I am a long-time cat person, sharing my home with eight felines ranging in
age from one and a half to fifteen years, and have only had ferrets for
about four years now.  Although all the cats didn't take to the ferrets
right away, we've had no problems with them getting along.  My younger
cats invariably think the fuzzies are a lot of fun, and my oldest, Thomas,
always politely offers them the top of his head to be groomed, although he
must realize by now he's far more likely to get an ear nipped <g>.  My
six-month old ferret, Dana, and my two year old cat, Pangol, are the best
buddies in the world.  Pangol gets pretty rough when wrestling with his
feline friends, but seems to be well aware of Dana's much smaller size, and
when he might be kicking and biting away at one of the cats in play, he
restrains himself and only licks furiously at Dana.  She's probably rougher
with him than he is with her.  Dana prefers to play with him than with my
older ferret, Chad, who is just way too laid-back for her.  They're
hilarious to watch, especially when I see the cats mimicking something
they've seen one of the ferrets do, like trying to squeeze into some place
only a ferret would fit, or burrowing under blankets.  All my cats want to
be ferrets!
 
Maybe I've just been lucky in my experience, but it seems to me that cats
and ferrets are a great combination :-).
 
Cheri, Chad
[Posted in FML issue 2511]