First Thanks for coming on and posting your email Leanne. Since I am one of the three people that were the ones that were involved with the WFRS in the beginning, I of course probably would be considered bias as to my feelings about WFRS, and of Course Dr. Cathy Johnson Delaney. I know how hard it is when shelters get sick ferrets into the shelters. I doubt many shelters turn away sick ferrets, but maybe they should if they don't have the money for Medical care for these ferrets. How many shelters beg for money from the FML and other websites for money to take care of these ferrets. In the 7 years I have been a member of FML I have seen many of these request for help. Not once has the WFRS ever begged for money, although they have needed it desperately since the shelter started. They have plugged along the best they could. Everytime a sick ferret came in they were taken care of the best they could, if money was available they were taken to the vet. Many surgeries were done on ferrets that have been turned into the shelter. In the years that I have been involved with the shelter I know of 4 vets that the WFRS has used. It was thorough one of these vets that we were introduced to Dr. Cathy Johnson Delaney when she ask us if the shelter would be involved with the adrenal study she was in the process of doing. Only the shelter ferrets were to be used in this Adrenal Study in the beginning. All ferrets that were accepted in the study had to be the property of WFRS or a paper was to be signed saying that the ferret had been turned over to WFRS to be used in the Adrenal study. Dr. Delaney never said in the beginning that she would provide vet care to our shelter ferrets. I know for a fact thou that many times when she was at the shelter she did look at shelter ferrets that were ill. Why because she honestly loves FERRETS and their health is a concern to her. Also at times she never knew if the ferrets was a shelter ferret or a ferret from one of the volunteers at the shelter, or a foster ferret from the shelter. Many times records in the beginning were not always kept up to date, because of time involved with the director of the shelter and her own personal life. I am sure if you run a shelter you know how much is involved in it and how many times things get behind that needs to be done. The director of the shelter had a full time job, taking care of many teenagers besides her own. A husband that often did not have a job, so therefore everything was put on her shoulders. Never in the years that the shelter has been open have there been that many volunteers so everything involved with the shelter was put on just a few peoples shoulders. I don't think Dr. Delaney ever said that Lupron was the first choice, the only way you know for sure what type of adrenal tumor you are dealing with is to have surgery on the ferret and send it out to the patholgist to confirm cancer. If any pieces of the tumor is left it can spread to other parts of the body I have heard. So even after having both right and left adrenal tumors moved, there's still no guarantee that it won't grow back somewhere in the body. I have heard of this on many occasions for ferret owners in the past. In the past adrenal sugeries here in the Seattle, Washington area were costing over $1000.00, how many people have that kind of money for each ferret they have. If cost was much lower I am sure more people would choose surgery over lupron. I have a ferret here that is not in the study and has had a few lupron shots and she is still doing good after 2 years, she is now 6 years old. I have heard of just to many people that have gone with surgery and lost their ferrets on the table and still have huge vet bills to pay afterwards! We all have to make our own decisions on just how we are going to handle it when our ferrets, cats, dogs get old and just how much money we can afford to put out for vet bills. Remember even Pet insurance don't cover FERRETS when they have Adrenal, Insulinoma, Lymphoma surgeries. Everyone needs to know that Ferrets like rats get more cancerous tumors then other mammals before they ever decided to get a ferret and how they will deal with it when it happens. Taking that ferret to a shelter is NOT THE ANSWER in my opinion. I know for a fact that Dr. Cathy Johnson Delaney is one of the best Ferret Vets I have ever known. I would trust her to do any surgery on my ferrets, if I could get her to do it. I trust her completely, which I can't say for some of the other vets I have went to in the past with my ferrets that call themselves exotic vets. But then I don't always have a choice of who I can take my ferrets to when there is very few qualified Ferret Vets in the Seattle, Wa. area that can do Ferret surgery. They don't teach vets much in the vet schools about ferrets, so how can a vet do surgery on them if they don't get experience! How do they get experience, is by doing the surgeries and learning from other vets that have done ferret surgeries. There are more ferrets in Oregon, so of course there are going to be better vets down there and I have heard that prices are much more reasonable in Portland, also Thanks to Chris Mathias who has been running a shelter with over 100 ferrets in it for many years in the past. Charl [Posted in FML issue 4381]