Kuri Ann
November 2001 to June 4, 2008

Kuri came home with her brother Dodge January 26, 2002 from our local
pet store. They were the last two kids and she was feisty! Dodge was
a lover and they were VERY bonded (he would literally cry when he
couldn't find her). For the first 6 months of her life Kuri was mean
about food. To give her a treat you just sorta threw it near her --
otherwise you risked her biting your hand and hissing at you while she
did it! LOL she was just so feisty! After awhile she calmed down and
even gave kisses -- mainly to Mommy though. But she was a Daddys Girl.
I think it was because she liked his rum and coke!

Her and Dodge would tag team other kids if they accidentally got left
out. She would SCREAM like she was being killed, and big Dodge (4
pounds) would come running and grab the other end of the ferret. They
were a team... he generally followed her to anything she got into --
unless it involved UP.

Kuri loved people... she loved playing with people.

Here she is taking a Whopper candy from her Daddy Shawn. Yes, she was
spoiled all her life with Love and extras.

Here she is attacking the cat. They had a love hate relationship most
times.

March 2006 Kuri went in for adrenal surgery and she had a hard time
going under and when they finally had her stable the vet checked all
her lympnoids... they were all enlarged. She had issues with her
heart and being stable so we opted NOT to do the surgery for fear of
spreading what he believes is lymphoma on top of adrenal. Kuri was
given a melatonion implant and did ok with it.

February 2008 Kuri was given another implant because she was really
uncomfortable (dry skin) and nothing was seeming to help. She had no
issues with the implant and continued on about her business...

March 25, 2008 Kuri had a stroke. I came home from work and found her
on the ground seizing. It wasn't like an insulinomic seizure ...she was
hunched and turned and bent in different directions. By the time I got
her to the vet her seizures were not has back. I got her into the vet
and he felt a lump near her butt that he believed was a tumor. He felt
that she wouldn't survive very long due to her condition and what the
stroke took out of her. But I saw in her eyes she wasn't ready to let
go and that she still had fight left in her.

I found out through Frontier Ferrets that they had tried a stroke
medication on one of their ferrets and it helped the ferret for some
time. I knew that Kuri would never be fully functioning again but I
wanted to see if she would have some quality of life. It helped. She
was still falling over (almost like a broken back meets insulinoma) but
she wanted to move. She didn't want to be stuck in a cage all day. She
had a hard time eating kibble because she couldn't stabilize her head
and the food would go everywhere (such a messy eater!). She got soup 3
to 4 times a day.. more at the beginning. She was willing and able to
eat it on her own if you propped her up against something.

Last week she started to go back downhill. She was losing weight and
not wanting to eat as much. Shawn (her daddy) and I talked and he came
over to see her. We made the decision to help her cross over on June
4th at 9:00 am. Her quality of life was gone and in her eyes she said
she had enough. I explained to her that it was ok. I would take care
of Dodge and if he decided he couldn't be here without her I would help
him too.

June 4th, Tom (her other daddy) woke up and checked on her. She was
sleeping in the sleepsack with Dodge. When I got up and checked on her
she was in the top sleepsack -- where she normally eats. Tom thought
maybe she was hungry. So I got her soup ready hoping that she would eat
something. When I went to get her, she was half out of the sack and
just didn't look right. When I pulled her out I knew... her breathing
was bad and I only had a few minutes left with her. I held her and
talked to her some more. She left this world at 7:50 am in my arms. Her
Daddy Tom was there. Daddy Tom read her the Rainbow Bridge Poem while
I held her in my arms. Her other Daddy Shawn came over as soon as he
heard to spend time with her body and say his goodbyes. He wishes he
could have been there.. but she had other plans and didn't want her
first daddy to have to see her go... she wanted him to remember her
how she was... unstoppable.

Kuri was my Warrior Princess
Kuri was my Red Headed Step Child
Kuri-Worry
My Sweet Girl

She joins her cagemates, Princess Pepper, Queen Spice and Bugz. Her
brother Dodge will join her when his time comes (he is now alone
because he doesn't like other ferrets)

Kuri -- Mommy loves you and will see you soon. I will watch over your
baby brother until you are reunited with him and then with me. You go
play and attack those grasshoppers that you love so much... and
remember.. if you don't want to eat the legs you don't have to...
just scoot them under the rug!

Mommy

[Posted in FML 5994]