Hello FML people... I've been lurking on the list for a few weeks now.
My name is April.  I live in New Jersey with my twelve rats and my new
husband, Tom (we got married three weeks ago, after living together for
four years... the "H" word still sounds a little strange :)
 
The ratties are wonderful, but recently I've come to the reluctant decision
that I need to sort of phase them out; my formerly mild allergy to them has
been worsening to the point that I can't give them as much attention as I
really want to anymore.  So, time to think about a different kind of pet.
Duh, here I am.
 
Last night Tom and I went to visit Kim Rusching (sp?  sorry if I mutilated
your name) and Kista Ferret Shelter... I unloaded some disused cages on
her and proved pretty conclusively that I am not the least bit allergic to
ferrets.  Thanks, Kim, for letting us invade your space, even though we
were horribly late and I forgot to introduce Tom for like an hour.  I am
not *quite* as flakey as I probably managed to come across...
 
So, next step is asking a bunch of dumb questions.  We're moving in a few
weeks, so there won't be any actual ferret-getting til we're settled, but
I plan to be good and prepared when the time comes ;)
 
When I got home last night, my rats pratically went out of their minds
smelling every single inch of my ferret-tainted clothes.  They were
definitely nonplussed :) Now I'm wondering if anyone who happens to have
both rats and ferrets has ever had any particular problems with scent
crossover; it isn't that hard to keep the critters physically separated,
but they're sure to smell each other.  How much stress is that likely to
cause, and might individual animals really freak out over it?
 
Also, I've bought some of my rat cages from Martin's in the past, and been
really pleased with 'em (http://www.martinscages.com.)  Would anybody
happen to know whether their cages are relatively ferret-proof?  Any
particular model cage I should get, or not get?
 
And does anyone have recommendations for good ferret vets in NJ?
 
Thanks... feel free to respond by e-mail if you prefer.
 
-April
[Posted in FML issue 3180]