Hi to the other amy's with ferrets and cats(there seem to be atleast 2 more of you on here), and to the rest of you too. This is about ferrets and cats - one amy wrote about getting her kitten and ferret to get along, litter box problems and fleas. Alot to deal with at once. As far as moving goes, it seems to me cats are very disturbed about moveing, but my ferret loves it.I remember the 1st time we moved after we had her (Wiggles or Wigglesworth) -she tunneled thru all the boxes, collecting her toys (or what she considered her toys) and was unpacked way before we were. She was very indignant when we unpacked and thru out all the boxes and paper-they were alot of fun to investigate. And she loves having a new apartment to investigate. Right after the last time we moved , my very old cat died, and in rapid succession we got 2 kittens (Pele and Carmen). I made a big effort to get kittens smaller than Wiggles (not too easy, she is a small ferret). I only kept them separate from her about one day, but I was working at home and could generally supervise them at 1st. Wiggles was very pleased at the idea of someone small to play with (I am not nearly playful enough, and and the last cat died at 19 and was not interested in her) .The 1st kitten was very afraid of her for about a week. Wiggles would run up and try to get her to play, and she would run off. Wiggles, being a very clever ferret, figured out how to "hook" her- she would run around in the room, but distant from the kitten, rustling papers and things that would drive the kitten wild with curiousity and the desire to play. These won out within a week or so, altho it was only when Pele got much bigger than wiggles, that she felt confident enough to let wiggles chase her. As pele got large, I decided that wiggles was looking a little thread bare (tired out) and decided to get a 2nd kitten (Carmen). Pele was mortified that I got another cat, wiggles was pleased. Carmen got along with the ferret right away, and long before Pele (the first cat) accepted her(carmen). Now They all get along well and play a combination war-tag-hide and seek that can last a long time and create much havoc, but its fun. The great advantage here is that the cats play with and tire out the ferret, and she gets into much less mischief now than before I had them. When Pele is tired of playing with the ferret, she will turn around and sit on her. Carnivores play rough! and I sometimes worry that the (now much larger) cats will hurt the ferret. But they havent-I think the rule is that if they dont draw blood, they are just playing.These animals are all capable of doing serious damage to eachother-the cats could clearly kill the ferret, and she could certainly hurt them if she wanted. Since they don't, I assume (by definition) they are playing (among animals of the same species, there might be an establishment of dominence thing, but I dont think thats going on) Actually, several times, I have seen very small wounds on Wiggles neck, so I guess the cats do get carried away. But clearly they are playmates-and the ferret initiates play most (after all she is a ferret) of the time. The litter box problem- I would try moving the litter box to where the ferret went. We have 3 litter boxes because with this many the ferret always uses one(almost one per room). I think you said she went right next to it- if this means in the corner next to it, try putting the box in that corner. Wiggles has nothing against using the cat litter boxes at all. They just have to be in the right place- sometimes if one is over a few inches she will go in the corner next to it. (I put newspapers under and around the litter box for this reason) I think the cats using the boxes have helped identify their purpose to her, and she uses them more reliably than before. You save yourself alot of bother if you let the ferret tell you where she wants the litter boxes (and have a few). Flea infestations: any soap kills fleas, but only commercial flea shampoos will kill eggs and deter fleas. Use Johnson's baby shampoo- it doesnt hurt the pet's eyes ("No more tears"). And you can use it often with out worring about toxic effects. Apparently kitten flea shampoo is what is reccomended for ferrets- but I have always used the Johnsons baby. Take your pets, shampoo them, and take them to someone elses house for the day. THen bomb the hell out of your house to get rid of fleas-use something that kills eggs and larva. Keep the house closed for 3 hours, and open windows and doors to clear out atleast 1 hour. You might want to shampoo the kids again before turning them lose-but this is assuming something nontoxic like baby shampoo is used. So I have a question: is dark waxy build up in ferret ears definitely mites? Because the cats don't have it but the ferrets ears are really needing to be cleaned often (every month) for the last 6 monthes or so. And I don't see where she could get them from. What is reccommended? thanks, amy, wiggles, pele, and carmen [Posted in FML issue 0563]