To Victoria Hadfield:
 
After reading your post in FML#751, I could not get it off my mind all
day.  I felt very saddened on hearing your situation.  You obviously loved
Antigone very much and took very good care of her throughout her life with
you.  You should take solace in the fact that you had rescued her from a
less than optimal environment and then provided loving and quality care for
the remainder of her life.
 
It seems a cruel twist of fate that you should have to go through the
ordeal that you went through with her, and then be accused of not having
done everything you could for her within reason.
 
I think that the $1000.00 surgical fee sounds terribly high, and I also
feel that very few people, as much as they love their pets, would be able
to commit that much money in light of all the other commitments that life
presents to us all.  I feel, sadly, that under the same circumstances, I
would also have to take the same actions that you did.  I don't think that
the majority of competent and loving ferret owners are in the enviable
financial position to do anything much differently than you did.  My heart
goes out to you.
 
I realize that running a veterinary practice is an expensive venture, with
all the overhead costs involved, and the fact that in the end the
veterinarian does have to turn a profit and earn a living, however the
$1000 surgery quoted in this case seems quite high to me.  Perhaps one of
the vets on the FML would care to comment on this.
 
To Dr. Williams:
 
The FML is very lucky to have such a competent and compassionate
veterinarian "in residence on the list".  Your love of animals shows in
everything you write.  Thank you for making yourself available.
 
                         Dennis Kennedy
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[Posted in FML issue 0752]