Yes, it was an accident. I have not been reading as much as I should,
and so I seem to have (thankfully) missed anyone blaming Alexadra for
the death of Ping.

I remember emailing you about Shakespeare and I still have the email.
Ever since I lost one in an accident, I wanted to just end rescue, and
I wanted to actually give all my little ones to someone else, and never
see a ferret again. I had let them sleep under the oven for years at
one apartment, and then at a new apartment, they continued. One day,
the smallest ferret I had and have ever seen, Zip, managed to squeeze
into the side of the oven through a 1/2" gap and got into the back and
was killed instantly as she came into contact with the wiring. I asked
many people if it would have been instant and they said undeniably yes.
That was my only comfort.

I slept with her things. For a long, long time. Then I posted on the
FML, I believe - and local groups, and I got support from the people
online - stories of how other shelter moms lost little ones, personal
ones, and I won't say who, what, when or where, but there are
accidents. They are not on purpose. We can't change the past. Each one
of us goes through life with different knowledge, experiences, and we
all mean the best.

Heck, even tonight, I wanted to distract someone from digging at my
foot so and I thought, here, have a plastic bag. I had torn a hole in
it but forgot to tear it into nearly half, ensuring the ferret could
not suffocate or become tangled, basically just a piece of crinkly
plastic. Two seconds later I realized my mistake and snatched up the
bag and tore it in half before letting them play with it. Accidents
happen, and when animals are involved, the possibilities are endless.

Alexandra chooses to keep dogs and ferrets. It's her choice. I keep
two cats around the ferrets! Do you know how many times my cat has
scruffed ferrets? He does it every single time he can get away with
it...which is a couple times a day. And even though the ferrets like
it and seek him out, he has left a bitemark twice on one of the
heavier ferrets because he then drags them. I *should* be keeping them
separate, but I don't, because I watch and try to make sure he leaves
them alone. The other cat, I believe he got too excited and used his
back claws while playing with a ferret. There were some nasty claw
marks on the ferrets back. If anyone has ever seen a cat kill a rat or
other small animal, you know that if they can scratch at the stomach
area, you can get some really bad bleeding and yes, death!

I am making my choice, because most of the time, there are no issues.
However, it is entirely possible that one of my cats seriously hurts
or maims a ferret, even though I think the chances are slim to none.
The same thing with Alexandra and her dogs.

I hope Alexandra does come back, and I hope Todd and Puma are snuggling
close right now, and that Puma and the whole family feels a little
better. Please, do not take attacks to heart (even though, I am the
worst one to say that, because it is so difficult for me to take that
same advice).

Laryssa

[Posted in FML 6093]