>I wrote last week about a stray kitten I wanted to take in, and needed
>advice on how to handle the situation.  First, thanks for the responses I
>received, but I need more help now.  When I was talking to the woman who
>found the kitten originally (and who has paid the vet bills so far--that's
>how I met the kitty), she was very upset when I told her I hoped the kitten
>and my ferret would grow to be close friends.  She said, "aren't they
>vicious animals?" ...
 
I've had experience mixing cats and "non-cage" situation ferrets, so my
advice is geared that way.
 
When mixing cats and ferts, the best possible situation to start from is
baby cat, adult ferts.  When you first allow them access to each other,
supervise closely.  The ferts will probably play too rough at first; trim
the fert's claws, but not kitty's.  If the kitten is reasonably active and
able to "go high", make sure he has nice high places to climb on to take a
break from the ferts - as time goes on, he'll see them as playmates.
 
Once the cat is older, if the ferts are confined to a single bedroom and the
cat has free run everywhere, you can install a "cat door" in the bedroom
door about three feet off the ground.  Anchor some carpet to the area just
below the door, and you have a situation where the cat can go in and out but
not the ferts.  If, as is normal, the cat and ferts completely adapt to each
other, make sure everyone's food and water is central in the "fert room".
 
Here's my story with mixes, in brief: My brother's two adult female ferts
raised Charley the cat.  When Charley was about 9months, thieves stole the
two girls, so we brought baby Felix the Albino fert home.  Charley raised
Felix - by "raised" I mean played with him gently as a baby, a bit rougher
as he got older, and even carried him around by the scruff as a baby.
Charley is fine; Mikey was added as an adult fert and adjusted to Charley
just fine, we added another kitten who fit right in, then my brother took
the cats to Idaho, where they're fine.  Felix died at age 4.5 of cancer;
baby Hairy Crumb was recently added.
 
Nutrition: Charley showed no signs of obesity despite eating high-grade
kittenfood fit for ferts his whole life.  His high level of activity
(despite being an indoor cat - it was the wrestling with weasels that did
it) turned that extra protein into *MAJOR* muscle tone, the most of any cat
I've ever heard of or seen since.  The second kitten, Buster, *did* get a
tad fat on the high-grade food into adulthood, so we had to start doing
seperate feed as he turned adult - monitor the cat(s) for this potential
problem.  If it's an active cat by nature, go ahead and leave them on good
kitten food - or even fert-specific formula won't hurt them, *if* they're
"bulking up" with muscle, not fat.
 
The sooner you syou start mixing the species (as in, the younger the cat
is) the better off you'll all be.
[Posted in FML issue 1743]