Born March 29th, 2003 to parents Princess Alibaster and Odesse (that cool little dude was a Best in Show National Champion!), Kyoko joined the fur clan as a friend and companion to Papillion and Obelix, later joined by Wiki, and most recently Qanuk and Lil'Bit...
From her earliest days as a psycho-spastic fur demon who babbled at herself in the mirror, the tiny but beautiful Kyoko grew into our constant companion, always ready for a game of tag or hide-and-go-seek, who came whenever Kim called her:
As so many ferrets do, Kyoko developed signs of insulinoma over the past few months. Her excellent heath made her an ideal candidate for pancreatic surgery - a routine procedure to remove any tumors that developed on the pancreas, thereby preventing the need to manage the cancer with daily medication, at least for a few years.
Kyoko was admitted for surgery on Monday, December 15th. All went well and 3 tumors were removed. Kyoko was discharged and returned home Monday evening. Unfortunately, it wasn't long before we noticed signs of severe distress in Kyoko - vomiting, wheezing and signs of shock. We returned her to the vet who managed to stabilize her, but by 2 am it became clear that something beyond low glucose levels was contributing to her demise.
Suspecting intestinal torsion or another internal complication, Kyoko underwent a second surgery in the early hours of Tuesday morning. The veterinary surgeon found that Kyoko's small intestine had formed a "loop" and "adheased" itself to the section of her pancreas where a large tumor had been removed. A painful and deadly situation, the surgeon successfully separated her small intestine from the pancreas. But two surgeries in under 24-hours proved to be too much for her - Kyoko didn't wake from the anesthesia.
To say that losing Boo is hard sounds stupid and simplistic. She was our Boo-baby, the only ferret we've ever raised from a kit - and she wasn't supposed to go so soon. On her we pinned the hopes that a ferret can actually live 10 years. She was a wonderful ferret - and although it is NEVER easy to say goodbye to a fur-kid, today we feel particularly empty, hollow and heartbroken.In time the pain will fade, and we'll be able to smile at many of the great memories that are "par for the course" when living with ferrets. For now, it's nice to look back at the few pictures we have and remember Kyoko and Wiki pouncing and tube-romping:
And the other things she loved - like digging (be it in the dirt, snow or Raja's (clean!) kitty litter):
And chicken baby food!
Such was her passion for Gerber baby food that Kyoko even managed to put her differences aside and share a plate of the good stuff with her evil-monkey-arch-nemesis, Lil'bit:
Kyoko helping to pack up for her next big adventure...
Moving to England!
Despite the trauma of traveling, and the loss of her best friend, Wiki, in April 2008 due to complications following a double adrenealectomy, Kyoko actually seemed to love England. Spending more time outside than ever before, Kyoko loved to play in the garden and on the footpaths - particularly in the hedgerows, where all sorts of interesting scents were found!Kyoko (center) and the boys:
Kyoko Superstar, her little boo-thang curled up for a sock nap:
In loving memoryKyoko
March 29, 2003 - December 16, 2008
You can shed tears that she is gone, Or you can smile because she lived...
