A short story, about a year ago (will be a year May 22) I took Nickademus
my beloved and first ferret to the emergency vet clinic after he went
downhil very fast.  It was 2am and my regular vet was out of town.
Nickademus crashed hard..  he went from being his normal self (he had
Adrenal, insuloma (sp?! sorry) and cancer in his kidneys.)  He was a
rescue, when I adopted him he had the cancer already..  he was sick so
they couldn't do surgery..  by the time they were able to, it had spread.
He was my angel.  Anyway, I took him to this emergency "vet" who made me
wait an hour and then looked at him..  by this time Nickademus was so far
gone he was turning cold in my arms.  I opted to put my little guy to
sleep so he wouldn't suffer.  This "vet" gave him the injection in his
abdomen..  thinking the "vet" knew what he was doing I didn't think
anything of it.  I bought my baby home to bury him next to his other
ferret friends and his kitten.  I had to go to work, so I left him in a
box wrapped in his favorite blanket (my favo rite shirt.) I got home 8
hours later..  and he was out of the box..  breathing.  Needless to say I
was hysterical.  He died in my arms about half an hour later.  My mom
tells me he was just waiting for me to come home to say goodbye.
 
I know ferrets are illegal here (CA), but this vet to this day still
insists he gave Nickademus the injection in the abdomen because thats
how it was done..  ?!  I'm confused about that one..  but thnakfully the
clinic now turns ferrets away (they aren't the only emergency clinic thank
goodness.)  I guess my anger comes more from the fact that my little guy
was treated like trash because he was a ferret.
 
I am still trying to get over my grief of Nickademus..  he died in a
horrible way, and it broke my heart.  I still stop by my vet's office to
get him his food every once in a while..  or I'll find myself squeaking
his toy looking for him..  it's been a year and it still hurts.
[Posted in FML issue 3744]