I am utterly disgusted with something that just happened. SO flecking
angry and I WILL be contacting the Ontario Veterinary Medical
Association in the morning to find out what can be done.

A woman and her son just contacted me about their ill ferret. By the
sounds of the symptoms, it looks like he has a prostate blockage due
to adrenal disease and can not urinate. they called the ONLY emergency
clinic in St. Catherines Ontario and were told they do not see ferrets
PERIOD. I called one of our other members in St. Catherines who just
had a ferret at an emergency clinic. She told me it was the same clinic
that saw her kid only 2 nights ago. I then called the clinic to find
out what was up and was told that they only see ferrets if they are
clients of the emergency clinic's "member clinics".

I explained that this was an emergency and I would do anything to get
this ferret seen. Nothing out of the ordinary had to be done for the
ferret to keep him alive and safe. He needed his bladder expressed or
drained just until the owner could get him to a proper vet in the
morning. I was told very bluntly that they would under no circumstances
see an "EXOTIC" animal. that's when I lost my cool. NOTHING angers me
more than a VETERINARY clinic calling ferrets "EXOTIC". I asked her if
she KNEW what the term "exotic" meant. There was silence on the phone.
I told her to grab a dictionary because she obviously needed it. The
term "exotic" means (according to Webster's dictionary) "an animal that
can survive in the wild without human help". I for one have never heard
of a ferret establishing a feral colony in North America or surviving
in the wild here. I have however seen BOTH dogs and cats as well as
rabbits not only survive in the wild but also establish feral colonies.
SO, who's exotic now??? Her tone changed slightly and she offered to
go and speak with the vets on staff tonight.

When she returned, she once again informed me that even though the
owner had NO CAR or any form of transportation that the only other
clinic she could go to was in Mississauga (OVER an hours drive away).
The clinic in St. Catherine's would not see the ferret.

Has anyone else ever dealt with this situation? Is this legal to do?
I can not imagine ANY veterinary clinic turning away a needy animal
no  matter what the species is when there is an emergency. I know MY
veterinarians would never do this and have even seen spiders and fish
to help out a needy pet (one of y vets even looked at my sea horse ages
ago). I am so shocked and angered at this. I can not understand why
any veterinary medical doctor would do this. Even if they knew nothing
about ferrets, something needed to be done to help this kid, to me,
that's what an emergency clinic is for. He may now die if his bladder
bursts and his owners don't seem to be very versed with ferret
ownership. If you have dealt with this before and have some advice
on how we can ensure reprimands for this clinic can be brought forth,
please contact me. If this ferret dies, I am going to lose it. I'm
already on the verge of losing my head.

Thanks for letting me vent....

Miss Randy Melanie Belair President The Ferret Aid Society
<http://www.ferretaid.org/>

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Ferret Aid 2006 photos
http://www.ferretaid.org/events/ferret_aid_2006.html

[Posted in FML 5455]