Finally on my last nerve with this vet clinic

[Alisha]

If you’ve read any of my recent posts, you’d know that my rabbit’s spay has been a nightmare. I was planning on spending a total of 200 dollars for the surgery and some pain medication. Then it turns out the surgery was pretty much botched and with a weird excuse for that. I had to pay for the surgery complications, the overnight hospitalization that was forced on us, and the IV stuff as well. Now since her incision is so big, we better get her on antibiotics too which is fine because I want to be safe but why was this surgery so messed up in the first place? It was going to end up being over 800 but she gave me like 250 dollar credit so it ended up being like 550 I guess. Then I take her home and I call and ask some questions such as is it normal for her to be cranky and digging and all that. I learned from here and online that it’s completely normal for a bun to experience spikes in hormones right after you remove their reproductive system. They didn’t even mention that over the phone and told me to bring her in right away and they’ll give her opioid shots and even more pain meds so I had to drive an hour back to the clinic to get the shot/medication and pay for that. A few days later, she started eating a bit better and one day even ate a ton of greens at once and the next morning her stomach was making some loud gurgling noises – which I’ve never heard from her before. And so I call the vet to ask about it, just to be safe, and honestly nobody would give me any ideas or explanations on the phone. They just told me to bring her in today for an emergency visit just to make sure everything is fine. Drove another hour, paid for an emergency visit just for them to conclude that she ate on an empty stomach so her tummy is just making some noises. I really felt like I didn’t even need to be there. But then they were like, oh we should get her some probiotics now since her antibiotics are up. Probiotics were never mentioned before? I just feel like they have been making this stuff up as they go along. So I pay for the emergency fee and the new probiotics. The vet tried to convince me to leave her there for almost A WEEK since she’s getting her stitches taken out on Thursday anyway. She was like, “I can do all her meds for you, take care of her here and you can come get her in a week” basically trying to to get me to pay for a week boarding. At this point it’s just getting ridiculous. Especially since she’s doing so well now and she NEEDS to be home. That’s where she’s comfortable. She would be so stressed out there. Shouldn’t they care more about the rabbits than the money? I feel like this is all about money for them and they’re taking advantage of me because I love my bun to death and would do anything for her. I’m not paying for anything else. She survived the botched surgery and she’s eating again and they can just go…you know > Oh and another thing, they finally mention the spike in hormones stuff from before. They didn’t say anything at the time which is convenient because they wanted to sell me more drugs but now they’re talking about how being cranky is so normal after surgery because of the hormones. Do they plan this? Are they actually this deceiving? 

[Bunny House]

Honestly, I’m not surprised. With all my buns health issues and the vets I’ve been to, so many are out to just get money and not care for the well-being of the animal. It’s sad but it’s not uncommon. A lot of times vets don’t say there are certain outcomes possible because they don’t want to scare the client but I am always an advocate for my buns and push the vets to tell me anything and everything about a procedure being done, a lot of times you need to push on vets if they are not saying a lot, just like with human medicine, so many doctors don’t care about the health of people, we are just cattle and they just go from one person to the next but don’t get me wrong, there are very very good doctors but it’s very rare to find them in human and animal medicine. I’ve had to become my own vet because of this.
Remember the vet can’t force you to do things or leave her there. You are her owner and they don’t have anything pointed to your head telling you you have to do something.

Hormone rushes after spays are common for up to 2 months after spay. They clearly aren’t experienced in certain rabbit care and it’s a shame you’ve had to go through this. If I were you, and you have the money and time I would find a different rabbit savvy vet even that is 3-4 hours away and see if you can get an appointment and have them check her and make sure she is fine because it’s her life and safety that needs to be dealt with and then you can later deal with the bad clinic but she needs to make sure her health is good.

[Sirius&Luna]

The thing is, even if these vets are normally good with rabbits, you have lost all your faith in them, so it will be hard to have a good relationship going forward, and hard for you to trust them. I would advise you to look for another bunny specialist if possible. I understand that this is easier said than done often, but if you don’t trust them, it’s hard to put your bun’s life in their hands.

I’m lucky enough to have a wonderful vet, but one of my buns recently got stasis on a Saturday evening, so I took him to an emergency vet, who was absolutely terrible. Because I’ve been through stasis with another bun at my great vets, I knew what Atlas needed and I asked for it, and point blank refused to let the vet do other things that I felt weren’t necessary at that time. He obviously thought I was being irresponsible, but all I wanted was to keep him going until I could get him to my good vet in the morning. He tried to get me to leave Atlas there, but wouldn’t let me leave his companions with him, so I refused. When I took him to my proper vet, they were horrified by the doses that the emergency vet had sent him home with (which I hadn’t given him). My point is, don’t be afraid to advocate for your bun, and seek the advice of other bunny owners. Of course it’s important to take them to vets when they need it, but I genuinely believe some vets can do more harm than good.

[Doodler]

I am sorry for everything you and your bun has gone through. There is so much about your whole experience that just doesn’t sound right. I know you’re pretty limited but I would never want to go there again if I were in your shoes. If only we all had access to great vets that were close to us. I hope she continues to do so well!!

[Sleepy]

Posted By Sirius&Luna on 3/12/2019 11:15 AM

I’m lucky enough to have a wonderful vet, but one of my buns recently got stasis on a Saturday evening, so I took him to an emergency vet, who was absolutely terrible. Because I’ve been through stasis with another bun at my great vets, I knew what Atlas needed and I asked for it, and point blank refused to let the vet do other things that I felt weren’t necessary at that time. He obviously thought I was being irresponsible, but all I wanted was to keep him going until I could get him to my good vet in the morning. He tried to get me to leave Atlas there, but wouldn’t let me leave his companions with him, so I refused. When I took him to my proper vet, they were horrified by the doses that the emergency vet had sent him home with (which I hadn’t given him). My point is, don’t be afraid to advocate for your bun, and seek the advice of other bunny owners. Of course it’s important to take them to vets when they need it, but I genuinely believe some vets can do more harm than good.

I’ve also had a terrible experience with emergency vets and rabbits, particularly with dosages. One of my bridge buns broke his paw and not only did the emergency vet not put a splint or anything to help brace it but they also gave him WAY too big a dose of painkiller. What was worse was our vet at the time wasn’t open on Sundays so he had to spend a whole day like that before we could rush him in and get him proper treatment. Our vet was horrified and warned us off going to that emergency place again because the amount of painkiller they gave him could’ve killed him.

[Alisha]

How big of a dose is too big? Even after a opiod shot, she told me to start giving her 1.7 mil of metacam twice daily which is .7 more than her original dose.

[Sleepy]

I don’t remember but iirc, the problem was that the amount was more akin to what you’d give to a cat or dog than a rabbit.

I don’t think 1.7 is as bad, since that’d be more for extreme pain, but I don’t know for sure.

[Doodler]

I find the amount you were prescribed to be interesting Alisha. There are two different concentrations of Metacam, 1.5 mg/ml and .5 mg/ml. The 1.5 mg/ml is the one that is mostly prescribed for rabbits. I don’t know how much your rabbit weighs, and of course her surgery was a lot more extreme, but all three rabbits I had fixed only got .3 ml once a day. Granted two were neuters but one was a spay. They were all in the 3 lb range when their surgeries were done.

[Alisha]

Well, she’s tiny. She’s a 1 year old mini rex mix but she is “overweight” just doesn’t look it. I don’t even know how much she weighs haha I don’t think I paid enough attention at her check up or I forgot

[Bunny House]

I would give my New Zealand 1.7ml when she had surgery, but up to 1ml would be safe for her size since she’s a small bun but usually .3-.5 is a normal post spay amount to give, and of course depending on the strength of the med, it could be once a day which would be twice the amount ( 1ml stronger concentration ) or twice a day and each dose is half (.5ml twice a day for the lower strength)

[Alisha]

This says it is 1.5 mg/mL for the first metacam I got and that was 1 ml twice a day. I didn’t get packaging for the second prescription because it was in a bigger bottle and didn’t even have a label on it. She gave me a bigger syringe and told me to give her 1.7 ml twice a day

[Doodler]

That would be another strike in my book for this clinic. AVMA guidelines state that all veterinary prescription drugs must be properly labeled when dispensed. I can only hope they gave you something different that might not be prescription. You sound pretty confident that it is though.

Her original prescription was clearly much higher than my does. My vet has their weight on the top of the paperwork they give. Not sure if you looked at yours but thought I would mention that in case it’s there.

I just have to say that I am mad for you!

[Bunny House]

My bottle says 1.5mg/ml and it’s 1.5mL Once a day so for your girls weight it should be 1mL once a day, meloxicam is heavy processed by the liver and that amount you’re doing could cause some organ damage quickly so I would stop the 2x a day and do once a day. The clearly don’t know how to treat bunnies.

[Alisha]

Honestly, I decided against giving her more pain meds after like 2 days of it because she was starting to eat better and I just felt she was on it long enough and honestly she’s been fine and hasn’t seemed in pain at all. She’s actually back to being a complete pig and flopping all over the place.

Now that I think of it though, the bottle wasn’t labeled but the little ziploc bag it was in, probably had a sticker on it and I just tossed it aside because I’m stupid and just put it with the rest of her meds haha I should have saved it…

[Bunny House]

Don’t be scared to start to give her the metacam if she shows pain since she’s been through so much. Keep us updated and ask any other questions since you have been through so much.

Do you know what that prescription was for? You may be able to call them and have them tell you and you write on the bottle Incase you ever need meds and you are in a pinch, they might be ones you can use, I always keep all the buns meds just Incase something happens

[Alisha]

Well honestly she’s been doing amazing the past couple days. She’s eating a lot, flopping a lot, she even did a half binky this morning when I woke up and said hi to her so I think she’s feeling good She even stands up when I grab a freeze dried banana slice for her so she’s pretty much back to normal except for the fact she just poops EVERYWHERE which is unlike her. She’s litter trained. Not sure what’s happening there.

[Asriel and Bombur]

Post spay craze. Most buns lose their habits before they’re fixed because of hormones, and if she was litter trained going into it, her hormones being all over the place will cause the shift in habits.

[Alisha]

Honestly, she’s been really good about the litter habits even with all the hormones coming in before her spay. She had moments here and there where she would leave a poop on a place she was saying was hers (like my pillow over and over haha) but the bulk of her duties would always be in the litter box. NOW she’s just leaving piles of poop all over the place hahaha oh dear..

[Doodler]

That’s great! The pooping is not unusual and should get back to normal when her hormones settle.

[Alisha]

I found she’s also been peeing on everything in her area I gave her. Oy. haha See now that’s really not like her because she has never peed on anything outside her litter box. Even the first day I got her. She always preferred the litter box. I hope it stops haha

[Bunny House]

Maybe she has contracted a UTI with everything? I know I can’t give my buns anything soft or the pee on it but then again her hormones could be going crazy haha

[Wick & Fable]

The post-spay spike deals with hormone fluctuations, so she could be REALLY into marking things that aren’t directly smelling like her as well.

The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.

[Q8bunny]

A bit caught up on your continued odyssey. Oy vey! ??‍♀️ Ultimately, though, I’m just glad she’s recouping. Nuts to those vets, though. Bunny savvy or not, they sound like a bunch of avaricious ambulance chasers.

[Alisha]

Yeah thank you all, she is doing really well. She’s back to being a piggy and eating all her food plus demanding more. She’s doing binkies. All that Today she got her stitches taken out and I’m not taking her back for a while. She should be happy about that. She was thumping at the vet techs today whenever they took her from me haha

[Q8bunny]

LOL You tell them, bunbun!

[Alisha]

She’s been pretty mean to anyone that isn’t me. She’s been licking my face to death and growling and lunging at anyone else. On the plus side, I finally found a pet bed she actually uses. She spends most her time loafing in it or half flopped over it hahah

[Q8bunny]

What a sweetpea!

[Author]

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