It's Barnaby's 10 year anniversary. Can you believe it? I was feeling a bit sentimental the other day, thinking about Barnaby A. Ferret, who was invented in 1998 and appeared in Modern Ferret until the conclusion of that magazine's publication. It surprised me to find out the founders no longer own ferrets, because I don't, either.
Pepita began experiencing "old age" symptoms in April of 2004 when she went blind due to cataracts, and in November she became incontinent. She passed away on December 14, 2004 at almost eight and a half years old. She was a trooper to the end.
Pepita really shaped my life. I adopted her with money I got from my first "real" publication, in my teens. Through Pepita I was also able to get articles and cartoons published in Modern Ferret. It is funny how a pet can influence not only who we are but also what we do. I never thought I would be a cartoonist; a friend and I used to talk about it when we were young girls, but I don't think we ever thought it would really happen to us. In fact, I always thought that if it did, it would happen to her!
I tried to pay Pepita back, too. I designed a hammock for her with few seams so there wasn't any way to get hurt or stuck (I'm not selling this--it is something special for her and my future pets!).
Although Pepita grew up as a nipping hyper-fuzz, she stopping nipping and became a very hilarious little clown. My favorite memory of her is her antics in the ferret-proofed (ha!) bathroom. She would go into the cupboard below the sink, climb into the drawer above it, push the drawer out, climb through the drawer, and pull herself up on top of the sink! And the most amazing thing about her was that for most of her life she actually loved getting a bath, and even liked to swim "just for fun."
You can see Pepita's picture at right. It's about the best one of her. Another thing about her is that she hated having her picture taken. Most of the photos I have of her are of a little blur running out of camera-range.
If you love Barnaby, then you love Pepita, because Pepita and Barnaby are one and the same. I will really miss my little inspiration.
If you like my animal artwork, check out fun guinea pig cartoon drawings and books at http://www.cafeshops.com/cavy. There you can find many great gifts for small animal owners, teachers and children.
Due to the request of my folks, I no longer own ferrets. However, I continue to own and love other small animals. It is also wonderful to note that Barnaby lives on as one of the spokesferrets of Cascade Ferret Network. You can find more out about them, and see Barnaby poking his nose around, at cascade-ferret.org
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If you like my animal artwork, check out fun guinea pig cartoon drawings and books at http://www.cafeshops.com/cavy. There you can find many great gifts for small animal owners, teachers and children. 
