Dear Ferret Folks-

Went to a homeshow this weekend and ran into a fabulous collection of
little toys made mainly for cats, although some of them are also things
that ferrets would treasure, too. (Crocheted or knit mice, embroidered
jingle balls and cubes, catnip filled goodies with and without
feathers, crinckle toys, dragging wand toys for 'fishing', a whole
range, beautifully made.Not cheap, but nice quality stuff. Click the
thumbnails to see bigger pictures.)
http://www.cattyshack.net/products.htm

I bought a little sack tufted with pheasant feathers (apparently a
pheasant had an infortuntate ending in her neighbour's yard!) that
Sterling the Silver Cat *cannot* leave alone. I wish I could have
brought Ping is He and Puma to select a few toys that specifically
appealed to them. It's hard to pick out toys for your friends, if you
are not certain precisely what kind of jingly, stuffed, or crinkly
goody they might want.

In any event, the lady and I got around to discussing ferrets, and her
ferret toy sales. She does sell a certain number of her goodies to
ferret owners. She was told (and tells her customers) not to buy any
ferret toys containing catnip, as catnip is bad for ferrets. I must
confess that I have never heard that. Catnip is a square-stemmed member
of the mint family (mentha) and has the name "nepeta cataria." I cannot
find any information that leads me to believe that it is bad for
ferrets, fresh or dried. I do imagine, though, that a ferret could
chew open a catnip toy and make a nasty mess, but then again so could
a cat. It is harmless to poeple, you could eat great hands-full with no
difficulty. My understanding is that it makes a smell that mimics a cat
sexual pheremone, and cats just can't ignore it. It would surprise me
to learn that ferrets would key into the same pheremonal cue that cats
do. They are very different critters.

The lady asked if I could please research the issue and get back to
her. She'd love to sell more little toys, obviously, but she has been
carefully warning self-stated ferret owners about the catnip when they
tell her they are shopping for ferrets. (She warned me once I mentioned
my ferrets, and I appreciated that.) I don't have a financial stake in
this (darn!) but I would like to get her some good information if I
can.

Thanks,
Alexandra in MA

[Posted in FML 5900]