From:
ifixrex2000@yahoo.com
Date: 2002-10-17 14:17:26 UTC
Subject: RE: Just lost another ferret
To: ferrethealth@smartgroups.com
Message-ID: <15059128.1034864246267.JavaMail.root@scandium>
>I'm seeking opinions (no flames, please - I'm genuinely seeking >proper pr=
otocal). I can't help but expect to be reimbursed for >today's procedure s=
ince Templeton never recovered from >surgery. Does anyone have experience =
with a similar situation >and how their vet handled the bill? =
One of my ferrets was having surgery for a insulinoma. During the procedur=
e the liver was biopsied because of spots on it. The vet closed him up and=
all seemed well, but he wouldn't wake up and then his gums became very pal=
e (all at the vet's office). The vet re-opened him and the liver was bleed=
ing uncontrollably at the biopsy site. They tried using some sort of glue =
to patch it and had a ferret blood donor on the way in when our ferret died=
. We were charged and paid the full bill (understandably) though it was a =
little hard to swallow. (And as was mentioned earlier, I blamed myself for=
being too aggressive and choosing the surgery. I know I was just trying t=
o do what was best, but I do consider myself less aggressive surgery wise i=
n a ferret over 5 now.)
Then, another of our ferrets was having insulinoma surgery. The surgery we=
nt very well, but during recovery he was burned severely by a heating pad. =
(As a matter of fact, my personal opinion is that he nearly died of heat e=
xhaustion during the recovery. He was panting like crazy but the vet said =
that was normal). A reconstructive surgery was needed to repair the severe=
ly burned skin and I was charged $130. Not to mention the pain and sufferi=
ng my ferret went through--most of his belly was nothing but a thick, peeli=
ng scab that lifted off. Being charged for this was even harder to swallow=
, and the relationship with the vet was damaged. We still see him occasion=
ally but not nearly like we used to. I'm not saying this is how it should =
be necessarily, just that in my case this is what happened. One thing that=
made the issue more complicated was that this vet knew how nervous I am ab=
out surgeries and allowed me to be in the back of the office during recover=
y. So I kind of felt like 1) maybe I should have known he was being burned=
and 2) maybe I pushed the issue too hard about keeping our ferret warm aft=
er surgery. I had read how important it is and really emphasized that I wa=
nted him on a heating pad (a lot of times this vet uses latex gloves filled=
with warm water for heat rather than heating pads).
=