The Ferocious Feline

Ferrets love to eat, sleep, and sleep some more.

In fact, most ferrets sleep about 18 hours a day on average. Most of the time when I let Clyde out to play he doesn't last very long before he passes out in unusual places. Sometimes I find him asleep on my bathroom mat, behind the trash can in my kitchen, and even in the litter box room. However, his all time favorite place to catch some z's is under or near the couch.

Now, we've all had that friend or sibling that we love to try and annoy. That person that minds their own business but you just can't resist the temptation to mess with them... Well that individual for Phinn happens to be Clyde.

Every time Clyde passes out and makes the mistake of falling asleep in the open, Phinn simply cannot resist the urge to toy with him. The poor boy gets tackled, licked to death, and sat on by this ferocious feline, and I've got the evidence to prove it.

Photo Credits: Madeline Hill

Maybe one day Clyde will be able to rest in peace.

The Feeling of Fall

It's the most wonderful time of the year...

And I'm not talking about Christmas. Fall has finally begun. The leaves are just beginning to turn and the hot summer days we have grown accustomed to are withering away and being replaced by that lovely Fall air.

I love everything about fall. The food, the weather, the scenery, and most of all, the holidays. Thanksgiving and Halloween are my upmost favorite holidays of the year. And with Halloween right around the corner, I began thinking: now that I have animals I can have some fun with this years Halloween. 

I always swore I'd never be the pet owner to dress their pets in ridiculously cute costumes, but you know the line... "never say never." And really, what better way to celebrate this holiday other than dressing up a baby kitten and a ferret together. 

Needless to say, I've been shopping around online for the perfect costumes for my two babies. I've attached a couple links below to some stores that offer Halloween pet costumes just in case there are any of you out there wanting to dress up your animals in unnecessary costumes as well. 

Happy (almost) Halloween everyone! May your apple cider be warm and your pumpkins be masterfully carved.  

https://www.spirithalloween.com/category/pc/1921/980.uts?currentIndex=72

http://www.partycity.com/category/halloween+costumes/dog+costumes.do

http://www.petco.com/shop/en/petcostore/category/halloween-shop/halloween-cat-costumes

Opposites Attract

Today, I find myself feeling very fortunate that I have two animals that get along so well together. It's never a guarantee that animals will form a strong bond with each other... in fact, sometimes its the polar opposite.

Often times, pairing animals together can turn into a disaster. You might have a cat and a dog living under the same roof that despise each other. Sometimes female animals can never seem to get along: they constantly face off with each other and strive for superiority. Or, perhaps you have two animals that are constantly fighting with each other and it creates havoc in a household.

I often think to myself, "What if my cat absolutely hated my ferret and constantly tried to attack it? Would I have to give up one of my animals that I love because I feared for its safety? What would I do if this "shot in the dark" combination just hadn't worked?" You never really know what you're going to get when you bring animals together. That's why it feels like you've just hit the lottery when pairing animals together works out.

I find it especially heartwarming when animals from opposite ends of the spectrum form a beautifully uncommon friendship.

So, as an ode to my animals unique and unusual friendship, I've added a Youtube video below of some of the most oddly captivating animal friendships out there today.

True Life: Clyde Has An Obsession With Pants

Clyde loves pants.

Any pants. All pants. Big pants. Small pants.

He especially enjoys flowy pants: pajamas to be specific. The little sucker will bite the bottom of those pajama pants and play tug of war with me, teeth clinging onto the fabric for dear life. His strength and willpower is really quite impressive.

Another one of Clyde's favorite things to do with pants is crawl up into them.

Ferrets love to explore and stick their heads into places that seem hidden to them. It makes them feel like they've discovered a really cool, secret hiding place. So what does this mean for Clyde's momma? (me). It means that whenever I am using the restroom, he tries to hide in my pants.

Talk about no privacy.

Click on the links below to watch Clyde's mischievous and ornery behavior in his war on pants.

School, School, Go Away

Hello again, everyone!

Today is a day just like any other day... except for one thing. Today is my birthday! I have finally broken out of the teen years and shifted into my 20's. Now, I'm not one of those people who thinks the whole word should stand still on my birthday. In fact, I just see my birthday as any other day in the year.

However, this morning I did have just one simple wish for my birthday: to stay at home all day and hangout with Phinn and Clyde. How am I supposed to get up at 6:30 a.m., go to class, tennis practice, and weights when I have this adorable face tempting me to stay home and hangout with her?

I packed up my backpack and went over to Phinn one last time before I left. She was laying on the fireplace purring and meowing as if she was begging me not to leave. I sat down by her and began to love on her, and she put her adorable little paw on my shoulder.

Photo credits: Madeline Hill 

As I got up to leave, she stared at me with the solemn expression that Puss & Boots from Shrek mastered so well. Goodness gracious, who knew being a parent was going to be such a tear jerker!

Masters of Play Time

Phinn and Clyde are masters of play time.

I have never laughed so hard from watching a couple of animals play together. From the very first day I brought these two home, they clicked with each other. Phinn and Clyde love spending their time playing with one another, and the fascinating thing is that they both know each others limits. They know how soft and hard to bite, how quick to run and jump, and how to hide from one another efficiently.

For example, Clyde knows that Phinn is too big to fit under the couch. If Clyde is being ambushed by Phinn, he will scurry under the couch for protection until he can regroup and come up with his next strategy.

Phinn on the other hand knows that if she needs to get away from Clyde for any reason, all she has to do is jump up onto a piece of furniture because Clyde's vertical jump is nothing short of pitiful...

I have com to find out that during play time, my baby kitten Phinn is the intelligent one who has mastered many acrobatic moves and skills in order to defeat Clyde. As for Clyde... lets just say his main strategy for taking down Phinn is to jump and leap into the air in attempts to distract her. (I think Clyde believes that if he looks dumb enough she'll go easy on him).

Below, I've attached a video of my two babies playing together. I hope you all enjoy watching as much as I do!

Baths and Bowel Movements

Today, Clyde found himself in treacherous territory...

Yes, today was bath day.

Ferrets have a naturally musky odor, so bathing them every once and awhile is what I like to call a pretty good idea.

I would love to say that the bath went smoothly; however, the bath scared the poop out of Clyde... literally.

As I was scrubbing Clyde's fur, the look of pure terror filled his eyes. Clearly, my sweet Clyde had never been given a bath before, and this was completely new for him. As I finished washing his fur, I grabbed a towel to dry him off. Suddenly, as I picked him up, he pooped himself. And that poop went

All. Over. My. Floor.

I instantly felt empathy for this weird little creature. He must have been scared out of his mind. But more than anything, I felt empathy for myself because I was the one who got stuck cleaning this lovely mess of his.

Next time I bathe Clyde I'll make sure he uses the litter box beforehand.

Until next time,
Madeline

Photo Credits: Madeline Hill

The Start of a Mischievous Adventure

Hi friends!

My name is Madeline Hill and I am a sophomore at Washburn University in Topeka, Kansas.

Laugh if you must, but my life-long dream has been to own a ferret. (Of course, by lifelong I mean my short existence of 20 years). However, no matter how hard I tried to convince my mom as a kid to let me own a ferret, I knew my chances were non-existent and I watched as my dreams withered away...

Although my mom never let me own a ferret during my childhood, everyone knows the cheesy line: "never give up on your dreams." And I refused to give up on mine.

After many years of patience, this past summer my dreams finally became a reality. I got my own apartment where I was given free reign over what animals resided there. And you guessed it, I bought a baby ferret and named him Clyde.

Now, I'm a firm believer that animals should have companions. The logical explanation would have been for me to purchase another ferret. Ferrets are sociable animals and they get along great with one another. There are very few cases in which ferrets do not get along...

So what did I do? Just the opposite.

I rescued a baby kitten from the humane shelter and named her Phinn. I looked up to the sky hoping that somehow this combination of a baby kitten and a baby ferret would work. If it didn't, I was in for a serious nightmare. However, life is all about taking risks, and mine seemed to pay off.

From the moment they met, Phinn and Clyde have been the best dynamic duo to exist. They cuddle with each other, clean one another, wrestle and play with each other, eat the same food, and most importantly, they both use the same litter box. (Which means less clean up for their mom, wahoo).

Every day with Phinn and Clyde is an adventure: their adventure. I'm just the lucky one who gets to be apart of it. This blog will be the grounds for the adventures of Phinn and Clyde.

But with adventure, mischief is always right around the corner...

Photo courtesy of myself, Madeline Hill