Dear Ferret Folks-

We, too, have a kitten, now that we have moved to our own home.  (Yea!)
His name is Sterling, as he is a beautiful gray color.  Plus he was
*born* in Sterling.He also purrs almost constantly, like an idling
Sterling Company tractor.  (Those are also gray.) Sterling is about four
pounds, now, and he plays with everything.  Pieces of dog kibble.  Bits
of cellophane.  Pencils lying on the floor.  He is not picky, anything
is fair game and subject to being pounced on.  Sterling also plays....
with ferrets.

But not *all* ferrets.  The first time Ping met Sterling he faced the
kitten down with a Clint Eastwood look on his face.  Ping didn't lunge,
or try to get away.  He stood his ground and suggested that Sterling
might want to try making his day, punk.  Sterling wisely declined.
Good call, kitty.  I have never seen Ping in ass-kick mode before, (Who
knew?  He is so laid back...) but he made it clear that he could and
would whip cat ass in a heartbeat.

Puma, however, thinks the kitten is jolly fun, and much to my delight,
she now generally bites him rather than *me*.  They play carpet shark
beneath the sofa together, they chase one another all over the house.
She also kicks her own cat butt.  She climbs up on top of Sterling and
grabs a bite of him near his face.  Then she starts to roll like a log,
the way crocodiles do.  Sterling *howls* when this happens, and although
he is about four times her weight, he does not go into slaughter mode,
he just waits for a hoomin to come and rescue him.  I have been watching
carefully, and Ping and Puma play together in just the same way.  A bite
near the face, and then the crocolile log roll.

I am quite surprised by how things have shaken out.  I would have
expected Ping and the kitty to be buddies, but no.  Not at all.  And
Puma?  Not the most user friendly ferret, but she will play with Sterling
until she is exhausted, and hot to the touch.  The biggest difficulty has
actually been with the dog, who gets excited by Puma and Sterling's play,
and wants to join in.  The dog, the noble Allis Chompers is in my opinion
too darn big to play any teeth games with a ferret.  I worry that she
will have a flash of ancestral wolfness, and bad things will happen.  I
stop her when she wants to participate, and she waits by the sidelines,
gently moaning in disappointment.  Sorry, dog, that's just the way it
has to be.  All in all, I am delighted by the way things are working out.
It is wonderful to have a cat again.

Alexandra in MA

[Posted in FML 5390]