Misty Dawn Photography

So, when Eli passed away two weeks ago, we were really sad, but we felt worse for Tiki because she was now alone. No matter how much extra love we give her, she still had to sleep alone. Her and Eli cuddled a lot so we knew she would need another friend soon. So, since our anniversary is tomorrow, we decided that, in lieu of getting each other gifts, that we would pick out another ferret for Tiki. So below are some pics of the newest furry addition to our family! His name is Avery and he’s about 3 months old (just a baby!) and the cutest little thing ever! He is in no way a replacement for Eli, but a new animal to love. My mentor, Jo Vernon, said to me “It’s surprising how much room in your heart you can have for many animals, one doesn’t have to replace another.” and she’s completely right. We already love him.

Today we are one less furry member of our family. Our dearest Eli, our albino ferret, crossed over the rainbow bridge today. We are deeply heartsick by his loss. As most of you may know, he became sick last November and was hospitalized for 2 days. He recovered from it, but little did we know that cancer would strike again. He became sick again this morning and wouldn’t eat his food (which he previouly loved so much!) so we took him in to the vet. We were referred to another animal hospital that had a doctor more qualified in treating exotics. (Ferrets are considered exotic pets) After running a work up on his blood work they concluded that he most likely had cancer and that his organs were shutting down. They did an ultrasound to confirm this and he did indeed have cancer and it was far along. He was extremely ill and the vet didn’t think he would make it through cancer treatment and they recommended to put him to sleep. This was the hardest thing that we’ve ever done. We knew that he was sufferring and we just couldn’t watch him suffer, knowing that he would probably never get better.

We miss him so much and so does Tiki. Tiki has lost her best friend! He was such an amazing pet and he was so affectionate with us. We love him dearly and we are so sad to have lost him. Below are some of my favorite pictures of Eli, in memorial of our albino baby:

He used to love to climb to the top of the cage and wait for me to pull him down. I think he did it for attention…he was really smart.

Tiki and Eli together.

Please everyone….hug your animals (and your people!) tonight and every night! You never know when you could lose them. For us, our animals ARE our family and they are loved so dearly. I know that we are not the only ones who cherish their pets so much, so please hug your babies tonite. For us.

RIP Eli Pfeil 5.8.07 We LOVE YOU so much baby!!