There are few problems with our new living arrangement. Dervish cannot be loose in the house, which is hard because she's used to having complete free reign. The first day I had her in the living room on her leash, and she got under the couch and wouldn't come out. So now her downstairs romping is limited to the leash and in my arms. When she's down there, she'll cuddle up with me; she never used to settle down with me unless she was half-asleep. Is a slight behavioral change like that normal in a new home? I was thinking she was staying close because of the strange people in the room. The cats haven't posed a problem. Our 15-year-old alpha cat, Muffin (who has seen three other cats enter our home) sniffed for a while, then licked Derv once, and went back to sleep. Cupcake stared, and hissed once. Bad Cat is our predator, a former feral cat, and the one I was most worried about. Turns out she's *scared* of little one-pound Dervish. She sits about three feet from the cage and stares, but runs away if I pick her up and move her closer. She'll hop from place to place, and Dervish will follow. As far as she knows, Bad Cat is just a huge, funny-looking ferret! :-) Dervish has also learned a new trick. There's a trash can right next to my door. She hides behind it, slinks out and scratches the carpet, then retreats to safety when I advance on her. It's like that arcade game where the thingies pop up and you have to hit them with a hammer. (Of course, I'm not hammering her, just trying to pick her up!) On the upside, my room is full of papers and magazine piles and boxes for her to play in; it's so funny to see her little fuzzy butt sticking out of something new she's discovered. There's also a clearer bedroom we can play in. For a temporary situation, it's not bad. And this is a bit off-topic, but still. Last night I had a dream that I took Dervish to Disney World (couldn't have been DisneyLand in CA :-/), and that we went on the Peter Pan ride. I let her ride alone, so she was on the little boat behind mine. Of course, she got away, but I couldn't get off the ride to go get her. And when I got off, there was no way back into the ride. Oy, Dervish is making her way into my dreams!! -(TX) Meghan and Dervish the (Cat-Chasing) WonderFerret p.s. Thanks to everyone who wrote me about soy milk. I had no idea there were so many vegetarians on the list! Y'all's support has really helped! However, after an employee at the health food store saw me trying to keep Dervish from snorkling in the bulk food (she didn't, don't worry, just tried to get at it from the bag I carry her in) ... well, we sort of have a bit of a reputation. [Posted in FML issue 2548]