From some replies it looks like there are at least a couple people on the FML that put complete faith in veterinarians and apparently, by extension, doctors. However there seem to be at least as many, if not more, that have run into situations where the "professional health expert" offered less than stellar information and even a wrong diagnosis! Hmmm - could it be that vets and doctors might not be quite as perfect as some would presume? It is rather difficult to bring up actual numbers of misdiagnosis by vets and doctors but one website has devoted a lot of information to just that: www.wrongdiagnosis.com and an article on MSNBC delves into veterinary mishaps: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/35286379/ IN a perfect world every veterinarian (and Doctor) would have identical skill sets and be able to offer correct diagnosis - but that just does not happen! Why should it be necessary to spend years encountering wrong veterinary diagnosis, poor judgment calls, or pay for ineffective treatments in the ferret realm if one has already encountered such actions in the dog, cat or horse veterinary realms? Why would the experiences gained in OTHER areas be LESS significant or NON essential when dealing with ferrets? In just the few years I have been dealing with ferrets it has become ABUNDANTLY clear that there are many veterinarians that CLAIM they are familiar with ferrets - but when it comes right down to it anything much past innoculations, dental observations, and kibble recommendations is simply hit or miss whether the veterinarian has any ferret skills at all! Through in some one who has a decent grasp of medical knowledge and is progressive in ferret care and management (free roam 24/7 and an all natural diet) and this seems to completely befuddle many vets! As popular as ferrets are, they simply are NOT seen regularly by many veterinarians nor even seen regularly by the SAME veterinarian! If veterinarians were so perfect in their diagnosis and treatments then why would ANYONE seek a second OPINION? Take a good look at that last word - "OPINION" - because when you seek veterinary care - or go to a doctor that s EXACTLY what you are getting - THEIR OPINION of what the ailment is! Their opinion of the proper course of treatment for the ailment will be based upon their education, their exposure to the ailment and their success with treating similar cases in the past! Why is it so hard to accept that not every health care professional is going to have been exposed to the same things and therefore will NOT have skills necessary to treat the ailment? What pet owners do encounter quite often is a rather young veterinarian who may be well read and eager to please and not so eager to admit they do not know what to do! OR just the opposite an elderly veterinarian who has been in practice for many years and STILL refuses to admit they don't know what to do! the letters after their names do NOT make these people perfect or turn them into gods! Those letters merely mean that the person has passed a particular test at a specific point in time - nothing designates they now know all there is to know about any animal that comes to their practice! Veterinarians, like doctors, often over book their clinics (probably to offset cancellations and no shows) so this tends to severely limit the time they can spend examining the patient and discussing observations and symptoms. This can short change the patient severely. Some vets that don't know will take a very conservative approach and this too can short change the patient. Others want to run every test in the book when an obvious ailment is staring them in the face! And this may end up short changing the patient too! There is absolutely NOTHING wrong to second guess the veterinarian, or to arm yourself with research you've done yourself! And there is nothing wrong with using past experiences in other venues to guide your interactions with the current veterinarian! Cheers, Kim please visit: for ferret help and info: http://holisticferret.proboards80.com/index.cgi http://ferretopia.proboards51.com/index.cgi yahoo groups Natural Ferrets [Posted in FML 6619]