A new article and some resources mentioned in the article:
<http://www.creditcards.com/credit-card-news/pet-care-veterinary-financing-options-1267.php>
<http://www.animalfriendsrescue.org/financialassistance.html>
http://www.help-a-pet.org/

Not mentioned but should be:
1. going to the best vet in your area for the species means a faster
diagnosis and more accurate treatment rather than wasting the pet's
health, and your time and money
2. getting regular vet care and learning danger signs beforehand (then
responding promptly) prevents having the health problem worsen into
something harder to treat
3. learning good husbandry practices and knowing (and taking seriously)
the known downsides for your choices and the possible downsides for
your choices allows you to jump fast and in the right direction if
things go wrong
4. checking things that you give your ferret with your vet beforehand
prevents a range of problems
5. being frank with your vet about everything given and any accidents
which may have happened leads to faster appropriate treatment
6. look into possible routes to preventing, delaying or reducing the
risks of some medical problems while keeping clear in your own mind
which have research behind them
7. avoiding miracle "cures" or miracle "meds" can prevent accidently
creating damage, as can learning what may be poisonous (as some over
the counter and prescription human meds, and some common plants and
cleaning products are).

See also:
http://www.miamiferret.org/fhc/financial_aid.htm

and there are discussions about novel ways (savings accounts, exchanged
labor, selling homemade products, etc.) that some have managed to
better afford vet care for their family pets (without begging) in the
Archives of the FML and FHL:
http://listserv.ferretmailinglist.org/archives/ferret-search.html
http://ferrethealth.org/archive/
and there also are discussions of when pet health insurance fell short.

Vets have very high costs, having to pay for their education, staff,
hospitals, and equipment needed to provide good care. None of those are
cheap and vets are sometimes still repaying school even while they take
on those other costs. People tend to forget those things too often just
because they don't live with those same burdens themselves or don't
live with them at a similar level.

Good medical care, regular medical care, good husbandry, caution,
ferret proofing, prompt care when something is wrong, and the other
good family practices listed above all keep down your veterinary costs,
but ferrets do get ill and the care is expensive, so plan ahead, don't
have more ferrets than you can provide for, check out your options, and
save money before problems happen. The ferrets you help WILL be your
own.

Sukie (not a vet)

Recommended ferret health links:
http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/ferrethealth/
http://ferrethealth.org/archive/
http://www.afip.org/ferrets/index.html
http://www.miamiferret.org/fhc/
http://www.ferretcongress.org/
http://www.trifl.org/index.shtml
http://homepage.mac.com/sukie/sukiesferretlinks.html

[Posted in FML 6070]