O
ouroboros939SQT
Guest
My fiance and I have 11 "children"--one hedge, 4 chins, 4 hamsters, 1 sugar glider, and one really fat orange tabby. (I used to have vet aspirations, now I'm in ppl medicine, but can't shake the animal love.) Two weeks ago we were a concerned but happy family.
My local vet has seen my youngest baby girl chin for an resp infx twice. Both times she wrote her a Rx for baytril .6ml twice daily...the second course of abx was almost a month long. Both times my chin, who presented with labored breathing, retractions, whimpering, abnormal lung sounds, etc *immediately* improved. Ergo what she has is definitely a resp bacterial infection responsive to antibiotic treatment.
Both times as soon as the abx was stopped she got ill again within the week. Same symptoms.
I'm in CO and only recently discovered Dr. Fitzgerald. I took a sugar glider into his animal hospital two weeks ago for a massive facial abcess. It showed up literally overnight and the staff assured me there was an exotics vet on hand. "Come in!" they insisted. So I brought her in, paid the ER fees, and was then told that Dr. Fitzgerald was out and the other exotics vet was on maternity leave. No one bothered to check. I camped in their waiting room because the non-specialty vet initially insisted she had an "allergy" rather than an infx. She eventually changed her mind, but it took some convincing and obviously she was clueless. So I eventually met Dr. Fitzgerald for two seconds in which he glanced at my sugar and said "She's on the right track" (aka infection) and left. My sugar died that night. I was very upset that Alameda East was so incompetent about scheduling and so callous.
But with round II of the chinchilla resp illness, I have no other choice really. I can't find another good vet and my chin is really sick. Her local vet hasn't managed to resolve the issue and I'm pretty worried. So my fiance rushed her into Alameda East again after being told that Dr. Fitzgerald was still there and that they would ask him to see her. My fiance left immediately. Dr. Fitzgerald wasn't there. And no one at the animal hospital has chin experience. I was very upset. I have an 8:15am appt with him tomorrow.
To top it all, I work night shift. I called in to get the night off work so I could meet him at the ER and deal with this. And take her in the AM. My work (a staffing agency) is now blackmailing me with the possibility of not staffing me anymore because I have a veterinary EMERGENCY. WTF? They didn't know what a chin was and pretty much hinted that a chin isn't as important as say a dog. :hair: Fortunately I'm a new grad nurse and will be leaving these jerks within weeks, so may as well do it sooner rather than later. But still, the attitude really upsets me.
Dr. Fitzgerald may be eminent or whatever. I wouldn't know. I've barely met him. I do know that no one else in my area knows what they're talking about. Moreover, his staff is bloody incompetent. Alameda East pushes patients to rush into their ER thinking that someone can see them, but they don't actually ensure that anyone who knows a thing about exotics CAN see them. I'm really worried for my girl and furious with the idiocy I keep encountering. I hope this vet is worth it!
My local vet has seen my youngest baby girl chin for an resp infx twice. Both times she wrote her a Rx for baytril .6ml twice daily...the second course of abx was almost a month long. Both times my chin, who presented with labored breathing, retractions, whimpering, abnormal lung sounds, etc *immediately* improved. Ergo what she has is definitely a resp bacterial infection responsive to antibiotic treatment.
Both times as soon as the abx was stopped she got ill again within the week. Same symptoms.
I'm in CO and only recently discovered Dr. Fitzgerald. I took a sugar glider into his animal hospital two weeks ago for a massive facial abcess. It showed up literally overnight and the staff assured me there was an exotics vet on hand. "Come in!" they insisted. So I brought her in, paid the ER fees, and was then told that Dr. Fitzgerald was out and the other exotics vet was on maternity leave. No one bothered to check. I camped in their waiting room because the non-specialty vet initially insisted she had an "allergy" rather than an infx. She eventually changed her mind, but it took some convincing and obviously she was clueless. So I eventually met Dr. Fitzgerald for two seconds in which he glanced at my sugar and said "She's on the right track" (aka infection) and left. My sugar died that night. I was very upset that Alameda East was so incompetent about scheduling and so callous.
But with round II of the chinchilla resp illness, I have no other choice really. I can't find another good vet and my chin is really sick. Her local vet hasn't managed to resolve the issue and I'm pretty worried. So my fiance rushed her into Alameda East again after being told that Dr. Fitzgerald was still there and that they would ask him to see her. My fiance left immediately. Dr. Fitzgerald wasn't there. And no one at the animal hospital has chin experience. I was very upset. I have an 8:15am appt with him tomorrow.
To top it all, I work night shift. I called in to get the night off work so I could meet him at the ER and deal with this. And take her in the AM. My work (a staffing agency) is now blackmailing me with the possibility of not staffing me anymore because I have a veterinary EMERGENCY. WTF? They didn't know what a chin was and pretty much hinted that a chin isn't as important as say a dog. :hair: Fortunately I'm a new grad nurse and will be leaving these jerks within weeks, so may as well do it sooner rather than later. But still, the attitude really upsets me.
Dr. Fitzgerald may be eminent or whatever. I wouldn't know. I've barely met him. I do know that no one else in my area knows what they're talking about. Moreover, his staff is bloody incompetent. Alameda East pushes patients to rush into their ER thinking that someone can see them, but they don't actually ensure that anyone who knows a thing about exotics CAN see them. I'm really worried for my girl and furious with the idiocy I keep encountering. I hope this vet is worth it!
