>From:    "Deborah W. Kemmerer, DVM" <[log in to unmask]>
>Subject: Posts About Vets
>
>At the risk of stirring up more controversy, I'm going to comment on the
>question about the spayed Beagle and a couple of other posts.
>
>The reason I don't post more is because there's a lot of vet bashing on
>this list.  It's usually subtle, but there are lots of snide little
>[omments.
 
We hope nothing we have said would appear to any vet as vet bashing.  We
avoid too many of the medical issues because we are not vets.
 
Neither of us have been to through vet school so we know we are not nearly
qualified to do more than suggest people take their ill ferrets to a vet.
 
Bill's grandfather was a veterinarian in Webster Groves MO and Courtney
is now working for a veterinarian in Virginia.  There are few jobs harder
than being a veterinarian.  A human doctor gets to work with a patient
that can tell them how they feel.  They only have to know one species.
And they make a lot more money.
 
>The bottom line is this: many people post on the FML looking for help from
>vets.  I can tell you that over the years many good vets have been driven
>off the FML by the comments people make here.  It's difficult to have a
>friendly and helpful attitude toward folks who seem to believe that vets
>are basically greedy and/or and ignorant.
 
We like the working relationship we have with some vets more than others,
but none are ignorant.  They have all completed extremely difficult
schooling.  Some are not as up to date or interested in ferrets as others
but they are not ignorant.  None are truly greedy.  If they were they
would not be veterinarians; the pay is too low.
 
>From:    John & Shannon <[log in to unmask]>
>Subject: Re: London Ferret
>
>Ok, correct me if I am wrong, but I was under the impression that ferrets
>in the UK *do* tend to live longer & have less adrenal problems, but that
>it was because of the conditions they are kept in rather than directly
>because of the ferrets.
 
These are all hypotheses.  There does seem to be less adrenal disease but
that might or might not be due to ferrets being thought of in the way
rats or mice are here in the US as short lived caged pets.
 
bill and diane killian
zen and the art of ferrets
[Posted in FML issue 3679]