Vet trip update

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Originally Posted by wolfy-hound

Wait, wait....
YOUR vet gave her antibiotic shot... and sent her home with orders to soak, and give shots...
MY vet kept him, tubed him, inserted a tube surgically... I swear... I'm going to have a chat with my vet.
grrrr...
I think I'm putting someone's kid through college.
Wolfy

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People are quick to criticize the care when their pocketbooks are open.
One of the most startling things I learned is that medicine is as much art as science, and each vet will have a slightly different approach to each case, resulting in a broad spectrum of treatments. You also cannot necessarily compare medical cases over the internet based on a few lines of text.

I was being a little faciecious(I'm also being very bad at spelling)
I just had a snake that went in for possible RI about two months ago. They not only ran every test under the sun, they ended up doing a liver biopsy, since they never saw a spider spinner before. After over $1000.oo they ended up with a diagnose of mouthrot. Treatable with a $.50 bottle of peroxide.
My Randy is WORTH the money, no doubt.
I just dislike unneccesary tests being run on my animal to line the pockets, or give studants experiance putting tubes into a snake.
Wanted to clarify that. I do not mind taking proper care of my pets, much less my broodstock that I treat like pets. But you can see the HUGE difference in her treatment and mine. Hers didn't stay overnight, mine is in there over a WEEK.
Also, hers presented with open mouth breathing and crackling. Mine wasn't even open mouth breathing. I realize that none of this was information that you had, and I'm not angry or annoyed at your post in any way. I run into far too many people who count their 'pets' worth in dollars spent. Too many dollars in and the pet goes out.
I will be quite annoyed if the reason behind all the extra treatment MY snake is getting is because their want a studant to practice taking care of a snake in ICU.
Wolfy

You would be quite justified in being annoyed if they were padding the bill or doing unnecessary procedures on your animal so they could get practice doing them.

But far more often, the complaints I hear are from people who say their vet ripped them off when in fact the vet did a detailed and methodical work-up.
It's good to know that your snake only has mouthrot, but you should also know that in general veterinary medicine, it's common for the diagnostics to cost more than the threatment itself. You're not just paying for the drugs, but for the knowledge and the testing, the peace of mind of knowing exactly what's wrong, the overhead of running the facility and paying the staff...if you think those things aren't worth it, then you don't need to take the animal in, but for it's sake I hope you do.

Consider what the cost would be to have those same procedures done in a human hospital, and that vets have to be trained in not just one species, but several, and that for the most part we use the same drugs and materials and lab equipment as a human hospital. We're just better at keeping costs down because we have to be...because people are much less willing to pay for an animal's care than for a human's.

/soapbox

I'm sitting here stressing out about giving her, her shot on Sunday. Dr.Gold showed me how to do it, half way down and into the mussel.... but ugh I'm really not sure I can do this! I HATE needles to the point I get dizzy/yucky feeling just looking at them. I tried my hardest to watch him do it and I did good till he stuck it all the way in her then I had to look away.

I'm going to feel like a total idiot if I can't do it on Sunday or calling up there on Monday and telling them my problem. =(

Also I'm going to have fun doing this by myself since my father won't have any part of doing anything that involves my snakes.

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Originally Posted by lillyorchid

I'm sitting here stressing out about giving her, her shot on Sunday. Dr.Gold showed me how to do it, half way down and into the mussel.... but ugh I'm really not sure I can do this! I HATE needles to the point I get dizzy/yucky feeling just looking at them. I tried my hardest to watch him do it and I did good till he stuck it all the way in her then I had to look away.

I'm going to feel like a total idiot if I can't do it on Sunday or calling up there on Monday and telling them my problem. =(

Also I'm going to have fun doing this by myself since my father won't have any part of doing anything that involves my snakes.

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Allison,is there someone else who can help you do it then? Since you are not to thrilled with needles and you will need a second set of hands to hold her still just incase.

I can think of a few people I know but they live 20+ minutes away and I doubt they would drive over here so I'd have to pack her up and take her over there. I'll ask a few people tomorrow.

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Originally Posted by lillyorchid

I can think of a few people I know but they live 20+ minutes away and I doubt they would drive over here so I'd have to pack her up and take her over there. I'll ask a few people tomorrow.

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I bet they would help you out since you are such a nice person:) .Besides i would hate to read that you gave yourself the shot instead of your snake lol.

LOL true!

The second set of hands would make everything less stressful on you and her. And how is she doing? Breathing better yet?

And I know that I am paying for the knowledge of the vets. The prices on the individual things are actually great at UF. Its the AMOUNTS.. kind of felt like going to the doctor because you have a sinus infection and being put through every single test that could possibly be related, including AIDS, Cancer, Legionnare's, Tuberculosis, and the rarely seen locust plague caught in nose disease. I'mt erribly glad they eventually proved event o THEMSELVES that Hepburn didn't have an infecticious deadly disease, but the one they were looking for? The first three tests came up negative, yet they still did three additional ones too. That's what annoyed me, then I found out that they had the studants doing these procedures because "they hardly ever get to try these tests out on LIVE animals" (which is a direct quote from the vet) and that they really appriciated me bringing her in so they could. THAT'S when I was truely annoyed. Don't put MY pet through a bunch of stuff unneccesaily.
It's sort of like finding out your snake has mouth rot... you can A: take the animal to the vet, have the vet sedate them a little, debride the mouth tissues, culture the tissues, come up with a antibiotic, administer it to them, keep them several days to see that it is working, then finally send them home. OR B: You can go get a bottle of peroxide, cut it with water and swab the mouth yourself every day or two and see if THAT makes it get better. For the snake's sake, I tend to go witht he 2nd option. In my own experiance, the one that went to UF and underwent all that stuff? She took 5-6 weeks to recover. The other snake with mouthrot? 2 weeks. Which do you think was stressed more?
Its NOT the money.. although I'd be lying if I said I want to spend as little as possible and still do right by my pet... we all do. It's the principle of someone doing unnecessary tests and procedures.
Look, another long rambling blather from,
Wolfy

Sounds like Dr. Gold is pure gold Allison. Great treatment with a very cost effective bill! Hopefully you can find someone nearby to help you with giving the shots that will be needed to get this snake back on the road to good health.