January 20, 2000.

Phoenix is doing quite well. He wanted out of his cage for playtime in the worst way last night so we played for a while. His new favorite food is chicken.

January 31, 2000.

Phoenix was full of energy once again this week. I haven't seen him have this much energy in the 2 years that I have owned him! He was fighting with Sabrina over a fleece hammock in the cage -- I guess he wasn't in the mood to share.

May 16, 2000.

Phoenix went through a period within the past several weeks where he lost quite a bit of weight and stopped eating. It seems that his big brother was being mean to him and not letting him eat his food inside of the cage. It took me a while to figure this out because Phoenix's brother was always nice to him in front of me. Phoenix is doing much better now that he is on a new form of ferret vitamins and he eats four meals a day outside of his cage and his brother is being a lot nicer to him now.

May 22, 2000.

Phoenix celebrated his second anniversary today! I can't believe that I have had him for two years now. I still remember the day he came home to me in his rusty wire cage with the sharp cans of Alpo dog food in the bottom of his cage. He has had such a happy two years -- I hope he realizes how special he is and how much we I love him.

July 25, 2000.

All is well in the land of Sir Phoenix. He has been having a hard time keeping his weight up. I am a bit concerned about that because he used to be one of the largest ferrets in the group. But he still loves to play "chase the kitty" and eat his snacks so I know his overall health is fine.

May 22, 2001.

Sir Phoenix made his journey to Rainbow Bridge on March 8, 2001. He died several weeks short of his third anniversary of living with the other ferrets who are the Jazzy Ferrets. We shared weasel war dances, ferret dooks, countless playtimes, ferret kisses and fun experiences. It doesn't seem like he was a part of my life for almost three years -- it seems like he was a part of my life ever since the very first day that I brought my first ferret home from the pet store. Today, on May 22, 2001, with a sad heart I have made the decision to close this journal out. It feels as though it is quite appropriate to close this journal exactly three years to the date after it was started. I'm sure that Sir Phoenix appreciated how much was accomplished with this journal -- we know of dozens of people who have adopted previously abused and neglected ferrets because of the inspiration that was found within this journal.

We thank you for reading, for loving ferrets and for your e-mails. Goodbye.