>I am so mad at her I don't know what to do.  You see, she doesn't know
>much if anything about ferrets.  Yet two people in my family has given
>her 4 ferrets.  Now, I have given her magazines, printed stuff about
>ferrets,told her how to get on the FML, and other things so she could
>learn about ferrets and how to take care of them.  But, she doesn't read
>any of it.  I have been doing this over a year.  I have told her that what
>she feeds her ferrets isn't good enough for them.  (very cheap cat food)
>She doesn't change it.  I tell her that she needs to take them to the
>vet.  She says she can't afford it.  Yet she tells me that she calls her
>vet.(who admits he knows nothing about ferrets) and asks him what he
>thinks.  I even give her business cards to good ferret vets.  She still
>calls the other vet for advice.
 
Wow!  With very few substitutions that could be two of our relations!
They live far from us and have one ferret but the ferret is not properly
cared for at all.  WE provided a large enough cage for when she is caged,
food, books, magazines, toys, etc.  -- even money for health care but the
only thing that they did for her was to get her one CDV shot even though
she was kit whose series was interrupted.  They never got her a rabies
vaccination, never the rest of the CDV vax, never heartworm protection
even though they are in state with a lot of that, and when I said anything
they laughed at me and asked why I'd expect them to do something they
don't do for their cats or dog.  They aren't hoarders but they are
borderline because they don't provide the needed vet care so they fulfill
that part of being hoarders (three cats, a bird, a ferret, and a dog).
Mostly, they are just people who don't place value on animals' lives or
health.  ( We have relations like that on BOTH sides of our family; ones
who don't provide medical care, don't monitor health, have more animals
than they can afford to properly care for so the animals suffer, one who
has put down dogs and horses for cosmetic reasons, etc.) Like you, we
also found out which vet was recommended for their are but she goes to a
closer one who doesn't know ferrets, and we even provided the name, phone,
and location of a ferret shelter.  Relatives!
 
You can pick your friends but you are stuck with your relatives...
[Posted in FML issue 3696]