Rest in peace, my Lamb

Timothy died in his sleep on Wednesday, July 18, 2007 sometime before midnight. He had been having serious health issues for the last few months, including spinal arthritis, an enlarged heart with thickened walls, and greatly diminished lung capacity. He was under the care of the most wonderful vet I've ever known, Dr. Kerry Milliken of Double R Veterinary Group in Calabasas, CA. She thinks that Timothy had juvenile pneumonia and that his lungs had diminished in capacity slowly over the short two and a half years of his life. He was on daily meds for the last few weeks.Timmy brought joy to my life that only a possum can bring. He was gentle, independent, sweet, yet retained his possumness till the end. I will miss my Lamb more than I can express in words.In January of 2008, I'll be attending Cal Poly Pomona to study Animal Science / Pre-Vet. Timothy's illness and Pedro's passing were my strongest inspirations; Chumpy, of course, planted the seed back in May 2004.A final note for all you possum people: If your possum coughs, it is NOT normal. Both Chumpy and Timothy coughed throughout their lives. It sounded like an old man's cough - wheezy, congested, but was nonproductive. We thought it was just something possums did, until I met the amazing Dr. Milliken. If your possum is coughing, please get veterinary intervention immediately. I'll be happy to share any of my limited information, as will Dr. Milliken. [email protected] - every bit of information helps.*************************************************I am a young male possum, rescued from a West Hollywood neighborhood while breaking and entering into an apartment through the kitchen window. I am a full-time housepossum and don't go outside. Neither my person nor I like the sun and prefer cloudy, rainy, dark and dreary. We think we're probably vampires. I DO like to bite and draw blood (this is a joke). I eat a special diet and, unlike most possums, don't like live food such as crickets, worms, bugs and baby mice. I am extremely protective of my bed and will nip at anyone and anything that enters my nest without checking with me first. My people have possum scratches all over but that's just because of my untrimmed claws, which I need in order to climb around. I am very active at night. I walk and climb on everything, including my person, at least while she's sleeping. I've been biting my person's feet lately but I wait until she's sleeping to do so. She now has puncture wounds on both heels, hahaha! I poop a lot and just love to do it in the bathtub. I would love to answer questions about me - I'm my favorite subject!