First I would like to say thank you to each and every one of you who
wrote to me on behalf of Simon as well as our loss of him. Each and
every word of comfort has greatly helped us as we try to absorb all
that transpired during our attempt to save his life.

I subscribed to this list in 1996, and even after all of that time, I
am still truly amazed and touched by how willing people are to reach
out in our greatest time of need, but for some reason, at least in
the case of Simon, I received a few letters which, for lack of better
words, rubbed me the wrong way. I understand that maybe, being how
emotional things have been for me, that I could have simply jumped to
conclusions and was over reacting to what I read, but I took the time
to read each one of these letters, not once, but several times, and
each time I found myself needing to speak out. I even had my husband
read them and he felt the same way as I did.

So to those few. I understand that you were trying to help, to make me
feel better, but you didn't.

I was told my emergency plan was not well thought out. That I should
have done more. I have THREE; yes count them, THREE veterinarians at my
disposal. All or most of my ferrets have been seen at each one of these
places and therefore I *am* a registered client with all THREE places.
My primary vet see's my fur kids for well-visits and shots, and simple
things he can manage, like colds. For everything else we see one of the
other two vets, BOTH who are ferret specialists. In the past, I have
had my fur kids seen for urgent care at BOTH of these places, so again,
I *am* a registered client. I am supposed to blame myself for the way I
was treated when I phoned them? If having three vets is not good
enough, what is?

I was told I need to find another vet, and while I agree, and wish
dearly that I could, that would not change the fact, there are still
ONLY two ferret specialists available to me, the two I mentioned above.
Yes, I *could* find another vet, there are a dozen or so in my area
who treat cat's and dogs, but again, it would not change the fact, and
I know I am repeating myself, that there are only these two ferret
specialists in my area.

I was given many ideas of what Simon may have died from. Armchairs vets
is the term my husband used. It felt very much like the useless phone
consultation they wanted to charge me money for. I was there; I saw
what was happening to him. He was having trouble breathing. My thoughts
were he was choking, he had a blockage somewhere in his airway, or he
had a serious upper respitory infection. I made NO assumptions of what
he had, I made honest observations, which despite the obvious urgency
of his condition, and his need to be seen, we still received no help
at all. Again, how can this be my fault, how can I be blamed for not
knowing it all? Instead I was made to feel like I did something wrong,
that somehow I missed something, and because of that, Simon died. That
maybe, for as much as I love my fur kids, I shouldn't have them at all.

Honestly, I don't mind having people help me out, in fact it was
FML's dear Sukie Crandall who offered more help to me then the ferret
specialist that I took our dear baby Autumn to. When Autumn was but 5
months old, she developed what was thought to be a viral infection.
Further tests showed that she had a-plastic anemia. I wanted answers, I
wanted to understand how this could have happened, and I wanted to help
my baby girl out. My ferret specialist talked with two other ferret
specialists, she talked in terms that could not easily understand, she
ran tests and never fully explained what they were and no matter how
many times I asked what was happening, she did nothing to make any of
what was going on had clear to me, other then to say, well it *could*
still be a viral infection. Sukie not only told me how this might be
possible, but she educated me on the subject as well. *THAT* kind of
help is always welcomed. The kind where I am made to feel like crap
is not.

I also got seriously slammed about the necropsy. Trust me; I understand
not only the benefits of having this done, but the educational issues
that it may be able to serve as well. I refer back to the case of my
Autumn. After she passed away, Sukie and the few other's I had been
corresponding with told me how important it would be to have this done.
In the end I agreed, and I phoned to ask Dr. Kling to do this for me. I
was basically told - Fine, that'll be $50.00 and we don't really give
a crap about what it shows, we do these things for the pet owners, not
for us - again, this coming from one of the two ferret specialists in
my area. Nothing really special about them now is there?

I am not about to have someone cut open my fur kid and then not care
about what they find. So please, understand why we did not have this
done, and not only understand, be angry, but be angry at the guilty
party, but not with me. I did nothing wrong. I must also say that a
very small part of this had to do with Simon himself. I may be the
primary ferret parent in our household, but Simon was my husband's
fur kid. This was the very first time he had to deal with being there
when a fur kid passed away, the first time of ever having to deal with
an emergency such as this. We have all been there and know just how
devastating it can be. So please, please think about these things
before you write, understand that not everyone has an *ideal* emergency
plan, in fact, most of those who wrote to me had horror stories of
their own and not only understood but could empathize with what had
happened to my family. In a perfect world, we would have a ferret
specialist at our beckon call, but it's not a perfect world, so we
do the very best we can, with what we have.

Again, I thank all of you who have written to me. Your words have
helped, your stories have touched my heart, your pictures have made
me smile and I feel very blessed to be part of this large, wonderful,
generous and caring ferret family.

Thank You,
Sandy

[Posted in FML 5849]