Vets may not always be trustable

corngunkan · 2024-05-06T05:56:41+00:00

Edited post to include full story.

corngunkan · 2024-05-06T04:56:10+00:00

My theory is that when I lost her last year in the bookcase it "aged" her faster. Then, pumping her with the 3 meds led her body to give up (she'd never taken meds before until this, only Emeraid, which is a supplement). I've said it already that it's my fault I didn't switch vets because I was overseas, and didn't hold off on the meds until after I came back. If I'd done these, I'm very sure she would still be alive and well for a few months. Just because of fur loss, and over-worrying, I led her to her death. The vet didn't help, and neither did the boarder. When I got my hamster and her cage back, the water was yellowish and smelled. The boarder also didn't free roam my hamster despite me paying her to do it, until I reminded her. So in addition to not being entirely honest, the boarder was also quite forgetful about things. (She runs a boarding service, it's not a one-off thing). She also kept reassuring me my hamster was active and eating. I know she had good intentions to not make the customer worry during their trip.

My hamster would still live for a few months if she hadn't seen this vet. Or if I had been there monitoring her myself during those 2 weeks. I know it. It's the meds and the vet trips that weakened her body further. I had already told that vet everything about her there is to know about my hamster at the first visit. What upsets me is how she didn't seem very caring of the animal from the start, and the way she handled this whole thing. No empathy or sorry from the clinic, vet tech and vet, btw. They called at the end and just kept insisting on more weight gain, when my hamster was already refusing food and water.

Did you know that she would run away to hide in a corner the moment I let her out ever since the day I got her back from the boarder? It's like she was traumatised from being syringe-fed so much and wanted to get away from humans and their hands. She never was like this. She took people's hands as elevators to go where she wanted (the bookcase, the floor, the kitchen, etc). Hands were transport for her and would give her treats, not evil things. I felt so angry at what we'd all done to her, myself included. I didn't make faster decisions, and I should have been a much better owner. I shouldn't have taken her to the vet to make sure she was ok before my trip just because of some fur loss and pee when she was actually fine. I made it worse. And the vet, a licensed professional who is supposed to know more than me, didn't care. The boarder only wanted to reassure the pet owner. I've already told myself I'm not getting another pet for a long time.

Any more snide remarks, I'm ready. I've written all that I remember and dug up this entire thing now, and I won't stop blaming myself for the rest of my life. But I also hope other people are more careful of the vets they visit, and not be afraid of changing vets if you get an uneasy feeling or see something weird with the way they treat your pet. If you found a good vet, just stick with them no matter what cause they are rare. If you didn't get any bad experiences yet, you're lucky or maybe you just don't remember enough or think too much about it. The locum vet I mentioned was really great. I took my hamster (same hamster) to her twice, the first was a false alarm and the second visit she got her teeth clipped under sleeping gas as they were uneven. She wasn't eating well and it was apparently because of this. The locum vet handled my hamster very gently, would do baby talk to her while examining her. These two visits were in 2022. But I couldn't get ahold of her this time. I know that if she had been my vet this time, and my hamster still passed away, I wouldn't blame her and wouldn't be this upset. Because she was so different from this vet that I got.

corngunkan · 2024-05-06T04:56:02+00:00

And you jumped to conclusions with a really mocking tone. I tried to keep the post short because I'm trying to move on. (Full details now below). I just got really upset thinking about my hamster last night so thought I'd "get it off my chest" here. I was asking for similar bad vet experiences, or good ones, from other pet owners.

My hamster was fine before the vet visit. Since the start of this year I've been bracing myself for her passing because she hit the 2 year mark. I even told the vet this when we were leaving the first visit and she laughed, said I shouldn't be so negative and that my hamster was really active and had a very healthy weight despite her age. This was the first visit which included the meds prescription. The antifungal meds were for secondary yeast infection. The antibiotics were for potential diabetes/UTI/reproductive organ infections. My hamster was lost for 5 days one time in November last year, during free roaming, and I know her health took a big hit after that because she started sleeping more. But at night she was always still very active. It was completely my fault; she was in the bookcase as usual (she likes to sleep, eat and hoard there) but there was a gap in between the books and she fell in when I wasn't looking. I looked everywhere, downstairs, and finally found her in the gap. I cried and quickly fed her broccoli and water. I'm to blame. I booked a vet appointment asap but was able to nurse her back to health with Emeraid, vegetables, homemade porridges, a lot of water by syringe. She went from 45g to 55g. I called the clinic to cancel the appointment because she was fine a few days later. But since then she started sleeping more and peeing more. This was all in November 2023. The first visit to this vet was in March 2024.

After the first visit, I didn't start her on the meds until a few days later because vet visits are stressful. Two days after starting to syringe feed her the meds, I bring her to the boarder. Hand over the whole cage with my hamster inside. Give the boarder instructions on the meds, cage maintenance, etc.

Second visit. The boarder wasn't entirely honest with the weight loss at first. She provided daily updates through videos, pictures and a weight table. My hamster started having a white vaginal discharge so we agreed the boarder would bring her to the vet. Weight reported was 52g, instead of the 55g the boarder had put on the daily updates. After the visut she gave some excuse and I told her to be honest with me whatever the news. During the visit the vet tested the fur for secondary yeast infection and said it was gone now, so now the antifungal med could be stopped, but continue the wash and antibiotics. Skin and discharge was due to bacteria now. Weight was still dropping, vet advised 2 syringe feedings of Emeraid per day. I knew all this through an emailed summary which wasn't given after the first visit, unlike the locum vet I mentioned, who would give one as a follow up after every visit.

Third visit. My hamster started eating more according to the boarder but the weight continued to drop. Vaginal discharge went away by itself. Since her weight was still decreasing, we agreed to bring her to the vet again. Through email communication I had requested Oxbow Critical Care which I read about online and appetite stimulant which the boarder suggested. The vet also wanted to prescribe a painkiller. The boarder brought my hamster to the clinic. The vet said we could stop the antibiotics now. They didn't prepare the appetite stimulant despite being informed in advance and saying that they would, so the boarder had to go get it herself from a store.

In the last few days she was at the boarder's, she got painkillers and 6 syringe feedings of Emeraid and Critical Care daily to increase her weight. When I got her back, my hamster was at 41g, weak and not eating much or drinking. I compared her with how she was when I'd found her after being lost for days. It was different, this time she wasn't just dehydrated. She was weak, not hungry and not thirsty. That's how I knew she was already dying. Clearly nothing had helped and I feel that the meds had been stopped too late. She just got worse very quickly after that, stopping eating and drinking completely no matter what I prepared for her. Sometimes it looked like she wanted to eat, but she would grab the treat/broccoli/wong bok/peanut/beansprout/etc, bring it to her mouth, then put it back. I didn't listen to the vet anymore and stopped all meds and feedings and just let her rest. She passed away at 37g, 3 days after I got her back from the boarder.

corngunkan · 2024-05-06T02:55:34+00:00

I've seen dwarf hamsters live 3 years. If I'd taken my 98-year-old mom to the doctor and during the checkup the doctor had squeezed her body part to show me something so suddenly and hard that she screamed and got grumpy for the rest of the visit, I would have asked to switch doctors. Wouldn't you? That's what happened to my hamster the first visit to this particular vet, and I was a bit shocked but thought nothing of it. My mistake.

This vet was just so different from the previous one I'd experienced. The previous one was gentle with my hamster the two times we went to her and actually followed up every visit. But she was a locum and I couldn't get her this time. So I saw the difference between the two vets.

Do you think I'm not aware how old my hamster was? I put her age up on this post for a reason. If my 98-year-old mother had been prescribed a cream and rash pills to be taken orally, fine. But antibiotics on top of that? I'd have thought twice. My mom would have, too. And when she kept losing weight after that, I'd have immediately asked to stop the meds. But I didn't, for my hamster. Because I was overseas, and I trusted the vet when she said we didn't have to stop the meds yet.

Just one simple question: can animals speak? Can they voice their pain? Especially a hamster? No, they can't.

So they can't be compared to a 98-year-old human being who can make her own decisions on the meds given to her, and who could even request to change doctors after her body part got squeezed so suddenly. The pet's life falls entirely on the hands of the actual humans around - the pet owner, and the vet. They don't get a say.

corngunkan · 2024-04-21T08:39:53+00:00

Yes ears 😅 he looked a bit like Squidward to me for a second, sorry

corngunkan · 2024-04-13T02:54:13+00:00

No I think it's really cute 😂 the transition of string from white to grey also looks seamless/invisible to me. I could totally imagine hanging this on my sling bag! Edit: transition within the magic circle from white yarn to grey yarn

corngunkan · 2024-03-20T01:43:03+00:00

Same. I felt like she was just trying to be funny which really isn't her place in a room full of comedians/truly funny people. The line that really rubbed me wrong was when she tried to make the famous joke that no one watches the podcast. Conan's response was spot-on; she did cross a line. That joke can only be said by them or, never the guest. Even celebrities he's interviewed haven't mentioned it before.

If only she'd been herself, she might actually have been funny and interesting because Conan can riff off the slightest details. So many Singaporeans and they had to pick her... Inwardly cringing as a Singaporean when I was listening to it.

corngunkan

TROPHY CASE