What's the real difference between two cases? The owners.
Treating "exotic" (non cat and dog) animals like rodents, rabbits, and birds is always tricky, because they cost so little to purchase in the first place. Medication costs do not change proportionally with animal size, and we still have to factor in the cost of a vet’s time. In fact, we often undercharge time for smaller animals, because most of the same procedures are fiddlier and take twice as long to do – but people are less willing to pay more for them. (I never really did understand how that works). Society has placed a certain value on these animals, and for that we must pay.
I met this lady for the first time when she'd adopted a free rabbit and wanted a check up. In succession, this rabbit got a weepy eye, a skin infection, and then an abscess. The last is notoriously hard to treat in rabbits - it would take weeks and would most likely end up costing more than surgery. She chose to persist anyway. I was ready to mention euthanasia if she even hinted that cost would be an issue, but she never did. She was frightened of needles but learnt how to do it and got quite adept at it. She injected the rabbit every two days for six weeks and spent literally hundreds for the rabbit she’d only had for (when I first saw it) a week. And, against the odds, the abscess is healing. The owner thanked me for all my efforts and giving her little rabbit a go every time I saw her.
I met this other lady for the first time when her rat developed a nasal lump. Both cancer and respiratory infections are common in rats and she was willing to trial antibiotics before euthanasing. I then spent many hours researching antifungals – doses, routes, classes, and then rang around to see if I could get them specially made. However, the lump had grown again and the aspirate showed mostly pus – either bacterial infection or necrosis from cancer. Last chance – I added a second, stronger antibiotic. Still no better. Since it was not responding to two full strength antibiotics, it was most likely cancer and I thought it best to euthanase if money was an issue.
The owner then read me the riot act – for having her spend $150 on her five-dollar rat. She proceeded to accuse me of taking advantage of an animal's illness to make money and announced that she was going to take her animals to another clinic. I thought about telling her that most other clinics wouldn’t even give a rat a chance – (or even a glance!), or that a specialist would have done everything the same and charged three times as much. Instead I told her that we would euthanase it at cost price - $20. An hour later she called my boss to say that it was outrageous I was still trying to make money off a dead rat with cancer and she was going elsewhere.
I don’t judge people by how much they spend on their animals. I’ve seen people spend thousands on an animal that was obviously suffering but they just didn’t want to let go; I’ve seen people who absolutely adore their animals but just can’t afford treatment. The bollocking I got made me wonder if it was worth putting my hours, my heart and my soul into healing the “exotics” when no one wanted to pay that much for them. Only briefly. Because then I think of the lady with her “free” rabbit and our unspoken yet mutual agreement in doing what we can to help these small, undervalued animals. Society has placed a certain price on them – but that doesn’t change their worth to some, very special people, who I will always hold in the highest regard. And that’s why I’ll continue to call myself an avian and exotic animal vet, and yes, I’ll continue to devote my life to them.
Treating "exotic" (non cat and dog) animals like rodents, rabbits, and birds is always tricky, because they cost so little to purchase in the first place. Medication costs do not change proportionally with animal size, and we still have to factor in the cost of a vet’s time. In fact, we often undercharge time for smaller animals, because most of the same procedures are fiddlier and take twice as long to do – but people are less willing to pay more for them. (I never really did understand how that works). Society has placed a certain value on these animals, and for that we must pay.
I met this lady for the first time when she'd adopted a free rabbit and wanted a check up. In succession, this rabbit got a weepy eye, a skin infection, and then an abscess. The last is notoriously hard to treat in rabbits - it would take weeks and would most likely end up costing more than surgery. She chose to persist anyway. I was ready to mention euthanasia if she even hinted that cost would be an issue, but she never did. She was frightened of needles but learnt how to do it and got quite adept at it. She injected the rabbit every two days for six weeks and spent literally hundreds for the rabbit she’d only had for (when I first saw it) a week. And, against the odds, the abscess is healing. The owner thanked me for all my efforts and giving her little rabbit a go every time I saw her.
I met this other lady for the first time when her rat developed a nasal lump. Both cancer and respiratory infections are common in rats and she was willing to trial antibiotics before euthanasing. I then spent many hours researching antifungals – doses, routes, classes, and then rang around to see if I could get them specially made. However, the lump had grown again and the aspirate showed mostly pus – either bacterial infection or necrosis from cancer. Last chance – I added a second, stronger antibiotic. Still no better. Since it was not responding to two full strength antibiotics, it was most likely cancer and I thought it best to euthanase if money was an issue.
The owner then read me the riot act – for having her spend $150 on her five-dollar rat. She proceeded to accuse me of taking advantage of an animal's illness to make money and announced that she was going to take her animals to another clinic. I thought about telling her that most other clinics wouldn’t even give a rat a chance – (or even a glance!), or that a specialist would have done everything the same and charged three times as much. Instead I told her that we would euthanase it at cost price - $20. An hour later she called my boss to say that it was outrageous I was still trying to make money off a dead rat with cancer and she was going elsewhere.
I don’t judge people by how much they spend on their animals. I’ve seen people spend thousands on an animal that was obviously suffering but they just didn’t want to let go; I’ve seen people who absolutely adore their animals but just can’t afford treatment. The bollocking I got made me wonder if it was worth putting my hours, my heart and my soul into healing the “exotics” when no one wanted to pay that much for them. Only briefly. Because then I think of the lady with her “free” rabbit and our unspoken yet mutual agreement in doing what we can to help these small, undervalued animals. Society has placed a certain price on them – but that doesn’t change their worth to some, very special people, who I will always hold in the highest regard. And that’s why I’ll continue to call myself an avian and exotic animal vet, and yes, I’ll continue to devote my life to them.
That's sad yet beautiful Chryso, and a lesson we all have to learn:
ReplyDeleteThis is a difficult industry, with a lot of emotion invested in it but often not enough money or gratitude. In the end we all have to find our own personal justification for why we do what we do. And use it to shield ourselves from the degrading opinions and attitudes of other people, formed only from ignorance and guilt.