I am a bit behind on the ferret mailing list, but I noticed this topic come
up a couple times.  My roommate's kitty Richard (he's about 8 months old)
has finally decided to accept his fate and play with the ferrets.  Richard
originally soured on the idea of playing with the ferrets because the two
grey ones bit him.  It took him several months to realize that the long
white skinny one was actually quite friendly.  Nowadays Richard and Linus
are the best of chase and wrestling buddies.  The two of them crash all
over the house and wrestle in the hallway, my roommate's bedroom and
basically anywhere else Richard can actually catch Linus.  It is very cute
to watch them.  Linus is quite verbal when he plays with Richard.  He's
always been a whiner when he wrestles with the other ferrets.  Their play
time is always supervised but Linus has never shown any indication that
Richard ever hurts him.  Richard doesn't use his claws when they are
playing either.  Richard will tackle Linus, Linus whines, Richard lets go,
Linus sits up and tackles & chews on Richard.  That's their usual routine.
Quite cute.
 
On a sad note...after much much thinking (about six months' worth) and
weighing of different possibilities, I finally decided it would be best to
give away my two youngest ferrets.  Various people have emailed me about
this, and I hope their general offers of support are indicative of the rest
of this list.  It was a very hard decision to make but I truly felt that,
could I find a caring home for Martin & Sybil, it would be best for
everyone.  My ferrets do all sleep together (or they can, they don't
always) but generally they divide along age lines.  Sybil & Martin play
together, Linus plays with anything, and Zooey has always been more
human-oriented.  Linus & Zooey are getting better on their meds but still
require monthly blood tests, and the vet doesn't know when they can be
weaned off their meds and how long before they will have to go back on.
They are my oldest, Zooey I have had for 4 1/2 years, and I know she's not
going to be with me forever.  I want to spend as much time with her as I
can.  She had insulinoma & adrenal surgery, and while her blood sugar level
is back to normal, there is no telling when she will get sick again.
 
If this post helps someone else wrestling with this decision, then it
served its purpose.  I am not expecting any Rbad ferret momS posts.  This
was a hard decision to make, but I truly felt it gave every ferret the best
chance.  I have since spoke with Martin & Sybil's new family and they are
adjusting quite well.  Investigating everything and running all over the
place...
 
Minta
[Posted in FML issue 2985]