Remembering Bandit

Bandit’s passing last year devastated us. In 2004, we were down to 1 ferret – Brandi. We had been wanting to find her a companion, so one day I surprised my wife and snuck Bandit into the house. I didn’t say anything but just let the two of them run around until my wife noticed. It was mothers day, and this was her gift. Well, mine too.

Bandit was extremely clever, very friendly and communicated very well. It was overwhelmingly obvious when he was asking for something. If you were in the kitchen and he lightly scratched the top of your feet, he wanted a treat. If you were in the bathroom and he scratched you, he wanted a shower. Sometimes, he would do this just to be picked up and held and he would happily lay in our arms for extended periods of time. He also had a thing about kissing. He would untiringly, lick away at your nose, chin, lips, whatever he could reach. One of his favorite places to hang out was in the kitchen in a bottom drawer. He left the door slid half open and would pass the time just sitting (or laying) in there – watching us walk by. Occasionally, he would stick his head up and beg for a treat.

Like Brandi, Bandit loved showers. In the mornings, he would lay in the hallway, half in the bedroom, half in the hall, and right on the entrance to the bathroom. He had an eye on us and which ever room we headed to, he would then quickly follow. If I climbed into the shower without him, he would usually come scratching at the glass shower door wanting in.

In 2009, he started getting very sick. He lost weight, lost hair, had brown secretions around his eyes and was becoming lethargic. He was being treated at the Vet for Insulinoma issues and given steroids for a tumor. This helped short term but he went downhill rather quickly. The last few nights, we did not cage him but left him laying on a blanket where he could stretch out better and become more comfortable. One morning when coming downstairs, I found him at the foot of the stairs half-conscious and he had no energy to move. The poor little guy had used every ounce of energy to try and make it upstairs to the shower.

I picked him up, carried him to the shower and gently gave him the last shower of his life. Later that day , we took him to the Vet and said our good byes.

We have an engraved rock in our flower garden dedicated to him. We miss you buddy.

Bandit 2004-2009