RANDOM NOTES
I promised an update on Chance today and here it is. Early in the week he had a battery of blood tests that continued to show confusing results, most not good. Two days later he had a visit to a special exotic vet for an ultrasound. That vet went the extra mile for Chance. Here is the experience in Danielle's own words:
And all I can say is wow. I must've thanked this vet and shook his hand a hundred times. This vet was the most knowledgeable, nicest, and most wonderful vet I have ever came across. He knew rabbits inside and out.We spent 45 minutes in the room, and he did the ultrasound and it took like 25 minutes because he kept stopping to explain EVERYTHING to me.
Then he did a thorough examination of Chance, thorough as in like 10 minutes! Checked his eyes, ears, teeth, pressed and poked all over, took a temp, weighed him, ect. Then, he looked over the blood work from my vet and explained every single thing. What this was, what it was supposed to be, what causes this and that to go up, ect. So wonderful.Anyways, he said Chance's left kidney is a little swollen, a bit inflammed, but there are no stones or signs of *serious* infection.
One thing we found, that we weren't even looking for, is that his cecal opening is a little narrow, and his gut is a little slow moving. He thinks he may be a little constipated, and just to give a tiny bit of Laxatone.Anyways, he knew everything about rabbits. Oxbow, how to handle them, no alfalfa, and was going very in depth on all types of subjects. He said Chance should've never been on Uroeze acidfier, and explained very in depth why, he said his Baytril dosage was wayyyy too low, and that my vet should've allowed me to change his food over from day 1. He thinks the food, the alfalfa and high calcium, is adding to his problems.
So anyways, Chance is off the acidifier, on a higher Baytril dosage, he's having his food switched to timothy based, and he's having his food cut down. (He explained as, low-fat cookies are great, but if you eat enough, they are still fattening. Same with timothy based pellets. If you eat enough when free-fed, you still get high amounts of calcium). I also told the vet, given all his knowledgle (and incredible bedside manner -- more about that in a minute) that I want Chance's care switched over to him. He said great, and we're due back on April 2nd for a Urinalysis.
This guy's bedside manner, and his assistant's, was so awesome. He kept talking to Chance like he was human! "Chance, are you having a good day? I have a bunny like you, let me tell you about him. His name is..." and he just went on and on. He kept asking Chance "Are you comfy Chance?" "Would you like a hot towel Chance?" "Want a treat Chance?"And he kept hugging on him, petting him. This guy was awesome.I really liked this guy, and I feel so much better to be seeing someone who is so knowledgeable in rabbits and exotics. He was telling me the story of how last night, he had a gerbil emergency at 2am. Someone called him and they had accidentally broken their gerbils tail. So he goes, "Yeah, so if I'm a bit tired, it's cause I was mending a broken gerbil tail till wee hours of the morning. Aww, but you gotta love those little pocket fluff balls!"
And all I can say is wow. I must've thanked this vet and shook his hand a hundred times. This vet was the most knowledgeable, nicest, and most wonderful vet I have ever came across. He knew rabbits inside and out.We spent 45 minutes in the room, and he did the ultrasound and it took like 25 minutes because he kept stopping to explain EVERYTHING to me.
Then he did a thorough examination of Chance, thorough as in like 10 minutes! Checked his eyes, ears, teeth, pressed and poked all over, took a temp, weighed him, ect. Then, he looked over the blood work from my vet and explained every single thing. What this was, what it was supposed to be, what causes this and that to go up, ect. So wonderful.Anyways, he said Chance's left kidney is a little swollen, a bit inflammed, but there are no stones or signs of *serious* infection.
One thing we found, that we weren't even looking for, is that his cecal opening is a little narrow, and his gut is a little slow moving. He thinks he may be a little constipated, and just to give a tiny bit of Laxatone.Anyways, he knew everything about rabbits. Oxbow, how to handle them, no alfalfa, and was going very in depth on all types of subjects. He said Chance should've never been on Uroeze acidfier, and explained very in depth why, he said his Baytril dosage was wayyyy too low, and that my vet should've allowed me to change his food over from day 1. He thinks the food, the alfalfa and high calcium, is adding to his problems.
So anyways, Chance is off the acidifier, on a higher Baytril dosage, he's having his food switched to timothy based, and he's having his food cut down. (He explained as, low-fat cookies are great, but if you eat enough, they are still fattening. Same with timothy based pellets. If you eat enough when free-fed, you still get high amounts of calcium). I also told the vet, given all his knowledgle (and incredible bedside manner -- more about that in a minute) that I want Chance's care switched over to him. He said great, and we're due back on April 2nd for a Urinalysis.
This guy's bedside manner, and his assistant's, was so awesome. He kept talking to Chance like he was human! "Chance, are you having a good day? I have a bunny like you, let me tell you about him. His name is..." and he just went on and on. He kept asking Chance "Are you comfy Chance?" "Would you like a hot towel Chance?" "Want a treat Chance?"And he kept hugging on him, petting him. This guy was awesome.I really liked this guy, and I feel so much better to be seeing someone who is so knowledgeable in rabbits and exotics. He was telling me the story of how last night, he had a gerbil emergency at 2am. Someone called him and they had accidentally broken their gerbils tail. So he goes, "Yeah, so if I'm a bit tired, it's cause I was mending a broken gerbil tail till wee hours of the morning. Aww, but you gotta love those little pocket fluff balls!"
posted by Dan Szafranski at 1:27 PM
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