Having spent over a thousand dollars in the past week that I quite honestly don't have, and having another vet visit tomorrow- preceding which I must visit the pawn shop to hock my stereo- you might expect me to be as bitter as some other people on this about the cost of veterinary care. Nope, not a bit. If I had human children the medical bills would be ten times higher at least! Could you or I have life saving surgery performed for $400? Maybe in a third world country! Anyway, what I AM upset about is that both of my ferrets medical emergencies could have been prevented. Following last weeks intestinal blockage surgery- the second for this particular ferrret ( don't even think about bringing those compressible foam earplugs into your home!) My boyfriend left the wrong window open. Realizing one of the troops had gone awol a couple of hours later,He went outside with the dog to find one of other ferrets. The dog found the ferret quickly, which was a good thing since he was in bad shape. He was attacked by a dog (or so we believe) how he got away with his life is uncertain. After treatment for shock he was operated on to repair a torn diaphram. He is alive and will remain that way but for a while it didn't look good. he is so severely bruised that he cannot walk, only crawl. I'll gladly pawn every possession I have to pay the vet who saved his life. So, please everyone be careful with your fuzzies! And next time you go to your internist and he charges you $150.00 to write you a prescription for an antibiotic, take the bill home and frame it! It will put all those vet bills into perspective. [Posted in FML issue 1838]