>Lisa
>who can't afford:
> a cell phone
> high-speed internet (I'm still on cheap dial-up)
> cable or dish TV (I get a total of 3 channels over a rooftop antenna)
>but can always afford:
> the ferret Vet (120 miles away!)

Yes, that's really what it is about, isn't it? We do the same thing,
putting money aside for essentials like vet care while keeping other
expenses down.

Vet care is such a basic and there are so many times when good and
prompt care can make the difference between life and death.

For those who don't think that medical care makes a difference here are
some human examples: at the turn of the last century men in the U.S.
typically died before the age of 50 and women earlier (with pregnancy
complications being a huge cause of death for women then). Recently I
saw the longevity numbers for 1950 and the average age of death for men
then was under 67 years of age, and for women it was something like 73.
People live much longer now even though the U.S. is not among the
industrialized nations with the best health or longevity, but of
course medical advances cost. Here is a census table for 36 years
showing longer life spans:
https://www.census.gov/compendia/statab/2010/tables/10s0102.pdf

It's the same thing for vet care. Veterinary advances make a real
difference. (Sometimes not enough to offset imposed problems cause by
people breeding pets to be fancier, though.)

Health care is a basic. Having more animals than one can provide
essential care for is part of the definition of a hoarder.

Of course, with the description given the person with that dog might be
making it up to try to get money from people. Now, that person may have
been someone who simply had too much go wrong at the same time but the
description sounded to me more like it was designed to make people
worry and be grossed out more than like it made sense, so I have to
wonder if it was a scam artist.

BTW, we do TV this way: basic cable (because around here an antenna
won't get much -- a handful of channels in poor condition and we can
only have the indoor antennas) and that useful basic cable runs us
something like $14/month for about 40 channels. Then we have a one at a
time Netflix (under $10) and now a person can also do instant downloads
from them, too, on the same plan so I have to try that some time. Then
we delay when we get to see some things and catch them on the internet
at places like http://www.hulu.com/ , http://www.fancast.com/ ,
http://www.syfy.com/ , http://www.adultswim.com/ , etc.

We have to have fast enough internet service, partly for work reasons,
but we only have one work related cell phone and that is Steve's.

Steve and I do just fine with a little condo and not replacing things
often.

It's a matter of priorities. Different people have different
priorities. Personally, we think that vet care for the ferrets is a
truly major one.

Ferret medical care DOES get expensive so it pays to SAVE ahead of
time!

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/
http://www.ferrethealth.msu.edu/
http://www.ferretcongress.org/
http://www.trifl.org/index.shtml
http://homepage.mac.com/sukie/sukiesferretlinks.html
all ferret topics:
http://listserv.ferretmailinglist.org/archives/ferret-search.html
HAPPY:
http://www.6footsix.com/my_weblog/2010/01/high-fives-for-happiness.html
"All hail the procrastinators for they shall rule the world tomorrow."
(2010, Steve Crandall)

[Posted in FML 6593]