I have agreed to leave the rabbit in the hospital for one more day.
We received the blood work.
- Liver enzymes elevated
- Proteins elevated
Some elevation might be due to dehydration, but they suspect infection, so they have started him on antibiotics. He has received some fluids and gut motility drugs. He does not eat, does not drink, has no droppings, but the vets tell they don't feel any blockage by palpation. His temperature still goes down when he is out of the incubator.
Thank you, Shimmer, your encouragement helped me to try one more time to talk to them about the problem.
In the past, I already had a serious conflict with them over Critical Care, and vets become hostile. Only technicians have social skills to stay polite. Veterinarians
- either get hostile, and repeat that their protocol is to feed the rabbit no more than 3 times per day. Today, the vet claimed that my rabbit needs 8 hours between feedings because the food should leave the stomach before you add more. When I replied that the gastric transit time is 4-5 hours, not 8, he told they want to give the rabbit "a chance to eat on his own", and because of that, they can't increase his dosage to more than 60 ml of prepared CC per day. They tell that many other people had conflict with them over that - but they didn't give in to any pressure and won't do it with me.
- or become ironic. One vet talked down to me and tried to gaslit me that they follow the dosage on the package and that I just calculate dosages not correctly. He replied in ironical tone: "I don't know how you calculate the dosages, but I mix them physically, and I did this multiple times, so I'm sure I do everything correctly". Also, he declines to switch to measuring Critical Care in grams, he likes to measure in tablespoons (that's an American/Canadian feature), so if I show him any calculations, all info just flies over his head, he doesn't even try to look at numbers.
He also declines to measure veggies/greens in grams, prefers cups.
They decline to provide any reference where they get their dosages from, tell only "from MEDICAL books" but decline to name any actual book no matter how many times I ask.
They also declined to reply if any of their non-eating patients survived while receiving this lower CC dosage. When I asked whether any bunny survived this treatment while being under their care (if their approach is effective), they reply only that they follow their protocol and won't fluctuate from it.
Today I asked if anyone from their vets has owned a rabbit, the vet declined to answer, claimed it's irrelevant. I know that the veterinarian who saw our rabbits often, prefers birds and maybe that's why he is called "exotics specialist".
Since they are a bit rude and not transparent, and were unable to diagnose my first rabbit and maybe second will die, I have decided in the future I will avoid this hospital when possible. Oddly, this hospital is respected by other vets (because it has "certified" specialists). Only clients are unsatisfied. I heard positive reviews only from those neighbours who have dogs/cats, but those who have exotics tell it's a horrible hospital that one should avoid.
