From: ar12@quads.uchicago.edu (Richard Nixon)
Subject: Re: Ferrets & 'Putty 'Tats
Reply-To: ar12@midway.uchicago.edu
Organization: University of Chicago Computing Organizations
Date: Mon, 31 Aug 1992 13:49:58 GMT

In article <1992Aug28.154649.24678@midway.uchicago.edu> ar12@midway.uchicago.edu writes:
>Well, my new room-mate moved in this week with a 1yr old cat, Monk. These
>past couple days we've been trying to acquaint Monk with my 1 1/2 yr old
>male ferret, Gizmo. First introduction went something like this:
>    Gizmo: Makes a bee line for Monk
>    Monk: Runs like hell and seeks shelter on the window ledge out of
>          ferret reach.
> 
>the second attempt went as follows:
> 
>    Gizmo: oblivious to Monk, more interested in newly arrived packages.
>    Monk: Observes crazy ferret from a respectful distance.
>    Gizmo: Bored of packages, rediscovers Monk, trots over for a sniff
>    Monk: backs off
>    Gizmo: not to be deterred, persists in an aggresively curious fashion
>    Monk: evidently unsure of Gizmo's intentions, lifts a paw, and swats
>          Gizmo on the head
>    Gizmo: no pain, probably thinking "HE WANTS TO PLAY!", and begins
>           "The Ferret Dance"- hopping around, feining attacks at Monk,
>           mouth open and gets distracted as he bounces right into a
>           wall whereupon he spins around in the ferret classic- "Ok,
>           who's responsible?" 
>    Monk: Observing once again, but now with a "get off the drugs, ferret"
>          expression.
> 
>The rest of the encounter went wuch the same. Their interaction consists
>of Monk swatting Gizmo, Gizmo "attacking" Monk, and so on. What concerns
>me is that Monk is not only about 3x Gizmo's size, but also is not de-clawed
>and should she really get irritated by my oblivious ferret (who by the way
>never knows where the fun stops) there's little doubt that she'd obliterate him.They've only had a about four supervised encounters so far so it's a bit early
>to expect them to be acquainted. How long should it take? Also, note that
>Monk's swatting Gizmo doesn't seem to be a form of play, but rather
>a 'defensive' reaction against an overly aggresively curious ferret who's
>intentions are being misinterpreted.    
>    Anyway, if anyone out there has experience with ferret-cat introductions,
>please let me know. Also of pertinence is the fact that neither animal has
>any experience with anything other than humans.
>Thanks,
>Andre
>

Adding to the above: 
 
Gizmo (ferret) has taken to hissing at the cat- especially while engaged in
jumping at Monk (cat) who's usually perched just 2" out of reach on a window
ledge- goes somthing like this:
 
	Monk: sitting on ledge watching crazy ferret
	Gizmo: desparately jumping at the ledge, gets lucky every once in
		a while and manages to get a hold (hissing all the while)
	Monk: waits for my derranged ferret to get a hold and promptly
		swats him on the head- knocking him back down.
	Gizmo: undeterred, begins all over again
 
Given the combination of ferret single-mindedness and the universal 
kitty cat passtime of "swat anything that moves," it isn't hard to see
that the above sequence is an infinite loop :)  Anyway, I don't have
any experience with ferret-other animal interaction, but I'm assuming
hissing at one's neighbor isn't a playful form for the expression
of affection- is this correct? If so, what should I do?- besides, that is,
kicking the cat off the window ledge and feeding it to my ferret :^)
 
Andre