emergency vets

Tamsin has an unexplained injury to her eye. I spent my 'getting to work' petrol money for next week on an emergency vet visit. They can't see anything in the eye and have flushed it. Given a painkilling injection, meloxicam I think, and cream to put in the eye twice a day. Shes already on antibiotics anyways. I have to go back if it gets worse, because she might need to go under anesthetic for exploration/ possible surgery. Back on Monday anyway for a check up. The green dye stained about 1/3 of the eyeball, the whole top section. The vet said she's not going to lie its a serious injury. I'm not sure what I am going to do if it does get worse. I have like £20 in my bank until I get paid at the end of the month, going to have to borrow money back off my mum to get to work next week so I can get paid at the end of the month. If she needs anything major like surgery I'm going to be looking at having to PTS for financial reasons so I'm just keeping everything crossed the eye cream and antibiotics do the trick.
How do I even tell if the eye gets any worse? Its swollen shut and weeping slightly as it is.

Awww so sorry to hear this :-( sounds like an eye ulcer - that's what the green dye sticks to - a third of the eye is pretty major, but eye tissue regenerates quite quickly so hopefully it will heal ok. Dudley had similar last year from a hay seed head which got caught in his eye, he had antibiotic eye drops and pain killers, and he had it debrided a couple of times to take away dead surface tissue, and it did eventually heal without the need for surgery.

I would say that pain relief is essential, apparently eye ulcers are incredibly painful - so if you have any metacam I would ask your vet if you can use it or get some if not. The normal eye drops didn't work for Dudley, as a last-ditch attempt before phenol debriding/surgery we swapped to a human eye drop (can't remember what off the top of my head but I can find out if you need) and it healed within about a week. Take a daily photo if you can, it's hard to see progress when you see them every day but if you can track it over the days it will hopefully give you some encouragement that it is healing - or an indication that you may need to change eye drops if not. Did the vet check that there is nothing caught under the eyelid? If it doesn't start to heal its probably also worth getting your vet to double check that.

Please don't pts for an eye ulcer, it should be so treatable - if you get desperate please see if a rescue can take your bunny rather than pts. I know you would be heartbroken either way though so hopefully it won't come to it x x

Good luck, hope your little one is ok x x

Hope she doesn't need surgery Sending lots of vibes for Tamsin xx

Oh no hope she is okay and that the eye improves. I agree pain relief daily would be essential.

If need be, could you ask the bank to take out an overdraft or extend your existing one, to help you get to payday? You could also ask the vet before you go in if there is any way you could pay in parts or at the end of the month.

I can't get any loans or anything I've tried I had no income for 7 months at the end of last year and had my bank account foreclosed etc (when I was trying to rehome them) my credit rating is so terrible until I start getting wages coming in. I've just been trying to get by. I've rang rspca, pdsa, local animal centre and none of them will help me. As its my first wages can't get a payday loan. I've asked the vet if they would do a payment arrangement they said no. Maybe they will change their mind about a payment arrangement when it comes down to it, I can prove I've started work. Mum will only lend me the money for a PTS so as you say as this will be incredibly painful I can't do nothing i should be able to afford to get a bottle of metacam tomorrow, the vet said the injection would last up to 48 hrs. She is still very quiet, sat hunched in a corner but she did come for food and to investigate what I was doing with all the others before going back to her corner and seems to be pooping/eating fine. Why couldn't she wait two weeks for the emergency? The picture idea is a good one, I'll do that.

ETA they flushed they eye, said the only way to be totally sure there's nothing there would be to look under anesthetic which they've recommended if the eye gets worse. They are trying to avoid that because of her being so underweight with the as yet unidentified mystery weight loss within the whole group.

Oh my god I am so sorry this is awful I hope it gets better so you can all be happy together

Ruthie xxx

Sending vibes for your bunny, and thinking of you. xx

If the vets say no again to the paying in stages/on payday, you could try ringing around and seeing if another vet will - better a non-rabbit-savvy vet than PTS. May be worth qualifying with them first about payment for Monday's appointment before arriving there, to save a wasted trip.

I'm guessing you dont have a credit card. Have you tried all the online payday loan companies?

Yes, see if you can get metacam - and see if you can get it without them seeing her (and hence charging a consultation fee). Unless things change overnight, theres no point getting her seen twice in 2 days, when you cant afford it. Pain relief should hopefully stop the pain and things that could be caused by the pain of it (not eating etc). And the anti-inflammatory properties should help bring the swelling down.

Are there any family members or good friends that could lend you money? as they know you are good for it.

If you have games consoles or games that you dont need, you could see how much you can get for them trading them in at Game - I think you can still get money from them for trading stuff in? I'd ring them before you spend the money travelling to the shop to check prices etc.

As a last resort, you could look into pawning some of your more valuable items - but I had a quick look for you and it looks like to get it back you have to pay the money they gave you for it plus £20 per £100 they gave you, which is a ridiculously high amount of interest. Problem is, you dont want to get into a cycle where you have borrowed so much that your payday doesnt cover it and living, so you have to borrow again next month and then the one after that etc.

Hopefully, none of this will be necessary, and bunny will improve with the meds she has been given. In the meantime, if you need advice and she doesnt need medical attention, I'd ring the vet, or request a call-back from one, as a phone call is free.

The vets sound awful! To think they would rather end her life because of them getting the money a couple of weeks later!?- I dont think they are in it for animal welfare!
I really hope your little bun gets better without the need of further treatment but please dont opt to PTS, search for another vet or turn up at the rescues door.

Sending loads of vibes for Tamsin xx

That's so sad. Why will your mother only lend you money for pts rather than treatment?

nessar said:

If the vets say no again to the paying in stages/on payday, you could try ringing around and seeing if another vet will - better a non-rabbit-savvy vet than PTS. May be worth qualifying with them first about payment for Monday's appointment before arriving there, to save a wasted trip.

I'm guessing you dont have a credit card. Have you tried all the online payday loan companies?

Yes, see if you can get metacam - and see if you can get it without them seeing her (and hence charging a consultation fee). Unless things change overnight, theres no point getting her seen twice in 2 days, when you cant afford it. Pain relief should hopefully stop the pain and things that could be caused by the pain of it (not eating etc). And the anti-inflammatory properties should help bring the swelling down.

Are there any family members or good friends that could lend you money? as they know you are good for it.

If you have games consoles or games that you dont need, you could see how much you can get for them trading them in at Game - I think you can still get money from them for trading stuff in? I'd ring them before you spend the money travelling to the shop to check prices etc.

As a last resort, you could look into pawning some of your more valuable items - but I had a quick look for you and it looks like to get it back you have to pay the money they gave you for it plus £20 per £100 they gave you, which is a ridiculously high amount of interest. Problem is, you dont want to get into a cycle where you have borrowed so much that your payday doesnt cover it and living, so you have to borrow again next month and then the one after that etc.

Hopefully, none of this will be necessary, and bunny will improve with the meds she has been given. In the meantime, if you need advice and she doesnt need medical attention, I'd ring the vet, or request a call-back from one, as a phone call is free.

Click to expand...

This :thumb:

I'd like to think that my vets who i've been with for years and have always paid there and then would try and help me out a little if i asked to pay n a few days time just the once. I know they aren't a charity but i'm a rather good customer!

My previous vets would have let me do a payment arrangement. I've only been with these ones 3 months so they don't know me. I guess they still have to run a business. The concept of duty of care doesn't seem to come in to it.
I have written to the PDSA to suggest they change their eligibility criteria.

Babsie said:

That's so sad. Why will your mother only lend you money for pts rather than treatment?

Click to expand...

she isn't an animal person. She suggested I have them all pts to 'save the hassle'

blue_vix said:

she isn't an animal person. She suggested I have them all pts to 'save the hassle'

Click to expand...

That's horrible! :evil:

blue_vix said:

she isn't an animal person. She suggested I have them all pts to 'save the hassle'

Click to expand...

But she does not have to be an animal person she would be lending the money to you a person not the bunny.

blue_vix said:

she isn't an animal person. She suggested I have them all pts to 'save the hassle'

Click to expand...

Im sorry if this sounds harsh but that is disgusting!

Well it is my reality at the moment, which is why I tried to rehome them.

The meloxicom was £15, I went to get it this afternoon. The vet said the eye will be very sore and to be vigilant for stasis. She's been prescribed 0.5ml once a day for a week and they said ideally they want her back in every two days until it's cleared. They gave me the dog one this time instead of the cat one. I don't know if theres any difference. The check ups are £11.30. I'm not sure but I think this must have changed recently. I never used to get charged consult fees for check-ups on ongoing problems when I was actively paying for medication. The other vets I tried did the same though.

Bless you - well done for getting some meloxicam today, that should ensure that your little one stays comfortable while it heals. The dog and cat ones are the same ingredient, it's just that the dog one is 3x stronger than the cat one so you need to give less of it to get the same painkilling effect. I don't know how big she is but that sounds like a reasonable dose to keep the pain at bay. My vet said that her boyfriend got an eye ulcer a while back and he was in an incredible amount of pain, so she is always careful to give plenty of pain relief when animals have ulcers.

Please do keep us posted on her progress - I really hope that things heal well without the need for further intervention x x