Dear Ferret Folks-

Recently, we installed a Cat Door for Sterling the Silver Cat, who
was very tired of having to howl at the door to come and go. We were
especially tired of the *Very Loud* howls he would treat us to at
approximately four thirty in the morning, when he wanted to be outside
hunting by dawn light. For that howl session, he would lie down right
in front of our bedroom door and cut loose with some particularly
irritating feline opera. We installed the Cat Door, and now he goes in
and out many times a day, unassisted, and our home is peaceful once
more.

Sort of.

There is still the matter of letting the ferrets romp and stomp for a
good part of each day. Due to an oversight on a hoomin's part, some
bricks left on the fireplace hearth were piled up in a stack against
the cabinet that Sterling jumps up and onto in order to reach his Cat
Door. In essence, the well-meaning hoomin built a ferret ladder that
allowed curious weasels to climb up the top of the cabinet that leads
to the Cat Door.

The inevitable happened, out of our sight. Ping, our champion leaper
and climber let himself out of the house via the Cat Door. It was
several hours before his absence was noted, and by then it was very
dark and very cold. I mean very cold, into the teens overnight with
a chill wind.

My husband and I went all around the house and yard with flashlights
and rubber squeakies calling for him, but he never appeared. We finally
went to bed, quiet and sad, snuggling under the covers for comfort. But
it never came. We each thought about how big the world was, and how
Ping was so small. We knew Ping would be afraid...wherever he was.
Afraid and wishing for Puma, and his hammie, and some kibble. True,
he wears mink long johns...but he's my little *Ping.* My buddy. And
he was lost.

We were worried. My husband, an early riser got up around dawn when
Ping and Puma are most active and squeaked and called and squeaked and
called, but no Ping came. Now we were very worried. Ping had never
spent a night outside before. We have raccoons...dogs...many critters
in the woods ringing our property. Critters bigger than ferrets. Our
biggest comfort was the knowledge that the majority of ferrets really
dislike being in open places, like a lawn or a street. They want to
keep close to structures that they can hide under...and that doesn't
include the woods ringing the property. He probably hadn't gone far.

When I woke up I went around calling and squeaking, calling and
squeaking, and thinking about what the FML had taught me about ferrets
on the loose. Taking one suggestion I had read about, I brought my cat
carrier outside and put it down near the back deck, a place that Ping
like to scoot under on the rare occasion that he manages to slip out
the back door. He plays under there, exploring, until I call him out
from under there with a squeakie. It is a place he knows. I put some
of Ping's bedding in the open carrier, and put a dish of his favourite
kibble down on the ground in front of the carrier. I could see the
carrier and dish right out the back door. Then I went back to calling
and squeaking.

I was calling and squeaking, and thinking about the "Lost" posters I
was going to create with my printer and put up around the
neighbourhood, about knocking on my neighbours doors when I saw
something out of the corner of my eye, low to the ground. It was PING!
Squatting in front of that little dish of kibble in front of the cat
carrier, and wolfing those little crunchies as if he were a starving
hyena. I picked him up and he wasn't happy, he wanted more kibble. Too
bad. I brought him inside where it was warm, and there was kibble a
plenty. His toes were like tiny cold river pebbles. His nose was icy.

After a *huge* meal, he was very glad to see me. He asked for a pick
up and a patting session, something he doesn't do every day. He and
Puma had a sweet reunion. Puma sniffed every part of him to smell the
history of his adventures in his fur. Then he galloped right straight
to his open cage, and curled up in his own good smell, his own good
hammie. And fell fast asleep.

The bricks have been moved, and Ping can't get near the Cat Door
anymore. I am so glad that I had read about what people on the FML have
done when one of their little friends has slipped out of the house. Not
all of those stories have an ending as happy as mine. But I had a plan,
and some good suggestions soley because of what I had read here.

Thank you, FML. Ping thanks you, too.

Alexandra in MA

[Posted in FML 5802]