I get to deal with a minor variation of the "I forgot that person has
her own life" syndrome with a few FHL members, so I guess I understand
it when vets face that instead of the people seeking cover vets for
when the vet needs to be away.

Hmm, here are some of the things Steve and I have gone through in the
last year that at times had me off-line and too busy to answer phone
calls. After a few of them I had some people who gave me a hard time
about not being constantly available, and i had one trying to pry in
where she was not invited.

Let's see what happened from last August till now: We had Dad's
dementia and multiple hospitalizations. We had Dad's death. We had
Steve's father ill. (All family are in different states from us.) We
had the illnesses and deaths of several dear friends. We needed to help
a handicapped older friend dismantle a large household and move after
her husband's death. A few friends got married (Yay!). A great nephew
was born (Yay!). Some relatives of Steve's and mine got very ill: a
malignancy, a rupture (details private), and more. I had 3 surgeries
in 4 months. There's more...

Now, the details on those are no one's business but our family's own,
so don't ask.

Just know that each and every time i was unable to communicate there
were incredibly good reasons. It would have been nice to have a real
vacation also be in there as a cause but that hasn't been possible for
a while and won't be possible for a while longer given extended family
health problems. Still, I think that since a vacation is a good enough
reason for others to be incommunicato that it should be for us, too,
when we can finally have a real one.

Does any of that mean that there was NO ONE who took offense when I
could not be reached? Nope. I don't get a dime from helping them, but
there were still a few who actually got annoyed at me -- one quite
verbally -- for having my own life instead of always being available,
as if I were a free asset to be noticed when convenient. Luckily, most
people are exactly the opposite and appreciate when others give of
themselves to help them and the community.

So, my point is that VETS ARE PEOPLE, TOO, WITH COMPLETE LIVES. None
of us knows (and none of use should know) when one of them may be away
for a health problem, or due to a loved one's impeding death, or to
get a kid off to college, or any of those other things every person
experiences UNLESS THE PEOPLE ARE OUR DEAR FRIENDS AND OFFER THAT INFO.
Otherwise, it simply is none of our business just as they don't know
everything about us. THERE **WILL** BE TIMES WHEN THEIR LIVES PULL
THEM AWAY, so then the alternative vets (the covering vets) are found
and used. That's how it works, and that is only fair. You go to a
different store when a store closes for a family vacation. Your kids
have substitute teachers when their teachers have surgery. You see a
different medical professional if yours is away when a tooth breaks or
when you get sick. It's the same with vets. Sometimes, like any other
person, their lives must take precedence and then an alternative vet
is used.

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 6074]