*Yeah, we can talk now.  Im just cooking dinner.*
So began my most recent conversation with another of our vets, Dr. Karen
Purcell.  Which was a lot more mundane than the response to my previous
calls - *I'm waiting for a call about a C-section on a cat* or *Hey,
Renee!  It's a reeeeaaaaallly bad time right now!*
 
Whether it is delivering kittens for a struggling mama cat or baking
cheesecakes to help support a shelter mom or traveling across New England
to treat a shelter ferret, Dr. Purcell exemplifies the term - caring vet.
And the energy she expends caring seems to be continuously replenished.
 
Her first veterinarian, Dr. Vicki Fowler, Wynantskill, NY, became a
lifelong role model and mentor.  From the time she was 8 years old,
Dr. Purcell has known she wanted to be a veterinarian.  Her mother likes
to say she knew long before that!  *My mom's cat gave birth in my crib
when I was like 6 weeks old.  1 kitten, lots of blood, I slept through
the whole thing.  Mom is semi-convinced this is why I'm a vet, but didn't
tell me till after graduation.*
 
However, Dr. Purcell did not actively choose to be a ferret veterinarian.
Rather, the ferrets chose her!  While working as a *kennel kid* in
college, Dr. Purcell met her first ferret.  Cleaning the cages, she
noticed one was empty, except for a towel.  Opening the door to remove
the towel, the unsuspecting young woman fell over backwards as something
flew past her!  That something was a ferret!  Several years later her
best friend re-introduced her to ferrets.  FerretMan, a hefty five
pounder, helped her overcome her initial fear.  Later, the vet student
was offered the opportunity to acquire and neuter her own ferret, which
she did.  After that, ferrets were a part of her life.
 
As she began seeing more ferrets in her own practice, Dr. Purcells
reputation grew.  *I guess I knew I was considered the local ferret
expert when I began getting referrals from the vet school,* she said.
And, she DID co-author the book *Essentials of Ferrets: A Guide for
Practitioners: An Update to a Practioner's Guide to Rabbits and Ferrets*
by Karen Purcell and Susan Brown.
 
Born and raised in upstate New York, Dr. Purcell loves that area.
Playing the dutiful wife, she followed her husband to New Hampshire,
where she is now seeing ferrets throughout New England.  This woman works
hard  and plays just as hard.  Dr. Purcell has three ferrets now, not
to mention the other four-legged members of the household!  The past
year has been tough on Dr. Purcell.  A series of medical problems
caused her to make some changes in her life, but Dr. Purcell goes with
the flow.  This comes easier to her than to some others, as Dr. Purcell
belly-dances, a talent she may just share with you  for the right cause!
 
Come shimmy and learn from Dr. Karen Purcell on April 29 at the 2005
Ferret Symposium in St. Louis, MO!
 
To use this vet:
Karen Purcell, D.V.M.
Contact via email: [log in to unmask]
Website with schedule info:
http://www.world.std.com/~dgp/schedule.html
 
 
Meet Me in St. Louis!
April 29 - May 1, 2005
International Ferret Congress
http://www.ferretcongress.org
[Posted in FML issue 4826]