What a horrible story!  I understand how awful you must have felt.  I do
want everyone to know the flip side of this, though.  We had a litter of
little Siamese born here almost a year ago.  We were initially very
cautious about allowing any interaction to occur, but one or two ferrets
did find their way into the nursery and check out the kittens.  The mother
didn't seem at all distressed by them--which is strange, because she's not
terribly fond of ferrets normally--and the ferrets were more interested in
her food than her kittens.  When the kittens were a few weeks old--3 weeks,
I think, eyes just open--we brought home a 7 week old ferret.  He was the
same size as the kittens, and climbed into their box.  We didn't see him
for three days; the mother cat nursed and cleaned him.
 
Our ferrets also don't know what to do with live mice, for the most part,
although they are interested in the birds.
 
Basically, although I try to monitor all pet activity around here, if a
kitten is old enough to defend itself (10-12 weeks), it should be perfectly
safe with your ferrets, unless you have some very, very aggressive ferrets.
 
About heating your household for your fuzzies:
 
I have noticed time and time again how happy my ferrets get in chilly
weather.  They love summer evenings, especially if it drops below 60
degrees F.  I don't think I would house them outdoors or in an unheated
building during a Maine winter, but I know people who have.  They had fat
ferrets with very thick fur coats.  And my ferrets' winter coats are
somewhat thicker than other people's too.
 
There's no reason to believe that ferrets are more fragile--when it comes
to heat and cold--than cats are, or any other mammal that has a thick coat
and is well-adapted to outdoor living in a temperate climate.  And I would
like to remind people that no one--ferret, human, or horse--"catches a
cold" because they're cold.  Viruses are viruses and cold air is cold air.
The two are linked--rapid temperature changes, like stepping out of your 70
degree apartment into 20 degree air foru times a day, can make your immune
system weaker.  Also, winter is a time when windows are closed and people
are inside a lot, which is a good way of saying "virus breeding ground."
Not to mention that school-age children are in school, which is
microorganism heaven.  So don't worry about giving your ferrets colds
because it's cold out.  We have enough to worry about with these critters
as it is. :-)
 
I have to disagree with the "turn up the heat" comment.  I know that
summertime is miserable for these guys.  We just make sure they have plenty
of bedding and plenty of other ferrets to snuggle with.  Actually, we do a
fun juggling act--we like the temperature in the upper 60's, the ferrets
like it colder, and the birds are semi-tropical and prefer it slightly
warmer.  No, I don't advocate freezing your ferrets, but if you're
comfortable, or even a little bit chilly, they're probably fine.
 
I just read the Killians' post.  Ooops.  Didn't mean to repeat everything
you said. :-)
 
And last and probably least, the votes are still coming in!  I'm having a
lot of fun doing a lot of data entry (sigh).  the consensus so far is that
it's impossible to choose, and all the nominees are wonderful.  Does anyone
want to think up an award?  I didn't get that far. :-)
 
Jen and the Crazy Business
http://home.maine.rr.com/tesseract
[Posted in FML issue 2876]