial step which I believe is even more important with ferrets. I'm concerned about Theodore since he was so attached to her. I used to look in the cage and see the two of them curled up together all the time. He protected her, playing rough with her and teaching her how to play with other ferrets. She could tackle him to the point of making him screech---the only ferret who could do that to him, despite his being three times her size!

I put a heart-to-heart call across the Rainbow Bridge tonight for Maxwell to be ready and waiting for her, to welcome her to the perfect playland for ferrets. She only knew him a couple of days before his accident, but there'll be someone there waiting for her. Plus, Zoë will be there too. And Heinlein.

This had better be IT for 2008. I am NOT doing this all through this year again. I'll accept the crappy birthday, in return for that concession: no more pet losses this year.