I just noticed today that one of the nails on Dervish's front paw is
completely broken off.  She hasn't said anything about it (no wincing or
noise when I handle the paw) and doesn't seem to be in any pain ... should
I be worried?  I've scoured the house and found no bloodstains or the
broken-off piece of nail; I think it would've bled, as it's broken down
past where the vein would've been.
 
Now, the latest exploit from my little bundle of joy:
 
Dervish has a ferrety bunker under the bed.  She's got her cache of beauty
products, as well as several plastic cups and a blanket.  I came home late
the other night, and let her out of the cage.  I poured some num-num (IAMS
kitten chow) into her bowl, but in my exhaustion, I left the container
open.  (I keep it in a plastic pitcher-thing with a flip-top lid.)  I was
too tired to get her out from under the bed, so I left her loose in my room
and fell asleep.
 
The next morning, the num-num was gone, the container totally empty.  We're
talking a pound of num-num vanishing into thin air.  I questioned the
ferret, but she admitted nothing.  I questioned Bad Cat, who has a taste
for kitten chow, but she admitted nothing.  Between the two of them, they
couldn't eat a pound of num-num in one night, even if they were trying
and working together.
 
I watched Dervish carry the num-num from her bowl and hide it under the
bed, as ferrets are wont to do.  And then I detected a faint num-nummy
smell emanating from beneath me.  Sure enough, all the plastic cups she'd
hoarded under the bed were full of num-num!  How long would it take for
one ferret, working dilligently, to squirrel away that much num-num?!  And
why on earth would she do it?!  I mean, the little woozles are certainly
hoarding animals, but that much num-num?!
 
My friends always tell me I'm lucky to have such an amusing pet.  My
friends, however, do not spend bleary-eyed mornings digging ferret chow out
from under their beds.  (Nor do they have an extensive knowledge of poopie
variations, but we'll leave that one alone.)
 
-(TX) Meghan and Dervish the WonderFerret ("Sherlock Holmes you ain't ...
now gimmie back that num-num.")
[Posted in FML issue 2615]