We will miss you Frido

Saturday, April 9th at 9:30am we said goodbye to our little Frido. As I type this I can't believe he is no longer with us.

Over the past week Frido's condition got worse with each passing day, and the pain meds were no longer working. He was no longer himself. He wouldn't play with us and had no energy. The tumor behind his eye was growing so large that Frido lost his sight in that eye and and the insides of his eye were being pushed out so much that not only could he not close his eye, but it was stretching his eyelids out.

Saturday was a very hard day. We gave Frido his favorite foods for breakfast: Ego Waffles, cereal and even some KitKat (obviously treats that we would never give him before). It was a very solemn walk to the vet's office, as Pat and I were both teary eyed as we were about to close a very fun and loving chapter of our lives.

As I entered the vet's office, I could no longer hold back the tears and just broke down crying. They then took us back into a room and gave us some time to be with Frido. When the vet came in he proceeded to tell us that it was definitely Lymphoma, as his lymphnods were now enlarged, and this was the best option for him. This made us feel so much better; however, did not take away the pain of losing our buddy. The vet then explained that he would give him a shot and he would fall asleep within 10 minutes. After that, they would give him another shot that would stop his heart beat, but we didn't want to be around for that. When the vet gave him the first shot we gave him his favorite treat to distract him. The vet then left us to be alone for Frido's final moments. The shot was supposed to take affect 10 minutes after injection; however, Frido fell fast asleep within seconds. We cried, gave him kisses, told him how much we will miss him and that Pat's grandma will be on the other-side to take care of him.

When we came back to the apartment everything reminded us of Frido. We spent the remainder of the day out of our apartment, trying to distract ourselves from our sadness.

There definitely is an emptiness in our home and hearts. Frido has been with us for the majority of our married life and has brought so much joy to our lives from the moment I surprised Pat with him as a gift.

Here are just a few memories of Frido that I never want to forget:

-He was no ordinary ferret, he was special, with such a sweet and tender heart. When feeding him treats he was always so careful not to bite your fingers.

-In his later years he would love to crawl up on your lap and cuddled while we sat on the couch.

-Every morning he woke us up right before our alarm, ready to take his morning shower and eat whatever Pat was having for breakfast.

-He loved his night walks and trips to the park, digging in the dirt, and rubbing his face in the grass.

-When we had our car he was the best car companion, immediately curling up on one of our laps for a nice nap.

-He loved cereal.

-After his morning shower, he would go wake Pat up by crawling up into bed and play biting his toes. He loved playing underneath the covers.

-Frido was the perfect pet for us, sleeping 20+ hours a day, and being an ideal pet for an apartment.

-Since we kept Frido in a bathroom with a shut door during his "childhood" he hated closed doors. Any time a door was shut hewent right up to it and started scratching until it was opened, not even caring to enter the room, just hating that the door was shut.

-Everyone loved Frido, especially our nephews. Whenever we took Frido out we felt like superstars, with everyone being so astonished at seeing a ferret on a leash.

-When I was a teenager I found a Baby Ruth candy bar at my Grandparent house that expired in 1983, the same year I was born. I kept it because I thought it was so funny. Last year, when Pat and I were living with my parents for a few months Frido sniffed out this candy bar and ate half of it! Gross!

-We had a secret industrial tube that we hid behind our couch that Frido would love to run through when he got excited.

-When we would take him on walks in Provo and we would get near our apartment, we would take his leash off and Frido would know exactly where to run and be waiting at our door once we caught up with him.

-Frido was deaf.

-We had some very close calls of losing Frido. One time we could not find Frido in our apartment, but we had to leave for school and work. We ended up leaving him out; however, we left the window open. During work I got a call from Pat saying that an old man found Frido. Aparently, Frido clawed his way through our window screen and escaped our apartment. An old man, who had ferrets in the past found him and picked him up with no problem. The old man then proceeded to knock on people doors asking if they knew who he belonged to. Someone mentioned that some college kids lived across the street (apparently ferrets are college pets-haha). He knocked on our friend's/neighbor's door who recognized Frido! A few days later, some ferret books and magazines were left on our door step. We were TOTALLY freaked out about this, since it was a secret that we had Frido. A few days later, when we saw the man at the park walking his dog, we found out it was him who left the books, which was really sweet.

-We would take Frido everywhere. We especially loved to go on hikes with him to Bridal Veil Falls, where he would scale the steep trails with ease, and take walks on the wooded planks at Cascade Springs.

-Frido was VERY curious and got into everything, especially if he smelled something sweet. Without fail, if someone left their purse or bag on the ground Frido would sniff out the only treat they had and try to steal it.

-Frido had a love hate relationship with water. He loved getting splashed by it but hated getting in it. However, he was really good about getting baths. Whenever we would wash him we would remain perfectly still while we lathered him up. However, the moment we let him go after the bath was done he would go berserk running around the apartment trying to dry off.

-Frido loved hiding things, especially pens with rubber on them. It was the funniest thing to see Frido carrying and item that was 2 times bigger than he was across to the room to his secret stash of his favorite items.

-One day at a park in Provo, Pat took Frido on a walk. Often time when we would take him on walks we would take off his leash because he was really good about following us around. On this particular day, Pat did take off his leash. In this park there was a little river that had ducks in it. When Frido realized that there were ducks, his animal instincts kicked in and he started chasing them by jumping in the water and swimming after them. We have never seen Frido swim, even though they have webbed toes and are related to the otter. Although Frido hated getting in water, he was totally determined to get himself a duck and didn't care one bit.

-Just a few months ago Pat left our apartment with a friend. Both he nor I didn't noticed that Frido had sneaked out. A few hours later, I heard scratching at our door. So confused, since I thought Frido was sleeping somewhere, I opened the door and Frido came walking in! That smart little ferret had quite an adventure snooping around our apartment building then found his way back home!

-We always knew that if we started to prepare something to eat, Frido would be out of his cage or sleeping place within a few minutes begging for food. He had the most amazing sense of smell.

-When Frido got excited, especially when we would take him outside, his tail would get all bushy.

-When driving back to California to live for a few months, we had to smuggle Frido in since ferrets are illegal. Pat and I were driving separate cars. When we came to the check point I had Frido in my car and was wearing really baggy sweat pants. Before I got to the checkpoint I put sleeping Frido in my pants to hide him. When I approached the checkpoint officer I started to get really nervous! What if he asked me to get out of the car for some reason? What would I do with a ferret in my pants!? Thank goodness, that that didn't happen and I was just asked a few questions, including "Do you have any animals with you?" I of course, told a little white lie, since Frido is my baby, not just an animal (haha).

We have had so many fun and fond memories with Frido and we will miss him dearly. We can't wait to see you again.