Hi All,
 
Well I got even more angry the other day at that lousy vet I saw about 2
weeks ago.  You remember the one with the $30 consultation fee for no
appropriate reason etc...?
 
I wrote to this forum asking the vets to educate me on the use of a hormone
called DES to help with incontinence (peeing all over, dribbling) in two of
my sweet boys because this vet prescribed just that.  I was shocked to get a
very quick response from Dr. Karen telling me to get them off the medicine
immediately and find a new vet!!!  She even put those 3 exclamation points
there herself:-) Come to find out that this med will do absolutely nothing
to help this problem AND it is well known to cause CANCER in human babies as
well as other animals.  My little guys should NEVER have been prescribed
this and had I not followed thru in asking the FML vets about it their lives
could have been at risk!  I am seething inside with anger and am trying to
think of everything I can possibly do to this vet, including closing down
his practice!  This was either gross negligence or just plain old
malpractice, but either way you slice it means he is a BAD VET!  For
heaven's sake his ad in the yellow pages even says he treats exotics and it
also mentions ferrets specifically.  This man must be stopped from doing
this again and again.  Who knows how many before me have gone thru this and
maybe not even known it, but I hope there to be NO more in the future.  A
lot of people are not as diligent as I am at understanding every treatment
their animal is given.  They just do as the vet says and that is the end of
the story.  His plan was for my Tribble and Otee to be taking this the rest
of their lives.  Seeing as how ferrets already seem to be predisposed to
getting cancers I can only guess how much harm this drug could have done
them.  Luckily for us they had only been given two doses of the stuff before
Dr. Karen reached out to me and they have had none since and never will.
That should not harm them I hope.
 
Fortunately for me and mine I ask questions, questions, questions!!<G> I
always want to fully understnad what the treatment is that has been
prescribed.  Probably why he screwed me out of a $30 consultation fee.  When
he mentioned hormones for incontinence I thought in my head that it sounded
very odd since I have NEVER heard of these two things being in any way
related before.  So I popped onto the FML and asked the vets to please
educate me on this.  Thank heaven's I did!  So now I will go to the Board
of Veterinary Medicine as I planned before and complain big time and also
possibly a trip to talk to a few lawyers in town.  The ones specializing in
animal related law that is:-) I will do everything in my power to see this
man's practice closed down or at the very least him return to school for a
real education in animals.  Have no idea why he didn't get it right the 1st
time around but it is very obvious to me that he didn't.
 
So please everyone educate yoursleves on any and all treatments your ferrets
ever receive.  Just as in any other profession there are bad apples in the
bunch.  You and your Questions may be all that stands between your ferret's
life and death.  If things sound just too weird or unbelievable then go to
the top ferret vets here on this list and ask them.  They are wonderful
people.  Dr. Karen wrote me right away and then Dr. Dutton also wrote and
concurred with the statements made by Dr. Karen.  I am still waiting on a
reply from Doc. Williams.  If they do not answer per your FML post then
send it to their personal e-mail too.  They are busy people and it may be
hard for them to do much more than scan the FML at times.
 
A small side note since people have been asking:
 
There is no BOB post because there is NO BOB!!!  I haven't a clue where this
man has disappeared to but he is now 4 days past due the date he told me to
expect him and I have never heard a word from him either.  All that cleaning
for nothing I guess as I refuse to do all of it again now.  If anyone out
there has just seen Bob in your area please write and tell me so I might
know what to expect now.  Trish has heard nothing regarding his having
picked up White Fang either and final plans cannot be made unless she knows
what the heck is going on.  If you see Bob after reading this tell him to
call Trish and I as we need to know what his plans are.  My number is down
below in my signature block.  THANKS!!
 
Guess that is it for now,  TNT!
 
      Kelleen Andrews  &  The FANG GANG!!!!
 
[Moderator's note: Well, I'm not a vet, but I do know for a fact that some
vets perscribe DES for incontinence in dogs.  Other commonly used drugs for
this are phenylpropanolamine and ephedrine.  I have NO idea if DES is
appropriate for this in ferrets.
 
And I'm not a lawyer either, but, for what will you sue?  Maybe you can get
an exam fee back, but my non-professional opinion based on a fair amount of
reading about this is that there's nothing to sue about - no obvious harm
done, and "pain and suffering" seldom applies in these types of cases.  Of
course, certainly if DES is dangerous to ferrets you'd be doing a service
letting the vet know he screwed up.  Learning from the mistake is perhaps
the best thing that can result from this mess. BIG]
[Posted in FML issue 1579]