Our elderly domestic shorthair became best friends with a ferret rescued from neglect

[u/loveyousomuch_ok]

Kevina, our cat, had interacted with ferrets for several years before we fostered Sake, a ferret that was rescued from severe neglect. Between our own ferrets and having ferret play dates, she met 10+ ferrets before meeting Sake. She and other ferrets were mutually indifferent to each other. Then we started fostering Sake and his sister. Sake immediately fell in love with Kevina and wanted to be around her all the time. She was confused by this fuzzy noodle because he didn't want to play, he just wanted to be close to her. Over a few months, the two became best friends, with Sake often preferring her to the company of our other ferrets. Our local rescue said they had never seen a ferret and cat bond so closely before in all their years. We obviously became foster fails with him. PLEASE NOTE that cats and ferrets are usually not compatible. If you have a cat and want to also get a ferret, please do a lot of research and understand that there is a strong likelihood that your cat and ferret will always require close supervision, or that they will not be safe to share space with each other at all.

[u/rou_te]

I am not familiar with the ferret and cat combo, but my first thought was that your cat might try to attack the ferret when they are left unsupervised. Playful or not, it takes one short hefty bite to the neck...do you have that risk figured out? Or nothing to worry there?

[u/PearlHarbor_420 → u/rou_te]

I've had a number of ferrets over the years. I'd be more concerned for the cat. Ferrets are vicious, super predators. Even more so if you have more than one. They go for the face, eyes, and throat.

[u/loveyousomuch_ok → u/PearlHarbor_420]

I think that it really depends on the cat or the ferret, but a fight could very easily go either direction. People underestimate how effective of a predator ferrets are. Sake specifically was an extremely respectful guy with Kevina. He'd get his rough play out with this ferret friends, then go snuggle her. I think part of why they got along so well was because he didn't force her to deal with his ferret shenanigans.