To Carolyn Kinsey:
 
Please don't lump all vets together - like human MDs and any other position -
there are good and bad.
 
I worked in an animal hospital intermittently for the past 20 years - there
was a veterinarian on site 24 hours/day as well as a vet tech and a kennel
person.  There was also a backup vet on call if needed.
 
While my own vet doesn't have 24 hr attendance at his hospital, I can recall
several instances where he took my ferrets home with him because they needed
24 hr monitoring.  I also know of another vet hospital who has a live-in
tech with a 2-way monitor so she can listen to what's going on from her
apartment (attached to the hospital).
 
If you look hard, you *can* find a vet knowledgeable in ferret medicine that
doesn't charge an arm and a leg - there are several in this area.  The vet
hospitals I am familiar with all have oxygen cages.
 
And, IMHO, withholding vet treatment to a sick animal to avoid emergency
charges is pretty lame.
 
Debbie Riccio
WNYFLFA
Western New York and Finger Lakes Ferret Association
Rochester, NY
[Posted in FML issue 1447]