[Moderator's note: No, this didn't really arrive on July 6th - it just
came in today but had that date on it!  Judging by content, it is very
recently written.  BIG]
 
    I was very, very sorry to hear about Grendel's passing.  I hope it
was swift and painless.  My sympathies are with you.
 
    I think I may be facing the death of The Ancient Fang, as he has been
very ill from a number of ailments (tumours, infections and the like) and
we may have to consider having him put down as he appears to be in some
pain, or at least discomfort.  He has taken to biting people lately and
recently bit a little girl quite hard (thankfully, her mother is a ferret
person).  This is uncharacteristic of him and I believe it may be due the
fact that he is suffering.  He is over 6 years old, closer to 7, so his
time may be up.  As I don't want him to suffer any further pain, I would
like to help him over this hurdle.
 
    My question, to anyone who is qualified to answer it, is about the
method itself.  My veterinarian refuses to put ferrets to sleep without
administering a gas that will render him unconcious (the name escapes me at
the moment) before giving him a lethal injection.  The total charge for this
process is $80.00, which is a pretty steep for me at the moment.  Is there
another acceptable way to go about this process?  Or is my vet doing the
only thing available to him??  Is it possible to simply administer only the
lethal injection, as we did with my cat?  He tells me that the gas is what
is so expensive...
 
    I don't want to subject Fang to further discomfort, if the case is that
he needs to go down, but I also am in a compromising position due to the
finances of it all.  If there is another method available, I would really
like to inform my vet about it.  Thanks for any advice you might be able to
offer.
 
Fang's Mum
[Posted in FML issue 1313]