Hi all,
This is my first posting but I have been reading quite for a few months
now.  I just finally have the time!
 
Anna, I think your puppy and our cat should get together.  Murray is a six
month old male who thinks he is a ferret.  He LOVE to sit in the ferret cage
alone.  Of course, he also loves his travel carrier.  Not sure I understand
this since that carrier usually means a 7 hour car ride with my roommate to
her parents house.
 
On the subject of baths, perhaps someone can explain this (and give
advice?).  I have two ferrets, Chloe and Sabrina.  I have not yet given
Sabrina a bath since I got her a month ago.  Chloe has gotten two or three
since I got him (yes, him, long story) in September.  I still haven't
figured out why Chloe smells more pungent even hough he has been descented
(Sabrina has not).  Chloe HATES these baths to the point where he will
scream when I put him under the water (this only happened once, fortunately
for my heart!).  However, if I put them in the bathroom to play while I
vacuum or something (clean up a ferret mess, etc), Chloe loves the tub and
he will stick his head under the dripping faucet and even push his nose
into the drain.  Hence, he is fairly damp by the time I let them out.
Sabrina will do the same thing but she doesn't seem to mind getting wet
anyway.  She'll even crawl into the still wet cage after I clean it.  I'd
skip the bath thing altogether except Chloe and Murray, the cat, tend to
get into a lot of trouble together and cat slobber makes Chloe a little
sticky feeling 8*).
 
A recent funny story: My mother just bought a giant mouse toy filled with
catnip and covered with a rough rope for the cat.  They supposedly can use
it as a grooming tool by rubbing against and as a scratching post/mouse.
Anyway, its as big as our cat.  Well, it wasn't on the floor ten minutes and
Chloe has grabbed it by the tail and was dragging it off somewhere.  I was
hoping he would "fight" with it as he did with the pig slipper he made off
with a few weeks ago.  In order to cover his tracks, I guess, he acted like
the pig slipper was attacking him.  A self-defense theory.  Sabrina's thefts
usually involve things she wants like ferratone.  Chloe only goes for the
big stuff.  The most recent theory is that this is to make up for the
feminine name.  Trying to be macho and all.
 
Well, I've rambled on enough for now.  See ya!
 
-Courtney J. Scholl
Chloe, Sabrina, Murray and Eden (the taciturn rat).
[Posted in FML issue 1445]