Irrationalities of Pet Ownership

Having pets results in some irrational thoughts now and then.  Many would say that having the number of critters we have is in itself irrational.  I disagree but I understand why some may think that.

The irrational thoughts I am speaking of - are those crazy thoughts that occur when situations outside of my control crop up.  For instance....we have been letting Nigel out of his cage much more so than usual because we have several rooms gated off to keep the little baby ferrets find-able.  After Nigel's toenail in the carpet incident a couple of days ago I decided to put a baby gate across the hallway so there was no way for him to get to the stairs.  With that precaution taken I let him stay outside of the cage overnight.  With that gate up he is confined to the bedroom, bathroom and the end of the hallway.  About midnight - I heard him out running around, checking out the babies and having a bite to eat.  This morning I couldn't find him.  Okay - I can deal.  By noon - I was really wanting to find him - I looked - hard - in lots of places....nothing.  By 5 pm I started moving furniture.  This is where irrational thoughts start - maybe he is stuck again, maybe he is trapped and hungry and dehydrated, maybe he got around the gate somehow.  That last irrational thought resulted in searching the lower level of the house.  Nothing.  By 8 pm I was fairly panicked - thinking something totally dire had occurred - scared to look for fear of finding an injured or worse little hedgehog somewhere.  Around 9 pm - from somewhere - couldn't tell where - he comes waltzing out like nothing was happening.  I picked him up - he was happy and cheerful and completely oblivious that I had been searching for him all day.  Needless to say he is sleeping in the cage tonight and for the foreseeable future.

I have irrational thoughts when I can't find the ferrets too - maybe they got out or are trapped or something else irrational.  All the time these irrational thoughts are occurring there are parallel thoughts occurring about how irrational I am being.  Its painful.  I wonder if the critters know they have the ability to make their mommy completely neurotic?