Hi everyone!
I got my new ferret-friendly kitty this week.  She is a large ball of
orange fur!  Her name is Matty and is very sweet.  She likes the ferrets
and follows them around and tries to play with them.  Greta is basically
ignoring her, but watching from the corner of her eye.  Lucy just runs
around all over hissing, but is getting a bit more curious about this
orange fuzzball.  There has been no aggression by anyone.  I think Lucy is
afraid the kitty is going to steal "her" socks.
 
This morning, I let the fuzzies out for playtime before work.  A little
while later, I heard a whiney-type noise.  The new kitty makes some strange
sounds (dolphin and bird impressions), but it wasn't coming from her.  I
heard Greta scratching at the dresser and I figured she was just trying to
undo the ferret-proofing I did last weekend.  But I heard the whining with
it too, so I checked it out.  She had her head stuck between the dresser
and the wall and couldn't get it out!  I pulled the dresser back to free
her.  She was a bit shaken up, but not hurt.  Are my ferrets just more
accident prone, or are people who leave their ferrets loose when they
aren't home, just lucky?  I can't imagine not having mine in a cage when
I'm not home.  They would have both been long dead by now if I wasn't
around to rescue them from their mishaps.  I ferret-proof to a fault (or so
I thought!).
 
Lucy is also a water bowl digger, and can she make a mess!  I find that if
I fill the bowl almost to the rim, she is less likely to do this.  (I also
had a cat that did the same thing).
 
The book I mentioned a couple of weeks ago "The Tao Full of Detours - the
Behavior of the Domestic Ferret" by Fara Shimbo, is extremely interesting.
I am almost done reading it, but it is one of the best books I've read
about ferrets as far as why they do what they do.  She says that if a
ferret goes after and bites a certain person, it is most likely that they
smell of perfume, scented soap/deoderant, or cigarette smoke.  She says
that cigarette smoke makes ferrets from non-smoking homes extremely
nauseated, which causes them to be more aggressive.  Ferrets noses are very
sensitive so this makes sense.  I have a sensitive nose and can't be around
any of these kinds of smells, either.  ( but I don't bite, tho).
 
Millie, if Mehgan isn't interested in this guy, I'm looking for a
ferret-loving man...
 
Barb and the ever-lovin' fuzzies, Lucy  (what the heck is this orange
thing that keeps following me around? It better not touch my socks!)
& Greta  (Mommy, I've got a headache! I need a couple of Craisins...)
 
"Resolve to be tender with the young, compassionate with the old,
sympathetic with the struggling, and tolerant of the weak and
wrong...because sometime in your life you will have been all of these"
[Posted in FML issue 2592]