Tonight I learned something very serious, the hard way.  I always thought my
animals got along, and there wasn't anything to worry about.  I mean, I have
3 dogs, 5 cats, and my ferrets.  Certainly, I watched them, and supervised
them when the ferrets were out.  There had never been a problem.  Until
tonight.
 
My one dog, Foxy, has been around ferrets all of her life.  Then tonight,
while we were in the kitchen, I watched Foxy pick up my new little baby,
Lady Amber, and in less than 2 seconds, shake the life right out of her.
She was dead when she hit the floor.  Foxy, knowing she'd done wrong, ran to
her crate.  Lady Amber lay in a pool of blood, in the blanket I had wrapped
over her, bleeding from internal injuries.  I was trying to contact the vet
emergency room, but I knew she was gone.
 
Whenever someone would ask me how my ferrets got along with the dogs and
cats, I always responded, that they were fine, as long as they were
supervised.  Tonight, in my kitchen, not 10 feet from them, I watched a
terrible thing happen, and couldn't stop it.  So, I'm not going to be so
quick to tell people that they all can get along.  Nothing about this is
fair.  Even now, with one loss, I have to make a decision regarding Foxy.
Can I trust her around my other 4 ferrets?  This is one of the saddest
nights of my life.
 
Thank you for letting me share my pain.  Somehow, I knew you'd understand.
But, please also learn from this situation.  Be careful, please.  I always
thought I was, but it wasn't enough.
 
Lady Amber, thank you for sharing your short life with me.  You only had 7
weeks on this earth.  I loved you so much, as I held you in my arms
handfeeding you with that baby mush you loved.  I think you knew how much I
cared.  You were named after a strong female warrior in the Brian Jacques
series, and you truly lived up to that name.  I'll always miss you...........
 
Penny
[Posted in FML issue 1863]