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Thu, 11 Mar 2004 21:32:40 -0800
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Hello FML'ers:
 
I have NEVER EVER written a reply like the one below but something just
kept nagging at me about a recent post and I couldn't ignore it.  My
comments and replies are not meant to criticize or condemn anyone in ANY
way so 'flamers' are not particularly welcome to slam me - I am simply
trying to make an honest attempt to understand the logic here....
 
Rochelle wrote:
>I have a ferret who has been diagnosed with adrenal and when the vet
>told me that everything, included his surgery, would cost over $800.00
>it broke my heart.  We can't afford that... we have four other (ferrets)
>... and a 3 week old baby ... I hope someone out there can take him; I
>would hate to see him have to live with this."
 
First of all, I AM speaking from experience because I have faced the
dilema of unexpected medical bills (one time, a single $400 vet bill when
I was unemployed) so I completely understand that for Rochelle (and for
anyone no doubt), $800.00 is a huge amount of money!
 
So, my questions to Rochelle are: Are you certain that it will cost $800
for your ferrets treatment?
 
Have you considered asking your vet to allow you to set up a payment
plan?  Have you investigated alternative treatment methods or shopped
around for other costs on the same types of treatment?  As the old saying
goes, "where there's a will, there's a way" and I constantly see a whole
host of ferret people selling their wares on-line or holding raffles or
doing whatever they need to do to raise the necessary funds for their
furkids' medical expenses.
 
Second, after reading about Rochell's situation (and thinking about the
countless other ferret owners who have been faced with the same dilema),
I am curious to know:
 
Did you, Rochelle, not initially take into consideration the financial
commitment you would need to make to your ferret(s) when you purchased /
adopted him/her OR have a financial plan in place should the ferret(s)
unexpectedly require extensive medical attention such as what you are
facing now?
 
Of course there are always going to be unexpected, unforseen emergenices
that arise, and sometimes that does put a pet owner in a financial bind
but in my opinion, A RESPONSIBLE pet owner considers their financial
state before deciding to add a pet to their household.  In other words,
if you cannot financially afford to pay the ongoing expenses related to
having a pet, then you have no business bringing that pet into your home
in the first place!  And furthermore, if a person chooses to take on
ADDITIONAL pets although they can't feasibly afford the medical expenses
of just ONE pet then that is nothing more than IRRESPONSIBILITY!
 
So then my other question to Rochelle is this:
Do you really believe that it should become someone ELSE'S responsibility
to make sure your ferret survives by giving your SICK ferret away, when
you currently have four OTHER ferrets you are choosing to KEEP?  It is
one thing to say that you "CAN'T" afford the medical costs of a sick
pet/animal; it's a far different thing when, in actuality, you "DON'T
WANT TO" pay for the animals' medical bills and that, in my opinion is
IRRESPONSIBILITY.
 
Unfortunately and ALL TOO OFTEN it is usually the pet(s) who ultimately
suffer when their health deteriorates and the pet's owner decides to
'discard' or delicately attempt to 'push the ill pet off on someone else
- to make it someone else's problem to address.  Yes, this may sound
harsh and direct and possibly even rude but I don't know how else to
state the truth.
 
I guess I'm just flat out tired of hearing and reading countless stories
about ferrets (and pets in general) who have been 'discarded' when their
owners deem them no longer "cute and cuddly" or when the pets don't
behave, or when the owner moves and doesn't consider the pet as part of
the move process, or when the pet get sick and the owners don't want to
shell out the money for medical bills.  Does the word COMMITTMENT mean
nothing to you whatsoever?????
 
What I read in Rochelle's email is a very selfish plea - "I don't want to
spend the money to help my SICK ferret but I want to keep and enjoy the
other healthy ferrets, even though I have the financial responsibility of
also raising a family."
 
What I'm confused about is why Rochelle would keep her other four ferrets
and not give them ALL up for adoption if the reason for not treating the
sick ferrets' adrenal is due to lack of finances?  I just don't follow
the reasoning here....
 
In closing, I would think that a RESPONSIBLE pet owner would at try to
explore all possible options before discarding their pet simply because
its upkeep is "more than the owner bargained for." How would a HUMAN feel
if their parents held as little regard for them when they got sick or
injured as pet owners do about their sick and injured and dying pets?????
 
Sincerely,
Jennifer and her adorable ferrets, Sasha and Snowball
[Posted in FML issue 4449]

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