I am still coming to terms with the death of my gorgeous girl Gretchen. I adopted three exbats 16 months ago. I could not believe how much I loved them. We lost one of our girls to a fox last winter which made my bonding with my remaining two girls extra special. Gretchen was my magic girl, my guilty favourite. She started producing soft shell eggs and no amount of calcium altered the course of peritonitis. I am new at this and wish I had seen the signs much earlier. I took her to the vet and he said the most merciful thing was to end her suffering. I was devastated. How common is this ghastly affliction and what are the early signs? Could I have reversed things? I feel dreadful and now I am anxious about Dora. I will adopt as soon as I can. She is bewildered and lonely and I worry about her being warm enough at night. Any advice on how to do things differently in the future and how to make things better for Dora while we wait for a rehoming date? Thanks Angela
