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Post by southy on Oct 3, 2022 6:56:19 GMT -8
I took my gerbils to a vet as one of them has a scent gland tumor. A vet tech had took him out in a towel to try to weigh him and he squeaked and bit her and when she put him back he was limping around. I knew something went wrong. Then they had the lead vet come in to cancel weigh him in the carrying case i brought him in. They gave me antibiotics for the tumor and an estimate for surgery. Had they only weighed him in the carrying case he wouldnt be injured. I am certain the vet tech/assistant had injured him by squeezing him too much. He was just fine this morning before i took him. Im 100% certain the assistant had mishandled him.
They gave me antibiotics, but afaik SGT is cancerous so the only real treatment is surgery which is way too high ($800). And since hes injured now he might die sooner from the SGT.
What should i do? Complain and ask for a refund for the visit?
Ofc suing them is not worth it. He was alright this morning and in good spirits, tho hes lost a little weight. But now hes obviously not well from the mishandling. Hes limping around as if his spine was broken and his back legs are not moving much, and his bodys tilted to the side. Now hes hiding in the critter bath house in a ball. Earlier he looked happy, was moving around and eating. Now he is not well at all. I left there with a very bad feeling. I guess I will complain and ask for a refund for the $55
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Post by catnut on Oct 3, 2022 14:11:23 GMT -8
so sorry this happened, just try to ask calmly (i know that is not easy) explaining how your gerbil is and explain he may have been held too tightly as now he is not acting right and explain it. I hope they will come clean with you and offer to look at your gerbil again and offer a refund as well. If they are not nice about it, say you will report them and maybe then they will offer up what happened. Your poor gerbil. Hopefully it is just an injury and he will improve but he may need pain meds. (metacam if it's inflammation) so ask for that. I always tell a vet if a gerbil is skittish and then they usually keep them in the carrier or are more careful with my gerbils, i make sure i'm there to watch them.
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Post by southy on Oct 3, 2022 14:28:28 GMT -8
Thanks. Ok. I may have jumped the gun. He may have had a stroke from the stress or some kind of seizure reaction. But i do think the assistant should have not handled him first but asked the boss to weigh him in the container. The assistant seemed to assume that hed sit still in the weigher thing and gerbils never sit still so I assume she did not know much about gerbils. People assume they sit still like guinea pigs. If it was a stroke from mental shock and not physical damage might not be the vets fault. But the assistant should not have tried to handle him and instead weighed him in the carrying case first. So i should tell them that. Per haps if i tell them theyd give a refund and train the assistant better. Not looking to raise heck about it but it was quite concerning, otoh they are fragile things that stroke easily. Their mom and dad died at only a year old both (mom from exhaustion and dad died while i was away and my parents thought maybe it was a metal running wheel accident like getting trapped btwn the wheel and the frame. 1 of the 2 brothers living with dad also got injured similarly to Mickey tho, he was dragging his hind legs afaik). |
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Post by Markpd on Oct 4, 2022 12:30:02 GMT -8
Sorry to hear about this  , and yes I would still contact them about it (even if they didn't cause the suspected stroke), like you said, at the least the assistant should have been more careful to start with. Btw, you mentioned that a dad gerbil possibly got injured by a wheel, and 1 of the brothers? If I read you correctly (I'm not sure as your text is a bit ambiguous), then you should definitely ditch that wheel! Or at least modify it to make it safe, what type of wheel is it? Also, it isn't normal that Gerbils have strokes at 1yr old, although reading your text a 2nd time, perhaps you didn't mean that? |
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Post by tanzanyte on Oct 5, 2022 10:58:49 GMT -8
I'm so sorry you've experienced something like this.
It's not the first time I've heard of vets or nurses hurting small animals because they don't have enough knowledge and manhandle them. It's always worth making the vets aware so that they can try and prevent this happening in future.
How is your gerbil doing today? Has he picked up at all and got the use back in his legs?
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Post by southy on Oct 5, 2022 15:58:38 GMT -8
How is your gerbil doing today? Has he picked up at all and got the use back in his legs? Hes a little better. Still worn out tho, limping and unable to use his left leg. A little wobbly. Hes been trying to stretch it. Sadly i think the assistant did hurt him. Because he had squeaked and bit her. That was the point he got injured. This action was not supervised by the lead vet. I havent called them yet about it cuz i dont wanna raise heck, and i was seeing how hed recover. |
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Post by southy on Oct 5, 2022 16:10:38 GMT -8
Sorry to hear about this , and yes I would still contact them about it (even if they didn't cause the suspected stroke), like you said, at the least the assistant should have been more careful to start with. Btw, you mentioned that a dad gerbil possibly got injured by a wheel, and 1 of the brothers? If I read you correctly (I'm not sure as your text is a bit ambiguous), then you should definitely ditch that wheel! Or at least modify it to make it safe, what type of wheel is it? Also, it isn't normal that Gerbils have strokes at 1yr old, although reading your text a 2nd time, perhaps you didn't mean that? The wheel is a metal dark green one with mesh floor i got at a petco or petsmart. im not sure how the dad died cuz my parents were watching them while i was away. the son also was limping afaik. it was dad and 2 brothers, the 2 bros were chasing each other for dominance alot, and dad kept trying to get them to stop. but i didnt wanna take 1 out so maybe they had a fight while i was away. the 2 bros get along now tho. theyre using a plastic wheel with no bars on the entrance that might hurt them. the other 2 i have (one of them Mickey who i took to vet) dont use wheel much. Mickey doesnt know how to run on a wheel. as for mom, idk how she died, maybe having all those babies exhausted her. maybe she had a internal cancer. she got ill and died quickly. the 4 gerbs i have from breeding are pretty healthy, well except Mickey, he has been losing weight from the tumor. and now hes hurt from the vet visit. sadly i was traveling a bit in the car especially with these 2. which takes a toll on them. thats why i gave 6 of them away (and sadly to ppl who did not seem to know what they were doing. 1 guy had a cardboard box, and i had made a post on this forum about him being suspicious, but earlier this year i contacted him and he told me he gave them to someone whos taking care of them) 😔 poor fragile things |
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Post by southy on Oct 5, 2022 16:13:07 GMT -8
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, and yes I would still contact them about it (even if they didn't cause the suspected stroke), like you said, at the least the assistant should have been more careful to start with.
), late 70s
