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Post by Deleted on Aug 14, 2012 11:58:50 GMT -5
I have a 7 lb bichon in the home and I have seen Pippa lunge at him.. My female ferret Fiona "lunges" at my dog all the time... when they are playing. There are exceptions but most ferrets don't try to kill cats and dogs, I would be worried about the dog killing the ferrets though, that happens all the time. Cats as well have been known to kill ferrets (I've seen videos of it myself). The point is you can't assume that they would attack a dog (another predator) just because they attacked a rabbit (a prey animal that they have the instinct to attack). It's also extremely common for dogs to kill rabbits, cats to kill rabbits, cats to kill pet birds, etc.
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Post by Heather on Aug 14, 2012 12:41:35 GMT -5
When you mix prey and carnivore and different sized carnivores you're going to get accidents. It's a fact of life. There is someone on board who's ferret got in with her mice. Slaughtered the lot, had them all neatly lined up and was dancing around in a manner that said see....I got them all. Aren't you proud of me. We try and be careful but sometimes it's not enough. You can't blame the carnivore it was doing what it was hard wired to do. I've had ferrets who've eaten nothing but garbage kibbles all their lives, hunt and kill....they didn't eat it...but they killed. It's what they do. You can kick yourself forever but that's not going to accomplish anything either ciao
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Post by Deleted on Aug 14, 2012 13:49:02 GMT -5
I'm coming into this a little late, but I wanted to give you my condolences on the loss of your pet rabbit. Honestly, I think sometimes ferrets have a hard time telling the difference between what they should or shouldn't pick on, and I wonder if this is because of how domesticated they are. We have 8 dogs. These dogs NEVER interact with our ferrets or our cats. They (the dogs) live on an entirely different level of the house than me, my fiance, and our animals. We don't allow the cats and ferrets to interact either. But, I once had a Yorkie get up to our level of the house and the ferrets chased him around like he was the tastiest looking morsel they had ever laid eyes on. I'm sure they were playing, but, Nissa didn't really act like she was. She acted like she was hunting him. But I digress.
The point is, there are some things that we can't look passed, regardless of who is to blame and who isn't. Perhaps this could have been an easier thing to get passed if it hadn't been so messy when you came on the scene. It would have been really great if Sherry and the others were right and he had passed of natural causes and the ferrets just did what they usually do after wards. Unfortunately, we've ruled that out and so now it's entirely understandable that you could not forgive them when another life was taken rather violently. Because of the way animal brains work, the girls will not be able to associate the killing of your poor Peter with their departure and new home. But you know in your own heart that it is the best thing for you and for them.
I hope that once they have been placed in another home you will be able to grieve and move on from this without feeling a great deal of resentment towards ferrets as a whole. This will definitely take time to get over though. I'm sending you positive thoughts and all the blessings and light I have to offer.
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Post by londanx on Aug 14, 2012 14:43:57 GMT -5
I'm so sorry to hear about your little bunny. I too had a little dwarf rabbit of 14 years I recently had to say goodbye to. I hope you are doing okay, the pain will pass. Try to remember all the good times you had with him. Know that your two little girls acted out of instinct. What they did does not make them bad pets, it's simply in their nature. They had no way or rationalizing their actions. That being said, if you find that a new home for the two fuzzies is the better decisions then I would suggest calling Fuzzy Angels in Guelph. Here is a link to their website: lindasferrets.wix.com/fuzzy-angels#! Lindas phone number is 519 265 3004. She operates the shelter. I would suggest calling her instead of emailing her, she hasn't had much time answering emails. I've adopted from there and they will be taken care of very well if you decide to surrender them to the shelter. As with any shelter, taking in more ferrets results in higher costs. Please note that the shelter does not receive any funding. If you surrender your two little fuzzies please consider making a donation. At this point getting money for them shouldn't be a concern (if you love something don't sell it...), the happiness and proper care of your ferrets is the number one priority always. I wish you good luck in making your decisions, I know it must be tough. All the best from a fellow animal lover!
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Post by Deleted on Aug 14, 2012 18:54:07 GMT -5
Thank you all for your condolences once again. I believe that I have found a good home for them with the woman I mentioned in my previous post. Turns out that she looked over the raw schedule and said it was not a problem and that she would continue it. She is a vet tech and offers a lot of out of cage time with her whole apartment being ferret proofed. She wanted to hear a bit about them as well. We have not yet finalized anything but I do get a great impression from her as a whole and have no doubt in my mind the girls will be happier there. As for me, I think I've held off on any pets except for my other rabbit Phoenix since I'm not stable enough in my living environment to take on more responsibilities after this which I do believe is what added to the stress of what happened. I couldn't imagine losing a rabbit after 14 years! Wow! It's sad to say that Peter was only around the 2 year mark He was way too young but maybe it was his time. Again thanks all.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 14, 2012 19:02:25 GMT -5
I'm so glad you may have found them a new home! I hope this change will allow you to grieve and deal with what happened and be happy again.
Feel free to stick around if you like, ferret ownership is not required after all, and please do give the forum address to your girls' new owner, so she will have somewhere to go for advice in case she needs help or has questions! We would be glad to handle any questions she might have so that you don't have to be reminded of what happened.
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Post by Sherry on Aug 14, 2012 20:37:20 GMT -5
As for the new home- go with your "gut" feeling. It usually won't steer you wrong. As well as listening to what your girls tell you about this new person. I too hope you will stick around, and not hold it against a ferret doing what comes natural for them. Hopefully, you'll now have some time to grieve and deal with what has happened.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 14, 2012 22:27:28 GMT -5
Make sure the woman knows that the ferrets can get depressed if they've been with you for a while and stuff. Rescue Remedy is probably a must. Ainslie got really depressed while i was gone, and she wasn't eating by the time i was home.
Depression will kill those ferrets faster than anything, just saying, dunno if you care though. wouldn't blame you since they uh, hunted.
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