You've all heard Nigel and I speak of our little Roxie (he thinks of her as Roxanne, I think and to me she is always Roxette). She is the last remaining member of our "White" family.
In March of 2001, when Randy let us adopt Roxie, Rosie and their Papa George, we still had our original three ferrets though two were ill. When dealing with both groups, the originals were called that and the new ones were referred to as the newbies.
In 2002, when we lost all of our original ferrets, and started fostering Aquila, Arlo and Monte Bear, we had a problem. Roxie, Rosie and George were no longer the Newbies so we had to come up with a name for them and they became the White family.
Roxie, Rosie and George were always a little different from other ferrets. They were quieter and though they played well together they were never as rambunctious as other kids we have had. They would stay upstairs only as long as good manners called for then they went downstairs to the basement only coming up occasionally to check things out. Perhaps because they were/are albinos - maybe the lack of light was easier on them, maybe it was just that being underground feeling.
George loved playing with his girls. And they loved tormenting him. They would gang up on him and bite his butt. George had that club foot and was never a fast mover, so they could get in a few good nips as he tried in vain to reach round and grab them.
We lost Rosie to liver cancer at age 4, George to kidney problems and who knows what else as he neared 7 last year. Roxie has soldiered on alone since last May. She has always had some kind of neurological problem that made it hard for her to walk in a straight line - she tends to move in circles (smaller ones when she is upset). She has nystagmus - her eyes are always twitching - she must always feel dizzy, poor thing. As she approaches her 7th birthday, we have found that she now has lymphoma and is adrenal as well as having an enlarged heart. She's been on heart meds since last July, just had a lupron shot and has just started pred. I think I'll also hang another small water bottle in her cage with a bit of Timmy's in the water (will just have to make sure Keiko doesn't sneakin and steal it all!)
She's always been a tough little thing. If he's not paying attention, she can totter up behind Dew, grab him by the scruff and flip him. Ticks him right off!
But Higgins and Fabien harass her and we have started taking her down into the basement again where she has many places to nap and lots of concrete to poop on and no one bothers her. I wish there was someone she would sleep with but she does not seem to want anyone. If Burke would ever lay still, he might keep her company but he is too young yet, though of all the kids in the house, he is the only one she will allow near and she will snuffle though his fur. Everyone else gets a screech and a snap of teeth (actually tooth and gum since she broke her upper fangs off on Keiko trying to teach that girl the pecking order).
She's my princess Roxie and she'll be with us for as long as she wants to be here.
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