Velvet was at the vet’s – huge scare!

[Liza]

Yesterday morning, I noticed that my little princess Velvet was not doing well. She refused to eat, would lie down flat on her belly and was not her perky little self. I called the vet immediately and took her in. I had to wait for almost two hours, of course, because we didn’t have an appointment. Once we got in, the doctor said she was not bloated, it was apparently not so bad, but I knew Velvet was in discomfort. The vet told me he was going to give her some sub q shots and medicine. He wanted to keep her overnight so I asked him who was going to watch her overnight. That’s when he told me “nobody” because the last person to leave leaves at 8pm. I told him that I was not comfortable leaving her there overnight without supervision upon which he asked me whether I was always so hyper-protective and that I was driving myself crazy. I responded with a big fat ole “yes” and reminded him that he was holding my baby there (everything was jokingly said, but I was sick to my stomach at that point). I told him that I was going to spend the night with her on the floor at home while in the office, she would be alone in a cage. He told me that the ER vet was downstairs and that she would be brought down there if she started to deteriorate. I told him that I had been to that ER clinic many times and that they were NOT experienced with small animals such as rodents. He acknowledged that but added that they would take direction well. I told him that I can medicate rats, so giving medicine to Velvet should not be a problem. He was rather upset (I wonder why though… $$$ ? Most likely.). Velvet is an older rabbit who has been through a lot in life. She does not do well in a cage-environment, she does not do well when seperated from Dancer, and she will be naughty to people other than us. The thought of her in a cage just make me nauseous because that’s how Velvet had to live at the shelter for so long and that’s why she was very aggressive and was scheduled to be put to sleep before we got her home. When being sick, we heal better at home, animals and humans. I just had to take her home and had to give medicine to her on my own.

 I could barely think straight Friday morning. I’m usually more rational than this but it was so sudden, I just couldn’t deal well with it. She is my little girl and I just have to make sure she is ok at all times. I knew that she had eaten a piece of carpet (those carpet squares…). I have thrown them all out now. Maybe that gave her discomfort?

I picked her up at 5pm when the vet closed and was sent home with medicine and instructions of how to give her babyfood. I seperated them from about 1am to 7am. Velvet was in the x pen while Dancer was in the dining room running around (the x pen is in the dining room). The second I let them be together, he groomed her very gently and she was just loving it. Dancer is just the best bunny for companionship! He is such a great caretaker! He must have gotten that from his daddy…  : – ) She is his godess and they worship each other. Yesterday afternoon, Dancer was not active at all. He must have not gotten any sleep the previous night. It stressed him out that he wasn’t with her. When I got up, he was trying to groom her through the bars and he was biting the bars (something he never does). He is back to normal this morning (they have spent the night together again).

She is on medicine though yesterday evening, she started to eat again. It looks like she is eating out of protest. She is tired of me running after her with the syringe and forcing her. So I told her that she had the choice of either me feeding her through the syringe or she eating on her own. She is a smart girl! She chose wisely and started to eat.

What I feel inside for Velvet is not describable with words. I love her so much, I just couldn’t bear the thought of her being uncomfortable.

My girlie is back to normal now! Please guys, watch out for your bunny nibbling and ingesting things they shouldn’t be eating. She had never chewed on that rug before…

Done with my novel for the day…

[bunnytowne]

Good for you.   You weren’t comfortable leaving her overnite and said so. Glad to hear she is doing some better now. She would have been stressed all alone in a strange place.    Get well little bun bun

[Beka27]

i’m glad you didn’t leave her overnight. i don’t understand why the vet would recommend that when they did not have people there 24 hours? really, what would that do? has anyone ever experienced that where the vet demanded they stay overnight when no one was there? this makes me really mad. maybe i just don’t “get it”, that’s definitely possible. that also makes me doubt leaving them overnight in the case of a spay/neuter… something to speak with the vet about.

i’m glad she’s feeling better. as i understand it, you never want to split up a bonded pair when one is sick unless it is something contagious or they are turning aggressive towards each other. being together can help them feel better faster…

[jerseygirl]

Good on you for being such a strong advocate for Velvet. Perhaps your vet will respect your views and knowledge more from this point on. Glad to hear the worst is over.

[LittlePuffyTail]

Glad to hear your baby made out okay. Last time my Stormy was very sick with statis the vet wanted to keep him overnight but I knew he would be much more comfortable and happy at home. I hate when they want to leave animals overnight with no supervision. I think most of the time the vet is just thinking about the nice “boarding” fee.

[Liza]

Velvet is completely back to normal. I continue giving her the meds though. She is eating and behaving as usual.
I had to keep her seperate from Dancer because I had to monitor her poop (if she pooped at all!) and her food-intake. She was sort of ok but it stressed Dancer out.
I never leave any of my kids anywhere without me. I once waited in the waiting room for hours when one of our rats was on oxygen at the ER vet. I refused to leave her there and wanted to know how she was doing at all times. She ended up being put to sleep that evening because her quality of life was not there anymore.
We pet owners need to be responsible and be with them.

The vet did tell me that it would be around $100 more if she spent the night there. Until then, money hadn’t even crossed my mind. All I wanted was for Velvet to feel better. This vet is very knowledgeable when it comes to rabbits. I just wish he had better people-skills.

[MooBunnay]

Good for you standing up the vet! I sometimes have trouble doing that because I never know when the vet is right and when I am. I think you did a great thing for Velvet not letting her be alone, I once had to leave a foster bunny alone at the vet (separated from her bonded mate) for over-night monitoring because she had gone into cardiac arrest during surgery, and she stopped eating, probably because she was left alone without her friend and there were all kinds of dogs and cats around I still feel terrible about it and wish that I had taken her home even though she was partially paralyzed at that point, I always wonder if she still would be with us if I had brought her home. So anyways, my point being that its great that you acted on that gut instinct to take care of your baby

[Kokaneeandkahlua]

Beka I’m with you I completely don’t get and disagree with asking to keep the rabbit overnight when no one was there to watch her…exactly what did they think that would accomplish!? What’s the purpose?? Stupid I say….

Kudos for sticking up for yourself and not being intimidated!!! I think you absolutely made the right choice! Alot of us feel it’s hard to disagree with a doctor or vet, but they are human and can make mistakes or the wrong decision too. We all need to take a page from you and question them when our gut tells us it’s wrong… *HUGS* I’m glad she’s doing so much better!

[Beka27]

oh. i gotcha about monitoring the poop and food intake. with mine, their poops are normally different sizes so i usually don’t have that issue, and as far as food, Max does not eat more than his share.

i am still comepletely FUMING about this vet overnight thing and i want to hear from anyone else who has experience with this. WHY is it RECOMMENDED when there is not going to be anyone there?! this makes me seriously angry b/c they are doing this when the poor petowners are already in a delicate state. you might be scared, in shock, worried, crying, distraught… so the vet you trust says, “yes, he/she must stay overnight.” and how many people BLINDLY agree thinking they are doing what’s best… and it probably never dawns on them that there’s not going to be anyone there… i am sure in that situation i wouldn’t think twice b/c i trust my vet’s judgement…

grrr. i really hope someone can talk me down from this…

[Liza]

Awwww, I’m flattered… but actually, yes, the situation was scary, I had this limp rabbit in my hands and the vet didn’t take me serious. We pet owners are the ones who know the pets best. It was very unlike Velvet to refuse any kind of food, very unlike Velvet not to greet me in the morning, very unlike Velvet to let me pick her up – and she is an older rabbit, so I was even more scared.
The vet said other things which I won’t repeat here. It will make you guys furious. I overlook those things nowadays. He is known for his big mouth but also for his expertise. But that’s exactly why I don’t understand why he wanted to keep her there overnight. He might have thought I couldn’t administer medicine (though he knows I am the ratlady). Or it was just the money. On the form to fill out for new animals at that clinic, I had to fill out my occupation and the one of my husband. I guess he thought it would be ok to get even more money out of us because we must have it…
Honestly, I believe greed was the primary cause for him to ask me to leave my baby there overnight.
When you go to vets, you need to make sure you understand which medicine will be administered to your pet, understand how often and how much of it. Understand the reason why, too. English is not my native language, so I ask vets twice (or more!) what is going to get done on my kids before I give them the ok to go ahead. If a vet is not willing to explain things to me, I walk out. I had a very traumatic experience at a vet’s 5 years ago. It is still haunting me. They killed my love Vino (a rat) ‘by accident’ (that’s a lie!) and I was right there to witness it. Vets do not know everything (neither do we). We have to help each other out (this forum is great for that!) and through a combination of our experience and medical advances, we can help our pets best.
In Velvet’s case, a simple question, “Who is going to watch her?” was enough for me to determine that I was not going to leave that office without my Velvety. The vet assistant who gave Velvet the shots and the oral feeding was super nice and truly cared about Velvet. That’s the other super important thing when you go to the vet’s: make sure you are comfortable with those handling your rabbits in the back of the office. A nice receptionist doesn’t do much good. I need competent and caring vet assistants.

I may sound bitter, but I’m not. I’ve been running to vets for over 7 years now – with rats. You see quite a lot of things out there with the years…
Make sure you always remain somewhat reasonable in each situation and ask questions. That’s the service you are paying for, too!

[Beka27]

i agree about the vet assistants too! awhile back i had an experience with a new vet assistant and she was too scared to lift Meadow from the top-opening carrier. that really kinda freaked me out b/c 1) she works at a vet office that sees buns frequently, what did she expect? and 2) if she’s not comfortable lifting or carrying a bunny (a small 3.5 pound bunny!) how do i know she wouldn’t drop her? we’ve all carried bunnies before and the most important thing is confidence. some bunnies can be carried “the right way” but if you’re not confident, the bun will not feel as secure.

[bunnytowne]

I really like my vet.  They have a form you fill out asking if you feel the pet is a family member or b. or c.  etc.  They ask questions about the pet owner and your views on your pet and about a. do whatever needs to be done $ is no problem b. I want my pet to be healthy and do what is necessary for the pets well being  I dont’ have a lot of $.   Or It is just a pet doesnt’ matter.

Which is sad people would feel that it’s just an animal.   Where I am taking Ruby in Nov (shhhh)  I stayed the whole day waiting for Laith and they didn’t mind at all that I was there.  He was well treated. The vet willing to learn more stuff… She had a manuel and looked up the oxbow stuff and recommended it for my buns. I feel comfortable with her.  Their people are nice.

Tho no it doesn’t make sense to leave an animal in a place where no one will be.  Thats just silly. Yeah maybe it was the $ signs he saw on your form. Shame on him.   And Ms. Velvet is doing better Oh Joy.

[Beka27]

^^^hmmm. interesting. thanks for posting that BT. i have never had to fill out anything like that at a vet, maybe it’s more common in other parts of the country?  i personally would not feel comfortable filling out that questionnaire. it seems like they are asking for permission to recommend more expensive treatments, even if that was not what was in the best interest of the bun. i would want to know ALL of my options in whatever the situation. what if you said that you don’t have a lot of money, will that prevent them from trying to treat your pet to the best of their ability? i don’t know, maybe it’s just me that finds that strange…?

[Cassi&Charlie]

I got super lucky with my vets because they LOVE Charlie so much, and would steal him if at all possible. My vet even has a flemish giant so she’s a mad rabbit woman too, just like me. She also treats me like a competent human being, explains how to administer medicine, goes through it with me and tells me what everything is for.
This came in really handy when Charlie has has GI stasis scare because they went way above & beyond what I paid for and didn’t charge me for hospitalisation or anything because they just wanted him to get better as well.
So overall I ended up paying $150 for 3 consultations, massive amounts of medicine, hospitalisation for a day (not night) and all the love and care he expects to get as King Bunny.
They actually insisted I take him hime at night (I was going to anyway) and get him back to them before they opened the next day at 7:30am so they could give him more injections.
Sorry, I can’t rant enough about how much I love my vet, I gave her a big bunch of flowers are a thank you because I was so overwhelmed by her dedication.

[Kokaneeandkahlua]

Beka maybe the questionairre is for if you are not there and they can’t get ahold of you. My vet tries to phone once she’s seen the bun to let me know what she thinks needs to be done and if I agree to it… I’ve left specific instructions that if they can’t reach me I trust their judgement and to do what needs to be done. Some people won’t agree to bloodwork and if they can’t reach them-MAYBE that’s what it’s for? I’ve never heard of it before though-just a thought?

Liza you don’t sound bitter -you sound confident and that’s what you need to be!! Again, I’m glad you questioned and did not leave him overnight!!!

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