LadyConstanze
Posts: 9722
Joined: 2/18/2005 Status: offline
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quote:
ORIGINAL: JstAnotherSub I have to believe that if it was needed, at this time, to put the pet down, the vet would have suggested that rather than meds. Depends really, my cats somehow managed to drag in a pet rat baby (clearly not a wild one as it was black and white), we had him patched up, all the vaccinations, the poor baby got a hernia, we had the surgery, then one day he was sneezing and coughing, what we didn't know was the vet we were with at the time didn't have any experience with small furries, so instead of taking it seriously he said we should wait, then when it got worse gave him antibiotics and called it a mild case of the sniffles. The poor rat got weaker and weaker, we kept repeating the course of antibiotics, I kept asking the vet repeatedly if there is any chance he will be healthy again, he kept on telling how tough rats are. Several hundred £ later and phoning up the "fancy rat club", research on the internet, I learned that once their lungs are bad, they hardly ever recover and they suffer lots because the tissue will be scared and they are much more prone to all sorts of infections. Somebody gave me the address of a vet who specializes in exotic pets (didn't think pet rats are that exotic), he recommended to put the poor fellow to sleep, everything else would make him suffer longer as he'd never make a recovery. Unfortunately the exotic pet specialist is a good 2 hours away, but in the meantime we changed vets, especially since I had a word with the old vet and his comment was "But wild rats live in the canalization, they don't get old anyway and as pets they're not expensive", the new vet said she is not a specialist for rats but said she would be willing to work with a specialist and read up on them. The friends we had bought for Jerry Rat (pack animals, not good being kept alone) are in great care with her, when one had a stroke, she said flat out that instead of making him suffer we should let him go, he could live for a couple of months but he would keep on hurting himself and impaired movement is horrible for them. I think the old vet just saw our pets as a source of profit, if he doesn't care for rats, fine but he could have said so, also that he doesn't know about them. After that I wouldn't ever have been able to trust him to do what is best for the animals but what is best for his pocket. It's also an amazing difference how the new vet handles the pets, giving them time to relax before treating them and not just "Hold still, shots, out", the cats still don't like going to vet for their shots, but the dog adores her as she always gives her a little treat. It's not just that she has a better "bedside manner", she cares for animals and in case she is not sure about something will tell us and is going to check up on it. In case she recommends a treatment, I'm willing to go with it because she could have milked us for the rat with the stroke but decided to do what is best for the animal.
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There are 10 kinds of people who understand binary Those who do and those who don't! http://exdomme.blogspot.com/2012/07/public-service-announcement.html
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