Dear Dr. Williams:
 
>Now you've made it a personal thing between your vet and me, so I will no
>longer comment on this case.  I generally ask not to know who people's
>vets are and your previous posts did not mention anyone's name.  I shall
>not be put in a position where my remarks will be used to damage the
>reputation of another vet.  I believe that the comments on the treatment
>in this case were enough, without pointing out publicly who the vet is.
>
>I do not like to bash vets.  For the record, and for everyone on the FML,
>when you publish a name (or as some are want to do, intimate the details
>of someone's location or practice), you preclude any comments from me.
 
I wish to apologize for upsetting Dr Williams by including my vet's last
name in my post.  It was an innocent, but obviously costly, mistake.  I
took my time with that particular post, rereading and changing to make it
clearer.  As I read it, I noticed how many times I was saying "the vet"
and decided to replace some of them with Dr. X's name.  No other reason
than that, and no more thought went into it than that.  I didn't even stop
to consider the consequences of putting his last name in a public forum.
I doubt he even reads the FML, and I don't know of other ferret people
around here.  I didn't state the name or location of this vet's practice.
 
I had no idea how Dr. Williams felt about the name thing, and didn't even
think about proper/improper "protocol." Now that he's explained why, I
understand his viewpoint.  I certainly didn't mean to discredit this vet.
If an FMLer was to email me to find out where this vet works, and I told
them, the result would be the same.  Around the lunch table at the office,
when pet owners compare notes about their vets (as actually happened just
last week), we use names, whether they're good or bad.  If I were to
confront my vet with comments from the FML, I wouldn't identify the source
by naming the FML or the posters.  Bottom line, though: I made an innocent
mistake that was clearly a bad judgment call.  It's just a coincidence that
I never named the vet in previous posts.  It's also a coincidence if I've
never named my previous vet.
 
I simply don't have the time to scrutinize every post I submit to make
sure I don't point fingers at anyone, or name names, or otherwise create
a potentially harmful situation for someone.  I understand Dr. Williams'
position, and he obviously feels very strongly about it.  I regret that
my mistake has caused him to comment no further on Templeton's case, at
Templeton's expense.  To avoid the risk of me making another mistake, I've
decided not to post, at least for a while.  If I have a question (and I
have a lot of them), I'll simply wait and hope my unasked questions are
eventually posted on the FML (and that the answers are also posted) or
search the Internet and hope the information I've found is accurate.
 
In the remote chance that this vet subscribes to the FML, let me publicly
apologize to him for mentioning his name.  I had no bad motives in
mentioning his name.  In fact, it's quite possible that my vet's
treatment/comments were right on the money, in which case he would be
heralded.
 
As bad as I already felt about this whole situation, I can't help feeling
partially responsible for Dr. Williams' announcement in today's FML that
he's posted for the last time and is unsubscribing.  Although he never
mentioned this incident, I can't shake the feeling that it was part of the
reason for his decision to leave this forum.  If that's true, my mistake
was too great, and I apologize for any part I played in his decision.
 
Debbie
Brae, Templeton, Sally, Phoebe and Klondike
[Posted in FML issue 3332]