Is Nyssa Spoiled Rotten?

Yesterday I didn't notice Nyssa at the food bowl at all. In recent months, certainly since she broke the one canine tooth, she eats relatively slowly and, fighting lymphoma, for a long period of time. I just didn't see it yesterday. Then, at playtime when she did wake up and come out she looked thinner than ever and really weak. She did go to where I give her medicine looking for it. I'm sure what she was looking for was the Ferretone I give her to make the medicine go down easier and the Ferretvite (high calorie supplement) which she loves. After that I took out some Totally Ferret, the senior formula for older ferrets, and offered in by hand. She ate piece after piece eagerly for maybe 20 minutes and took water from a small bowl I gave her.

Now it seems the only way Nyssa will eat is if I hand feed her. There are three possible explanations: 1) She really is at the end and is only eating to please me, 2) She is doing this because it gets her extra attention, which she clearly wants now, or 3) I've spoiled her rotten. I hate to say it but I do think it's a combination of all three. Average lifespan after diagnosis of lymphoma is three months. Nyssa is in her fourteenth month with the disease. Her vet has called it "late stage" for a while now. When we asked Dr. Weston about other treatment options she felt Nyssa was too far gone for anything else. Despite all of that Nyssa kept playing and acting like she still had and has a good quality of life.

Please understand that I am not forcing anything on Nyssa. I simply offer some food in my hand and she eats it on her own. I offer all I can to keep her happy and keep her going. Having said that, when Nyssa decides it's time to go I won't try to keep her longer at this point. I'll cry, of course, but when she tells me she wants to say goodbye I'll love her enough to let her go.

In the meanwhile I am perfectly willing to spoil Nyssa rotten. She's the last of my original groups of ferrets from the spring/summer of 1998 and she's an absolute sweetheart.