fluffiebunnie
Warren Veteran
I am writing to my vets regarding the poor treatment Twinkle received and the fact they told me to put her to sleep when all she appears to have is gut statis:
Dear Sirs
I am writing with regard to the recent treatment you provided for my pet rabbit, Twinkle. I am writing because I am extremely unhappy with the care you provided for her, which lead to her suffering unnecessarily and putting me and my family through an emotional time.
I brought Twinkle to you with what I believed to be gut statis. She had a lack of appetite and her droppings were very small. As an experienced rabbit owner I knew the signs of her sitting hunched up and teeth grinding meant she was in pain, which further exacerbated the statis.
You did provide injections of gut stimulant and painkiller and did syringe feed, but I was left to look after her at night with no further medication. I noticed she was still in pain as she was still sitting hunched up and was grinding her teeth.
I did question the vet regarding the small amount of painkiller but was assured she had had the maximum dose (even though it obviously wasn’t).
As there was no improvement the vet decided it must be her teeth so did x-rays. Both Nathan and Hilda assured me her tooth roots were too long and that was causing the pain, and the only option was to euthanize.
After discussions with very experienced rabbit owners I was recommended to get a second opinion, and when at the vets, Hilda did get an appointment with a specialist in Maidstone.
Upon seeing Twinkle in Maidstone, the vet said he did not think the tooth roots were a problem and said he thought Twinkle only had a bout of gut statis, which had been prolonged due to the previous week’s treatment not being sufficient.
Twinkle was admitted to Maidstone and with fluids and the correct amount of painkillers, plus round the clock care, has made a full recovery from the gut statis. She is now gaining weight again and is back to her normal self.
My complaint is that as a vet that I have used for many years, I trusted your judgement and ability to treat my rabbits. You have neutered and spayed them all, and they are all vaccinated throughout the year. The first time I bring a rabbit to you with something more than a simple nail clipping or vaccination, and you do not seem to know what you are doing! You recommended putting a healthy rabbit to sleep as you did not recognise the fairly common problem of gut statis in a rabbit! I wonder how many other rabbits have been euthanized by yourselves without the proper treatment?
As well as the stress to myself and my family, putting my rabbit through a week of serious pain which would of resulted in death due to her not being able to eat, the financial implications are also an issue. I paid a lot of money to you to treat my rabbit, and you treated her incorrectly and x-rayed her without a need to do so, which has all cost me money I did not need to pay if you had treated the statis properly. Not only did I pay you all that money, I then had to pay all over again at the specialists!
I have lost all faith in you as my vets and would like a response by return post. I cannot take calls at work, so appreciate you do not ring with a response. I would like a written response and I would like a refund of the money I have paid to you, as I have paid for a service I have not received.
Yours faithfully
So do you think this is OK?
Many thanks!
Dear Sirs
I am writing with regard to the recent treatment you provided for my pet rabbit, Twinkle. I am writing because I am extremely unhappy with the care you provided for her, which lead to her suffering unnecessarily and putting me and my family through an emotional time.
I brought Twinkle to you with what I believed to be gut statis. She had a lack of appetite and her droppings were very small. As an experienced rabbit owner I knew the signs of her sitting hunched up and teeth grinding meant she was in pain, which further exacerbated the statis.
You did provide injections of gut stimulant and painkiller and did syringe feed, but I was left to look after her at night with no further medication. I noticed she was still in pain as she was still sitting hunched up and was grinding her teeth.
I did question the vet regarding the small amount of painkiller but was assured she had had the maximum dose (even though it obviously wasn’t).
As there was no improvement the vet decided it must be her teeth so did x-rays. Both Nathan and Hilda assured me her tooth roots were too long and that was causing the pain, and the only option was to euthanize.
After discussions with very experienced rabbit owners I was recommended to get a second opinion, and when at the vets, Hilda did get an appointment with a specialist in Maidstone.
Upon seeing Twinkle in Maidstone, the vet said he did not think the tooth roots were a problem and said he thought Twinkle only had a bout of gut statis, which had been prolonged due to the previous week’s treatment not being sufficient.
Twinkle was admitted to Maidstone and with fluids and the correct amount of painkillers, plus round the clock care, has made a full recovery from the gut statis. She is now gaining weight again and is back to her normal self.
My complaint is that as a vet that I have used for many years, I trusted your judgement and ability to treat my rabbits. You have neutered and spayed them all, and they are all vaccinated throughout the year. The first time I bring a rabbit to you with something more than a simple nail clipping or vaccination, and you do not seem to know what you are doing! You recommended putting a healthy rabbit to sleep as you did not recognise the fairly common problem of gut statis in a rabbit! I wonder how many other rabbits have been euthanized by yourselves without the proper treatment?
As well as the stress to myself and my family, putting my rabbit through a week of serious pain which would of resulted in death due to her not being able to eat, the financial implications are also an issue. I paid a lot of money to you to treat my rabbit, and you treated her incorrectly and x-rayed her without a need to do so, which has all cost me money I did not need to pay if you had treated the statis properly. Not only did I pay you all that money, I then had to pay all over again at the specialists!
I have lost all faith in you as my vets and would like a response by return post. I cannot take calls at work, so appreciate you do not ring with a response. I would like a written response and I would like a refund of the money I have paid to you, as I have paid for a service I have not received.
Yours faithfully
So do you think this is OK?
Many thanks!
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