>I was alarmed when I read the letter from Rhondda Lake about putting an
>11 day old kitten in with ferrets.  Maybe I misread it, because 11 days
>is awfully young to be away from its mother.  But in any case I feel an
>urgency to relay a story to you that happened to me regarding exactly that
>issue.
 
First, I'm so sorry you had such a terrible experience as the one described
in your note.  I know how I would have felt.
 
Now, I feel the need to clarify and explain.
 
Yes, 11 days is extreemly young for a kitten.  As I stated in my post she
had been abandoned by her mother.  I had to bottle feed her and stimulate
her.
 
My ferrets are caged only when I'm not home.  This means my ferts were
going to HAVE to share living space with this little kitten one way or
the other.
 
I did NOT put the kitten in the ferret cage.  My mother assisted me in a
careful process.  I admit it was a process we were making up as we went
along because at the time we had no one to ask for advice.  Following is
the steps we used to introduce the animals.  I was surprised at the
'adoption' of the kitten.  To be honest I was hoping for tolerance.
 
Step 1: I petted and played with Nala and Surabi, the fuzzies.  I
constantly rubbed their heads and necks in an attempt to get as much
scent as possible on my hands.
 
Step 2: I took Starbuck, my kitten, and rubbed her down all over in an
attempt to place the ferts scent on her.
 
Step 3: One ferret at a time I held them securely as my mother held the
kitten equally securily.  We brought them nose to nose and encouraged
sniffing.
 
Step 4: The fuzzies were put in their halters and leashes.  I sat on the
floor and placed the kitten in front of me.  My mother took tight hold of
the leash and, one at a time, the ferts were allowed to examine the kitten
at they would.  Both my mother ad I were prepared to pull back the fert and
snatch up the kitten at the first sign of trouble.
 
Step 5: The next day I sat on the floor with the kitten and one ferret at a
time was let loose.  I was right on top of any interaction, as the kitten
was unable to crawl much due to her age.  The ferts sniffed her out then
ignored her.  She wasn't moving much, therefore was not of much interest.
The second ferret was introduced in this manner.  I stayed on the floor and
hovered over th kitten as she went too sleep.
 
Step 6: This one was the ferts doing.  Tired of playing Surabi noticed the
sleeping kitten.  I was still sitting behind it and hovering.  Surabi
sniffed out the ball of warm fluff and decided she made a good teddy bear.
She curled around the kitten and went to sleep.  Shortly after Nala
followed suit.
 
I hovered for an hour, when the kitten woke and demanded her bottle.
 
It was a long time before unsupervised play commenced.  Only after the
kitten could run and pounce on her own.  But by then the ferts had already
made their adoption of her known.
 
I had no prior experience with introducing the fuzzies to a new housemate,
so I don't know if I did it properly, but it worked.
 
I would NEVER just toss a defenseless kitten in a feret cage and walk away.
 
Rhoni, mommy to Nala, Surabi, and Starbuck the ferretcat
[Posted in FML issue 2876]