my ferret died in the night.. ?????

[bludragonfly83]

i have 2 ferrets we got them together at the petstore...so they have grown up together...they are 5 years old...this morning i found one of them dead and the other was curled up next to him in thier cage. Mieko, the one that passed, was lying there with his mouth open and everything that normally was pink was now a black purplely color. It scared me half to death and i was in shock bc he was just fine earlier the night before...hes always the real hyper one running around and when hes in his cage hes always making racket..his death was so unexpected. Anyway although i am confused on why he passed, i am more curious as to what i should do with my other one J.J. the two of them were very close i am worried he is going to get lonely and im also worried about what i should do with the cage... Should i clean it to disinfect it incase there was something in it that made my other one sick? or should i leave it as is? as soon as i saw mieko passed i grabbed JJ out and gave him a bath because he was all curled up with Mieko's dead body and i didnt want him to get sick from anything...I just dont know what to do...i need help if any of you can answer my questions...right now i just have jj curled up in a blanket sleeping in my lap.
thanks
Blu

[MysticalManana]

First of all I am so sorry for your loss.
The only way to know for sure what happened is to have a vet do a necropsy but I would think if he had had anything contagious you would have noticed symptoms before he passed. This isnt an uncommon thing to happen unfortunately, I would be more concerned about JJ being stressed missing his bonded friend, give him extra lovins and attention and make sure he is eating and drinking ok.

[bludragonfly83]

thanks Mystical. Yea i kind of figured the same thing that he would have shown signs he was sick if that was the case and he did not. right now i have J.J. with me when ever im home and i moved him into his little cage we had for them when they were babies. Im waiting for my bf to get home to move Mieko bc it totally creeped me out when i touched him the first time and we are going to bury him in the backyard. part of me wants to clean out the other cage just to be safe but part of me is saying i should leave it so the smells are the same as to not stress J.J. out more once i put him back in his normal cage.

[suesferrets]

I agree with Deb, I just lost my last personal ferret of 8 yrs and his cagemate Bonkers is just a year younger then kaleb was, I am watching Bonkers extrea loven and soupies and extrea playtime but he is just now starting to wonder where kaleb is at, DO NOT wash the ferrets bedding for at least a week or 2 that way JJ can get used to his buddy being gone, this is what i have done and it has worked but not all the time..

[bludragonfly 83]

Well we buried Mieko a couple hours ago. When i took him out of the cage he smelt REAL BAD. Im wondering if maybe something ruptured inside and he went toxic? He hadnt been gone too long like i said he was up and moving at like 3am...and i found him at 2pm and when i took him out he was still pretty soft, stiff but not as stiff as if it had been a real long time. My boyfriend keeps telling me he was just old and hes in a better place and that it wasnt my fault i couldnt do anything but i still feel bad and feel like i should have been able to do something even though i know i couldnt.

J.J. seems sad i havent put him back in the other cage yet. im thinking i might have to get rid of the blanket that was in there bc Mieko was on it and im afraid it may smell too bad to leave in there...I have just been snuggling with J.J. as much as possible and giving him soup. Im praying he pulls though this.

i had to alter my name a bit bc i registered but it hasnt been approved so i cant use it as a guest bc it is saying it already exists

[Barbara]

I'm so sorry your baby had to go to the Bridge. I'm sure it was nothing you did and ferrets are very good at hiding sickness from us untl it's too late. As they said just give JJ a lot of attention and he will be fine. Hugs

[wizzyrhino]

I'm sorry i recently had the same thing happen to me, with no obvious cause i would give the cage a good clean out just in case. Edds seem to have been fine with his brothers death but you never no how they react, keep an eye on him make sure he eats etc.

[bludragonfly83]

first i want to say thank you to all of you for your kind words and help. This is a great forum and i am so grateful that i have found it and that it is full of warm loving and caring people who love our furry friends.

On another topic though J.J. has been eating soup if i feed it too him but he wont eat his dry food and he drank some water once lastnight when i held it in front of him but now he wont even drink if i do that ...It good he will atleast eat something but im worried about him being hydrated. I live in Las Vegas and it is really Hot right now i have the air on and a fan on him as well as a wet towel so he can lay on it if he wants and im going to put a frozen water bottle in his cage to help keep it cool too but i need him to drink...anybody have any ideas?

[MysticalManana]

I would water his soup as much as possible, he will get quite a bit that way. Mine will drink from my fingers if I dip them in water maybe try that, or add some ice cubes to a bowl of water and see if that sparks his curiosity. They take these losses so hard sometimes, lots of love will see him through as you mourn together.

[bludragonfly83]

mystic thanks for the advise. I have been putting more water in his soup which makes me feel better knowing he is getting some and then when i put him away lastnight he drank some water on his own and this afternoon he was eating his kibble on his own. He seems a bit more active today as well. keeping him in my prayers that he keeps this up and gets back to his old self soon.

[Barbara]

In my prayers too.

[angelle3]

me and mine will keep praying for him. hugs to you. sending lots and lots of warm hugs and fuzzy thaughts to you as well. I'm glad to know he's eating and drinking a litle better.

[Dingo]

How is JJ doing this morning?

[suesferrets]

I was just going to ask the same thing this morn how j.j. was doing.. hugs

[Katiebug]

Is it possible that he choked on a piece of food or something? The purple color could explain that or its just from the blood coagulating because of rigor mortis. I'm sorry for your loss. I'm sure that was devestating to find him.