To Carolyn Kinsey: Please don't lump all vets together - like human MDs and any other position - there are good and bad. I worked in an animal hospital intermittently for the past 20 years - there was a veterinarian on site 24 hours/day as well as a vet tech and a kennel person. There was also a backup vet on call if needed. While my own vet doesn't have 24 hr attendance at his hospital, I can recall several instances where he took my ferrets home with him because they needed 24 hr monitoring. I also know of another vet hospital who has a live-in tech with a 2-way monitor so she can listen to what's going on from her apartment (attached to the hospital). If you look hard, you *can* find a vet knowledgeable in ferret medicine that doesn't charge an arm and a leg - there are several in this area. The vet hospitals I am familiar with all have oxygen cages. And, IMHO, withholding vet treatment to a sick animal to avoid emergency charges is pretty lame. Debbie Riccio WNYFLFA Western New York and Finger Lakes Ferret Association Rochester, NY [Posted in FML issue 1447]