Hi all< I have only been able to skim the FMl mail lately so may be missing the thread entirely but I would like to comment on the posts regarding poverty and affording healthcare for pets. First I would like to say I am more than well aware there are truly neglectful,selfish,cruel ,irresponsible pet owners who deny medical care to their pets. Having said that there are even more ferret owners who are responsible but are faced with a big and real problem when a pet needs expensive health care , is elderly or requires long term health maintainance. Fully one quarter of Americans are now without health insurance for themselves.If you lose your job or have inadequate insurance, access to healthcare is very limited.People themselves go without basic health services because they have no money,or very little money. I hardly think a woman with breast cancer who has been dropped by her insurance company , cannot afford chemo on her own and does not get it, is being irresponsible. If you think that does not really happen then you watch too many medical shows on TV. For those with limited means, to be blamed and told they have no right to pets,( children family etc???) , that they cannot foot the bill for should something go wrong .. is elitist. Everyone has their own circumstances.if you have had a beloved pet for a long time and find that pet ill, but you are now a retired person, unemployed person or just a middle class person struggling with family expenses what choices can you make. What about those who have just taken a pet into their home only to find out it has big health problems? What should they do?.The irresponsible dump the pet. the responsible do the best they can anyway they know how.. How many are four paychecks and in debt up to their eyeballs , away, from being unable to afford healthcare should a pet become very ill?.. or should they become drastically ill?..Should we take the pet away now and call you irresponsible? . Will a vet take care of your ferret because he/she is a nice person if it becomes seriously ill,needs a few hundred dollars worth of vaccinations and blood tests,develops a chronic condition? Will a vet give you a discount rate if you say you love your ferret and beg? I don't think so. At least not most of the time. Perhaps the fault is not in the people who are poor, low paid, financially struggling with a family,but in the healthcare delivery system for pets and humans alike in this country? Dooks, Christine Twilight girls Art pages Smiling squeezles weasels pages [Posted in FML issue 4298]