Sheesh, Pam, if it were up to you all the recent vet school graduates would
be dead in the water with all those references you want!  (just kidding -- I
know you probably didn't think of me or any other potential new grad
interested in ferrets).  But seriously, although we may be a bit green on the
experience, we *do* have the benefit of coming from a place where all the
newest stuff tends to be taught.  And usually people like me who are
interested in a particular species go out of their way to get as much
experience in that species before they graduate (ex: I'll be doing an
externship with Dr. Susan Brown and have already spent a summer with Dr. Tom
Kawasaki).  We may not have years of experience, but we have to start
*somewhere*, so please don't forget about us in searches for a ferret vet --
there are more and more of us graduating with that specific interest (I'd say
there's at least one or two in most classes at every school now).
 
Also, I'm afraid I have to comment on the prices you mentioned -- in my
experience if people go looking for those they're going to think everyone
around them grossly overcharges!  $9.50 for an exam?  Wow!!  Either your vet
was already independently wealthy when s/he started or the costs come
somewhere else, like lab tests or certain surgeries.  Although some vets
charge no exam for routine vaccinations, for anything else it's usually
around $20 or more, and a vaccine is usually around $10-15, I thought.  I'm
glad your vet is so reasonable, but I don't know many who could make ends
meet at those prices.  Also, ferrets may not be wild, but they *are* exotic
in the veterinary definition (i.e. just about anything but a cat, dog, horse,
or food animal is `exotic').  That doesn't mean the vet has to charge more.
But s/he may if s/he feels his/her expertise in exotics is worth it, and
rightfully so, within reason.  I don't believe in exorbatant fees in the name
of `exotic' medicine, but ferrets *aren't* small cats and dogs and a vet may
well charge just a smidge more for knowing how to deal with that.  God forbid
veterinary medicine should ever become as ridiculously over-priced as it's
human counterpart, but vets *do* have to make a living (and pay some hefty
school loans, too! :) ).
 
Laura
[Posted in FML issue 1155]