First I would like to say thank you to each and every one of you who wrote to me on behalf of Simon as well as our loss of him. Each and every word of comfort has greatly helped us as we try to absorb all that transpired during our attempt to save his life. I subscribed to this list in 1996, and even after all of that time, I am still truly amazed and touched by how willing people are to reach out in our greatest time of need, but for some reason, at least in the case of Simon, I received a few letters which, for lack of better words, rubbed me the wrong way. I understand that maybe, being how emotional things have been for me, that I could have simply jumped to conclusions and was over reacting to what I read, but I took the time to read each one of these letters, not once, but several times, and each time I found myself needing to speak out. I even had my husband read them and he felt the same way as I did. So to those few. I understand that you were trying to help, to make me feel better, but you didn't. I was told my emergency plan was not well thought out. That I should have done more. I have THREE; yes count them, THREE veterinarians at my disposal. All or most of my ferrets have been seen at each one of these places and therefore I *am* a registered client with all THREE places. My primary vet see's my fur kids for well-visits and shots, and simple things he can manage, like colds. For everything else we see one of the other two vets, BOTH who are ferret specialists. In the past, I have had my fur kids seen for urgent care at BOTH of these places, so again, I *am* a registered client. I am supposed to blame myself for the way I was treated when I phoned them? If having three vets is not good enough, what is? I was told I need to find another vet, and while I agree, and wish dearly that I could, that would not change the fact, there are still ONLY two ferret specialists available to me, the two I mentioned above. Yes, I *could* find another vet, there are a dozen or so in my area who treat cat's and dogs, but again, it would not change the fact, and I know I am repeating myself, that there are only these two ferret specialists in my area. I was given many ideas of what Simon may have died from. Armchairs vets is the term my husband used. It felt very much like the useless phone consultation they wanted to charge me money for. I was there; I saw what was happening to him. He was having trouble breathing. My thoughts were he was choking, he had a blockage somewhere in his airway, or he had a serious upper respitory infection. I made NO assumptions of what he had, I made honest observations, which despite the obvious urgency of his condition, and his need to be seen, we still received no help at all. Again, how can this be my fault, how can I be blamed for not knowing it all? Instead I was made to feel like I did something wrong, that somehow I missed something, and because of that, Simon died. That maybe, for as much as I love my fur kids, I shouldn't have them at all. Honestly, I don't mind having people help me out, in fact it was FML's dear Sukie Crandall who offered more help to me then the ferret specialist that I took our dear baby Autumn to. When Autumn was but 5 months old, she developed what was thought to be a viral infection. Further tests showed that she had a-plastic anemia. I wanted answers, I wanted to understand how this could have happened, and I wanted to help my baby girl out. My ferret specialist talked with two other ferret specialists, she talked in terms that could not easily understand, she ran tests and never fully explained what they were and no matter how many times I asked what was happening, she did nothing to make any of what was going on had clear to me, other then to say, well it *could* still be a viral infection. Sukie not only told me how this might be possible, but she educated me on the subject as well. *THAT* kind of help is always welcomed. The kind where I am made to feel like crap is not. I also got seriously slammed about the necropsy. Trust me; I understand not only the benefits of having this done, but the educational issues that it may be able to serve as well. I refer back to the case of my Autumn. After she passed away, Sukie and the few other's I had been corresponding with told me how important it would be to have this done. In the end I agreed, and I phoned to ask Dr. Kling to do this for me. I was basically told - Fine, that'll be $50.00 and we don't really give a crap about what it shows, we do these things for the pet owners, not for us - again, this coming from one of the two ferret specialists in my area. Nothing really special about them now is there? I am not about to have someone cut open my fur kid and then not care about what they find. So please, understand why we did not have this done, and not only understand, be angry, but be angry at the guilty party, but not with me. I did nothing wrong. I must also say that a very small part of this had to do with Simon himself. I may be the primary ferret parent in our household, but Simon was my husband's fur kid. This was the very first time he had to deal with being there when a fur kid passed away, the first time of ever having to deal with an emergency such as this. We have all been there and know just how devastating it can be. So please, please think about these things before you write, understand that not everyone has an *ideal* emergency plan, in fact, most of those who wrote to me had horror stories of their own and not only understood but could empathize with what had happened to my family. In a perfect world, we would have a ferret specialist at our beckon call, but it's not a perfect world, so we do the very best we can, with what we have. Again, I thank all of you who have written to me. Your words have helped, your stories have touched my heart, your pictures have made me smile and I feel very blessed to be part of this large, wonderful, generous and caring ferret family. Thank You, Sandy [Posted in FML 5849]