> * Do you handle surgery for ferrets in your care? If not, who does?
>   Are they a ferret specialist or do they just know how to operate on
>   them? ....
 
i'd just like to point out that the vet with the most surgical experience
with ferrets is not neccessarily the best vet to see on a day to day basis.
 
i doubt that my vet has ever performed surgery on a ferret at all.  i doubt
that she has ever treated an adrenal ferret.
 
BUT she is a great vet!  i wouldn't trade her for anyone.  when we arrive
with the ferrets she comes out of the exam she is doing and comes to say
hi right away (well, after washing her hands and stuff).  when fizgig
experienced hair loss last fall she correctly suggested testing for adrenal
disease, explained that the test gives false positives but no false
negatives, and discussed other symptoms of adrenal disease with us.  then,
when we discussed (for about 45 minutes!) what our feelings about the hair
loss were.  she searched all the veterinary journals, transcripts of
speeches, books, web sites and everything she knew and phoned us back later
in the day to discuss seasonal hair loss in younger ferrets, skin problems,
and cycles of night and day and their influence on shedding.  she suggested
we make sure he got natural light and his body was not confused by
artificial light and agreed that is was unlikely to be adrenal disease.
 
and she was right.  his fur grew back just fine.
 
she is really knowledgeable, reliable, and loves our ferrets.  but she is
young, fresh out of school and is in an area where there aren't too many
ferrets, so she doesn't have much experience.
 
please don't choose a vet based solely on their experience- i know of a
very experienced ferret vet in the city who i will never go to unless my
boys need surgery because he doesn't listen and doesn't like ferrets.
 
there are more important things in a vet.  find one who listens, who goes
out of their way to help, and who isn't afraid to look for more
information.  if your ferret should need surgery someday, they will
probably reccommend someone for you, but in the meantime you have someone
who you can really rely on.
 
siani  (who believes in book learning as well as experience)
[Posted in FML issue 2659]