I have quite a hodge-podge of animals in my home and they are all kept
separated. First there's the ferrets. They have their own part of the
house, consisting of what would "normally" be two bedrooms, a bathroom,
and a small hall. There is a plexiglass baby gate that keeps the
ferrets in, and the other animals out. I have my computer and a TV in
that area so do spend a lot of time there. They have no access to the
outdoors, cages and toys are kept from the windows so they can't climb
to them when I open them, and all hazards have been removed. They get
to stay out all day. They are as safe as they could possibly be. Could
something awful happen? Of course. The biggest thing we have to
remember about ferrets is that they have NO FEAR of anything!! That
is what I call their total lack of common sense. Nothing is too big,
nothing is too tall. It something bad happens, it would totally be my
fault.

I have shih tzu. They have access to the rest of the house. Now, there
are probably no less aggressive dogs on the face of the earth, but I
have never trusted them with the ferrets. I intentionally got dogs that
do not have a hunting instinct. Call me paranoid. Often, I will take a
ferret to "that" part of the house to feed or cuddle, and the dogs will
sit next to us, but I am always holding the ferret. They actually pay
no attention to each other. Have I ever messed up? Yep! On occasion, I
will feed a ferret and lean over and put it down without even thinking.
Nothing bad has happened as a result YET, but it certainly could.
Luckily, I have realized my stupid mistake instantly. And, it makes me
even more careful the next time. When this happens, the ferret would
likely be just fine, but I don't want to test that theory. If something
bad happens, it would totally be my fault.

I have an unreleasable opossum (no eyes). She is housed in a large cage
in the area where the dogs are. I often hold her and she sleeps on my
chest, with the dogs next to us. But, I don't trust any of them (op or
dogs) not to attack if frightened. Again, the dogs will lie next to me
while I hold the op and have shown no aggression. The opossum has shown
no aggression toward the dogs either. I don't have the nerve to put her
down on the floor with the dogs. Call me paranoid again. She is blind,
and one of the dogs is blind. What might happen if they mistakenly bump
into each other? I don't want to find out. In the evenings, she gets to
play in the ferret area once they are caged for the night. I also take
her outside to explore in my fenced back yard. I stay with her because
I know she could climb the fence and disappear. Sometimes, the dogs are
out there also. I stay next to her and the dogs go on their merry way.
But I never leave them outside together without my supervision. If
something bad happens, it would totally be my fault.

I have rats. They are housed in the same area with the dogs and the
opossum. They have a huge cage (a Martin's miniature ferret cage) and
have little interest in leaving it. When they do, I hold them, both
for their safety and the safety of my house. If one were to get loose,
it might be difficult to find, and it could cause some damage along
the way, not to mention become prey for ferrets, dogs, ops...... If
something bad happens, it would totally be my fault.

I know we all wish our animals could get along but, after all, they are
animals. I often read on this list where people let their ferrets and
dogs (or whatever) interact, sometimes supervised, sometimes not. It
gives me a knot in my stomach every time I read it. Chances are that
nothing will happen if some reasonable amount of care is taken, but
it's not 100% sure. It only takes one time to have a tragedy. We are
totally responsible for our pets. If there is an accident of any kind,
it's our fault. We are their caretakers. Yes, accidents can happen to
all of us, but we should minimize the possibility as much as humanly
possible. It is NEVER the animals fault. It is totally and completely
OUR fault because it is our job to protect them. We are the caretakers
in this relationship. As someone else mentioned, we tend to
anthropomorphize our pets, and that can be our fatal mistake.

I won't say an accident will never happen in my home. I've been very
fortunate that through 15+ years with ferrets, and many dozens coming
through my rescue, I have never once had a tragic accident. That is
good fortune on my side, and I like to think that my paranoia and
obsessive nature has paid off. Could that all change today or tomorrow?
Of course.

If you can't, or don't want to, protect your pets fully, then perhaps
you need to look into other hobbies......

Katharine

[Posted in FML 6087]