>Two questions: would folks whose woozles have had this procedure recommend >it? Both as a veterinarian and as a ferret owner who has dealt with this in my own ferrets, I strongly recommend the surgery. It dramatically increases both the quality and the length of life, IMO, as long as the surgery goes well, of course. >And secondly, is the $800 figure pretty much the "going rate"? (God, I >hate writing this). Surgery fees vary drastically depending on the location you live in and on the experience of the vet doing the surgery. That figure seems a little high for my area, but may be accurate where you live. Check around. >Make that three questions: are there vet colleges that may have the >surgery done by students at a reduced rate? I live in XX,YY, but am >certainly willing to travel. You do *not* want an inexperienced surgeon doing surgery on a ferret, IMO. We all had to learn on somebody's animal, but I had a whole bunch of experience doing other surgeries before I did my first ferret surgery, and I was glad for that. The more experienced the surgeon, the less time the surgery takes, and the better the ferret does overall. Dr. Ruth ***************************************** Save lives - spay or neuter your pet. [Sukie note: those who need to shop around can find vet lists in BOTH the shelter list and the recommended vets list in the Files section at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Ferret-Health-List , in http://miamiferret.org/fhc, and in multiple other links that can be found through http://www.ferretcentral.org . These are also handy when a person moves or travels.] [Posted in FML issue 3760]