Harley remains our shelter's mascot, even after his passing on June 26 2002. He was an inspiration to all of us, having suffered so much but continuing to fight to live through multiple illnesses and surgeries. Contained here are the updates that allowed many people to share his story and find hope for their fuzzies and even themselves. Please note that all links have been deprecated since his passing.

Harley was brought to our shelter in June of 1997. When we first saw Harley we noticed that his right eye was slightly swollen and he had a chest cold. Our vet suspected Juvenile Lymphosarcoma. (he was only 1 at the time) and in tears, we took him home to die.

A few months went by, and Harley got no worse, but his eye began to swell to the point it was almost bulging out of his head. We reluctantly opted to remove his eye thinking it was a tumor growing behind the eye.

Dr. Williams contacted us and did the pathology on Harley's eye. The results were not what we were expecting. Harley's pathology report was as follows; Harley has a detached retna, perforated eye ball and Gram Positive Bacterial infection consistent with Actinomyces. There were no signs of Lymphoma.

Actinomyces is a very rare bacteria in pets, not to mention almost unheard of in ferrets. It is an abscess like bacteria which caused his eye to abscess. and continues to cause him problems.

In March of 1998, knowing that he could no longer help Harley, our very wonderful & caring veterinarian (Dr. Saldanha) suggested we take him to the Ontario Veterinary College. At that time Harley's left eye had started to swell and drain a green-yellow pus. We were so afraid that the Actinomyces was spreading.

A culture was done on his left eye, and AGAIN Harley was dealt a bad hand and the OVC has now found E.coli bacteria in his eye (gram Negative). X-rays show that Harley's jaw was broken, and this leads us (and the veterinarian who saw him) to believe Harley was kicked in the face resulting in the detached retna, perforated eye ball, broken jaw and the Actinomyces.

Harley will need more tests done and will be seeing a special eye doctor today. He *may* eventually loose his other eye which we don't want to do. If we are able to raise funds, we are hoping to take Harley to a very good Veterinarian in Chicago that we were refereed to. If not, we will continue to work with the OVC hoping to cure this little one's Bacterial infections.

Anyone who has ever met Harley knows that he is not ever going to give up on life. Aunty Linda visited from California, and knows as well as the rest of us it's going to take a lot more than a lost eye to break Harley's spirit. Please go to our donations page if you can help. Or if you are interested in looking at our fund-raising auction for Harley, please go to our Celebrity Auction page We are willing to do anything we can to get Harley better.

May 7 1998
Harley went back to the OVC. More tests were performed, but everything came back the same. We are waiting for a final culture & sensitivity to come back next week and we are hoping that we will be able to produce Actinomyces so we can test antibiotics on him. He is on 2 different ones right now, but is showing no signs of getting better.

May 12 1998
Today Harley's culture came in with new results. Harley also has Pseudomonas which is another hard to kill gram negative bacteria. He'll have to have more tests as a result of this. The next test and procedure is on May 21 where he'll have his sinuses flushed and tested again.

May 21 1998
Harley had his nasal duct flushed today. There seems to be a blockage in there somewhere. The flushing was only partially successful as this blockage produced back flow, not flushing through. Harley will have to go back next week for another flush.

May 23 1998
Harley was on television yesterday. A local television show asked us on. Today Harley was at a pet show and he met a dog named Thunder. Harley's missing eye started to swell this afternoon. I'll have to bring him back to the university earlier than expected.

May 28 1998
Harley went to Guelph again today and had a nose flush. He seems to be doing better and the Vet (Dr.Soos) is very happy with his progress. We were able to flush his nose completely today.

June 30 1998
Harley did really well for about a month. However the other day his eye socket began to swell and turn purple. He is eating & drinking well, but his *missing* eye is swollen. So, Harley underwent surgery again today. The vet who saw him was so happy with his general progress (except for the swelling) & said this is the healthiest he's seen Harley in 3 months.

Harley gained a bit of weight and seems to be fighting the infection as hard as he can. The surgery was minor and the eye lid was re opened and the pus drained. Then a sterile antibiotic pack was left inside the eye socket. He'll have to go back next week to remove it and replace it with a new antibiotic pack.

Dr. Taylor is very impressed with Harley's spunk and is confident if we continue therapy that Harls will get better. he just says that we have to be tenacious about it.

So Harley is resting comfortably right now and he's well. Poor little guy,I hope this is over soon.

July 7 1998
Harley went in for minor surgery again today. The antibiotic pack was removed and they placed a new one in the eye socket. Dr. Taylor is very positive that Harley will make a full recovery at this point. They flushed his tear duct and found no pus. The eye socket had a very little pus and the culture & sensitivity from last week grew no bacteria. This shows us that the antibiotics that Harley is on are working!! It was with all of your help and support that this was made possible for little Harley. I want to thank all of you who did so. I will also keep updating this page every time he goes to the vet. Thank you so much!

July 15 1998
Harley was in today for removal of the antibiotic pack. The doctor found no reason to re introduce another antibiotic pack into Harley's eye. He saw next to no pus in Harley’s eye and is hopeful that he will improve drastically. Harls will go back 1 final time Aug. 7th. He will have a flush and we will see what happens next.

August 12 1998
Harley was at the vets again today and his is in bad shape. The green pus has started to form again and he had to have his eye socket opened again and drained. He is on a new antibiotic in conjunction with the old. They are eye drops, and Harls seems to hate them. Please keep him in your thoughts.

Harley seems to be doing a bit better. However, out Veterinarian is saddened to say Harls is still maintaining the growth of pus in his nose and sinuses. His jaw seems to be a bit more moveable but he's lost a bit of weight. The vet doesn't think it's much to worry about.We are also a bit worried that the antibiotics have not worked as well as we were hoping. Another culture & sencitivity test was done today and we'll see what this one shows.

September 13 1998
Great news on Harley!!! The flush he usually has every 2 weeks came through with no problems! There was no pus in this nose whatsoever! The veterinarian put him on a new antibiotic today and will see him in 2 weeks for another flush.

September 24 1998
MORE great news!! Harley had no pus again in his flush today! Lynn F. took him to Guelph for me today and the report is there is still no pus in his nose! His hopefully last flush will be in 2 weeks and if there is still no pus, he'll be taken off antibiotics and hopefully we'll have this bacteria under control! I'm so happy!!

October 30 1998
Today for the 1st time in weeks I am feeling sad. Harley has lost so much weight and is just not doing well. His flush today was perfect and there is no sign of pus, but he's just so thin. The OVC now suspects that he's feeding a tumor and it's possibly cancer. Blood tests were done on him today and we'll get the results tomorrow. Please keep him in your thoughts. He belongs to all of us who love him.

November 7 1998
Harley's tests came in as inconclusive. This means we will all have to sit by again and wait to see if he has cancer or not. We all love this little "bug" and we will all pray to make him better. I will be taking him back to the Ont. Vet College next week for more tests.

November 20 1998
Today is a sad day for us Harley lovers. Harley spent the night at the University for some more tests and yet another surgery. His eye socket was opened and an abscess was drained. The infection is not gone. He was placed back on antibiotics again and needs to go back in a week.

They still feel his chronic weight loss is due to a tumor somewhere. X-rays only show his spleen in enlarged and it could be Lymphoma. Please keep him in your thoughts. Harls may have to have surgery to remove his spleen.

November 26 1998
Harley has an appointment in Guelph (at the university) for a check up on Tuesday. We may have to do exploratory surgery. I'm not sure I'd remove his spleen at this point. He remains well and happy and best of all pain free :o)

December 10 1998
Harley continues to loose weight but remains in really good spirits. He is back on Batryl now and I'm hoping this will help. The University is closing for the Holidays soon, but they feel Harley is fine until the beginning of the year. I'm not so sure.

December 26 1998
Harley's eye has swollen very big. I'll watch him and see what happens over the next day or two.

December 28 1998
Harley's eye socket is the largest I've ever seen it. The university is closed today so he'll have to go to our regular vet. Hopefully it's nothing too major. Harley is also showing signs of Adrenal Disease. I'm worried about that too.

January 3 1999
Harley seems to be doing a bit better. We took him to the vets Dec. 28 and they started him on a new antibiotic. He seems to feel a bit better and his swollen eye has completely gone down. I still thin he's got adrenal disease and he will have to go for surgery to fix it.

January 17 1999
Harley is still doing great. In order to raise funds for his Adrenal Surgery and in honor of his still being here with us, Lynn M. has created an embroidery just for him. They are currently available in T-shirts and please see our online store for details.

February 3 1999
Harley is still hanging in. His infection is no better. Last week at a vet visit, he had an endoscope (a camera into his mouth and throat). He's got 2 ulcers on the top of his mouth.

The Vets think it's time to do the exploratory surgery to find out why he's not gaining weight and to figure out these ulcers. Our poor boy. Will it ever end?

February 14 1999
Harley got sick on Friday. His eye socket swelled up really big again and he was taken to the our regular vet in Toronto as Guelph was closed already.

Dr. Parker opened Harley's eye socket and drained out a huge ball of slimy lime green pus. She also noted to me that while she was cleaning out Harley's eye, some of the bone "fell" out. She told me that Harley's bones around the sinus cavity and in the nose were so thin and brittle, she'd never seen anything like this before.

This was really bad news for us. Harley had been doing so well for so long. I mean as well as one with Actinomyces could. I'm not sure where we are going from here with our "Little Bug", but hopefully nowhere bad.

Harley has been my light, my soul and my drive since August of 1997 when his tiny abused body was handed to me. In November of that year, when he lost his eye and we learned how sever the abuse was, Harley became my inspiration. He never once bit me (except for the Craisins aunt Linda sent) and never stopped trusting me or the people he meets every day.

Please hold your kids really tight tonight and love them that little x-tra for our Harley "bug".

March 1999
Harley is doing a bit better. Over the past few weeks, he has gained a lot of weight back. We are working with him day and night to make him better. He still needs his exploratory surgery and Adrenal Surgery. He now weighs 1150 grams, up from 1000 grams a few weeks ago.

April 1999
Ok, ok. I've been messing up. I know it's time for a Harley update.

On March 31, Harley's eye socket was re-opened. they drained the same lime green material from the socket and we are still awaiting Pathology results. Dr. Parker (Animal Hospital of High Park) wants Harls to go back to Guelph to see Dr. Millar (Board certified surgeon) for an exploratory of the sinuses.

We are planning yet another fund-raiser for the "bug" in October. It's a celebrity auction in Toronto.

Over the Christmas holidays, Harley was presented with a Harley Davidson Barbie doll! I think I liked it better than he did, but it's really nice!

In April, Paige & Cindy had an artist draw Harley seated on a Harley Davidson. The drawing is hanging in my office and I'll scan it and put it up on the web soon!

June 11 1999
Harley's eye is beginning to swell again. Will have to take a trip to Guelph again very soon. Will keep you up to date.

September 9 1999
Harley's good eye swelled up tonight and drained a lime green pus. We went to see Dr. Parker and were advised to go back to the University of Guelph.

September 13 1999
Harley and I have an appointment to see Dr. Taylor at the U of Guelph small Animal teaching hospital on Wednesday. Harley had another episode last night where his good eye swelled and drained lime green pus.

I was told we may have to face the fact that Harley *may* loose his other eye. Now, before anyone flames me for thinking of this with him, I'm suffering enough with the thought of this decision. When I spoke to Harley's vet today (Dr. Parker) through tears I asked her if it was ethical to do this to an already deaf ferret.

She explained to me that Harley will not allow anything to stop him and that he's the hardest fighter she's ever seen. She told me it was anything but unethical and in fact, euthanising him because of his eye in her opinion was unethical. She told me that after seeing him for the 1st time, she fell in love with him and was bitten by the bug that the rest of us who love him have. She said that as long as he wanted to fight and survive, I should allow him. As long as he wasn't suffering, I should fight for and along side with him.

Last year, we thought Harley was going to loose his eye and I received tons of letters telling me to "put him down". I can't tell you all how much that hurt me. I hope you will all stand by us if he does loose his eye. I just have to give him the chance. Harley is my special little soldier who inspires me in everything I do. Please keep him in your thoughts and prayers.

September 15 1999
Harley's visit went very well today. We are planning surgery for some time next week to explore and possibly reconstruct his sinus cavity. He'll be keeping his eye. I was hoping this surgery could wait until after our celebrity auction so we could afford it, but that's not going to happen. Like any ferret lover, I know there are things I can sell or go without to make this happen for Harley.

The University of Guelph has been kind enough to do the surgery at cost ($500- $600) and I know some of Canada's best surgeons will be attending to Harley.

Today, we did pre surgical blood work and head x-rays. Hopefully it will give some insight to Harley's problems and we can fix them for good. He is so strong. As soon as I know anything, I'll let you know.

I also want to say thank you to everyone on the FML, Ferret Aid List and the Ferret Board. You have all been so supportive and understanding through Harley's and my time of pain. It's been a very stressful past week and I really don't know what I would have done without you all. So many of you have shared your stories with Harley and I and it's just made us want to fight so much harder. Thank you.

September 20 1999
Harley has a new angel today. An angel so sweet and caring. An angel who knows how special he is and how much we all love him. In my process of trying to sell some rings & jewelry to afford his surgery, Harley's angel came to us and handed me $500 for Harley's surgery. All that his angel asked in return was to remain anonymous (except to Harley) and to be able to visit him whenever near by.

September 22 1999
Harley will be going in for surgery today at 12 noon. We will be arriving at the University of Guelph at 10:30am for pre surgical work up and Dr. Taylor & Dr. Homburg will be explaining exactly what they plan to do for Harley.

The surgery is dangerous because what Dr. Taylor explains to me about the ferret's brain. It has a hairline margin between the brain and the end of the sinus cavity (which is where Harley's problem is). For this reason, I am VERY worried about our "bug" and I am hoping to be able to stay the day with him until his surgery is over.

With thanks to Harley's angels, all of you who have supported us through this 2 1/2 year battle and to everyone who cared enough to ask how he was.

September 24 1999
Harley pulled through with flying colors. He ended up having to have a second surgery yesterday to get the remainder of the gunk out of his sinuses.

Harley will have to start a strict program of antibiotics (again) and go in for bi weekly nose flushes like he used to. This is the only way the doctors feel we can cure his problems.

Dr Taylor, (the vet who has been overseeing Harley's case for the last year) will be talking to Ophthalmology on Monday to see how we can keep Harley's eye and still cure the infection. He says the hard part is over, but that in a few months, we *may* have to go back into the sinuses with Dr. Homburg.

Poor Harley looks like Frankenstein (or should I say Frankenferret). His little face has a 2" incision with huge blue stitches. He wants to play so bad, but I'm still a little nervous about him knocking his face on something.

October 1 1999
Harley had his 1st check up after surgery today. He passed with flying colors! He had his nasal flush today and will have to go back next week for another one. The new antibiotics seem to be working well and hopefully, next week's flush will go just as well.

November 15 1999
Harley has been going in weekly for nasal flushes. All have been great. Every week, he also gets his eye socket opened up and cleaned and usually has an antibiotic pack left in there. So far it seems to be working. He's still on regular antibiotics and his spirits are great. He's very happy and still my little hell child at the shelter. We found a little lump in his side that we'll look at during next week's surgery.

Next week on Nov. 26, Harley will be going in for another surgery. There is a space in-between his nasal cavity and eye socket where there shouldn't be one. They have to wall this off in order to prevent regular nasal flora from entering the eye socket and causing any more problems. This is done with a simple fat graph.

November 26 1999
Harley didn't have his fat graph. The lump in his side was removed and we are waiting on pathology and cytology to come back to tell us what it was. Harley has 4 or 5 stitches, but is still VERY playful and interested in being silly. I'll let you all know what the lump is as soon as I know.

January 2000
Harley has been great. He is still the little hell raiser that he always has been. We are saving for a final (hopefully) surgery that will take place over the next month or so. It is called a fat graph.

The procedure entails taking a small amount of fat from Harley's bum and packing it into his eye socket to wall off the hole that has eroded between his eye and nasal passage.

Harley is very excited about being able to attend Ferrets 2000 and meet all his friends who e-mail and mail him letters. He plans to take to the podium on both Saturday and Sunday.

February 2000
Harley is cured!!! We went to Guelph today and Harley had his FINAL surgery!!! The doc says he cured!!!

April 2000
Sadly, i've got some bad news to report. i've taken a bit of a turn for the worse. i'm still happy and doing well, but i began leaking pus from my good eye again. mom's going to be taking me back to Guelph soon if things don't get better. Love, Harley

April 2000
I have an appointment at the University on May 16. It's the earliest they could see me. Please keep me in your thoughts and prayers. I'm starting to get scared. Love, Harley

May 16 2000
I was at the University today. My 2 new friends (2 legged) Ray and Margaret took me to see the vet. The same day, my mommie was in a car crash. I couldn't understand what the vet was saying about me, so I can't relay what happened. Mom will call the vet on Tuesday (after Canada Day) and I will update you then. Love, Harley

May 31 2000
We still haven't heard from my doctor, but mommie says i'm doing really, really good. My eye is better and i'm still her "wee devil child". Mom says i have adrenal disease though. She says i'll probably start Lupron therapy sometime soon. Mom is doing better after the accident, but she still can't chase me the way she used to. Can't wait until she's better so i can terrorize her more! Love, Harley

August 16 2000
I've had my 1st 2 Lupron shots now and I'm doing very well. My hair has begun to grow back and i'm starting to gain weight too. I scared mommie the other day when i was playing. all of a sudden i felt tired, so i climbed back into my cage for a nap. mommie couldn't find me anywhere and she later told me she was crying thinking something happened to me. when she finally found me, asleep, soundly in my hammock, she swooped me up and showered me with kisses. YUCK! Love, Harley "Bug"

October 3 2000
I've been busy taking care of things at home. I had a lot of fun at Ferrets 2000 and you can see how much here...

My hair is all grown back and my eye is doing great. I don't have any more puss coming out and I haven't had surgery in a very long time. I was living with Princess (Bones' friend) for a while, but she is very sweet and quiet and i am a boisterous little boy. Mommie separated us, but we still have our play time together. I worry about Princess, she's never slept alone before. Love, Harley "Bug"

March 2001
I've been doing great. Mommie had me to Guelph again for a check up, but the doc sayz I'm doing fine. I'll always have a little "snark" in my throat because I can't swallow well. Ii was at the pet show and had a lot of fun meeting all the new people. mommie even got a painting done of me dressed in a super hero costume. I guess now I'm Harley the Super Ferret!

June 2001
Well, things haven't been going so great for me. I've been back and forth to the vets for the past month and a half, going for flushes again. The infection is back and mommie is worried about me. I'm still real active and having a lot of fun chasing the cats, but I'm sick again. love, Harley "Bug"

Aug 2001
Well, looks like it's back to the U of Guelph for me! I have an appointment to see Dr. Taylor again on Sept 10. I've been active as usual but I am sounding more and more congested. Mommie is very worried and I am too. Please keep me in your thoughts. Love, Harley "Bug"

Sep. 20 2001
I have another infection called Pasturella Canus. Not sure what that is, but it's not great. I was at the University last week with mommie and the doc did a scope in my throat. There was yellow and white goop in my throat and they cultured it and that's what they came back with. SO, it's back to antibiotics for me. Mommie is very sad but I keep tellin' her I'm fine. Since mommie was hit by an 18 wheeler, i get to spend more time with her so that makes me happy even though she can't play with me the way she used to. Love, Harley

May 8 2002
Well, it's been a long time since my mommie let me update my website. I was doing really well for a long time and playing like a 2 year old even though i'm now much older. Over Christmas i did very well but in February, my eye socket began to swell again. mommie took me back to the University of Guelph where they opened my eye socket every week for a month, drained the green stuff and placed antibiotic packs into my socket. Then, in April i had my fat graft. Everyone thought it would help and make things better for me. Today, my eye socket swelled again and i'm not feeling really well. i'm finding it hard to breathe so i'm going to see the doc 1st thing in the morning. i'll write again and let you know how things go.

Finances are a little tight for us at the shelter right now. mommie just took in 19 ferrets in the last week and of the 19, 5 females need to be spayed (3 are in heat) and 3 males need to be neutered (1 has a tumor on his wee wee). mommie and i know there are so many shelters out there who are in need, but if you are able to help us out in any way, we would really appreciate it. we feel embarrassed to ask for help, but we could really use some help right now. Love, Harley "Bug"

June 16 2002
Dear Friends, i've not been doing so great. i'm having a real hard time breathing and although i'm still real playful, mommie says it breaks her heart to hear me breathe. i was at the University last week and will have to go again this week. i was tested for ADV by United Vaccine and i came back negative. mom was real happy, but our vets were almost sure i had it. i'm glad i don't :-) Love, Harley "Bug"

June 26 2002
Dear friends, it is with great pain and sadness that I tell you that our "Bug" has crossed the Bridge. I'll follow with details soon.