Prairie
Dog Neutering
Prairie Dog Neutering
- Important!!!"
This section has been updated on our Prairie Dog
Pets on CD-ROM.
Well, hate to start the day off on such a serious note, BUT...............
I have had about 4 calls in the past two weeks from people who have had (or
attempted) to have their pd's neutered. Some vets just do not seem to take our
cautions seriously about the closures for the surgery.
As a note, and I will add this soon to my vet tips page: Be certain that there
are NO exposed sutures and that the final closure, which is with nexaband (surgical
adhesive) has absolutely no excess on the surface of the skin and that the final
closure has been carefully matched so there are no tiny gaps or 'ruffles'. I
had a call on Labor Day morning about a pd that had been neutered the Thursday
before and by Sat. had chewed on one side (it was a male) until the incision
was open and left a 'hole'. The vet - with a real attitude - sutured it again
on Sunday and told the owner that they really did not want to be 'bothered'
again before Tuesday and if the pd repeated the offense to use peroxide and
neosporin. Try this on a pd with a 1 inch hole in its abdomen. The owner is
a rather meek person and was 'afraid' to call the vet again. The person was
crying and at their wits end. Her alternative was to reap the wrath of the dreaded
vet or take it to the emergency animal clinic at a huge cost that could have
been avoided.
I think the attitude of this vet is unconscionable.
My whole point is - Get any neutering done early in the week like on a Monday
so you have all week to return to the vet if there is a problem. ALSO interview
your vet like you would any employee - THEY WORK FOR YOU and the WELFARE OF
YOUR ANIMALS. Don't ever accept this attitude. Vets know when they get into
this business that it is not a 9-5 job at all times. Find out what their after-hour
and follow-up protocols are BEFORE you HIRE them.
This makes me soooooooooooooooo furious. I have a wonderful vet who always has
a capable associate on call when he is not available. They have an answering
machine, cell phone and pager!!! They CARE! One or the other is back to you
within an hour if it is an emergency. He has met me several times - on a Sunday
- and opened his office just for ME! Do not settle for less or you may settle
for the death of a beloved friend.
I had an email as follows: It is lengthy, but needs to be told!
When my fiance fell in love with a prairie dog couple in a local pet store I
thought " No way!" One of my best friends came to live with me once and brought
her newly aquired male prairie dog. He was an absolute annoyance. Sure he was
cute, but his attitude in no way matched his looks. He was destructive, messy,
and for the most part just downright mean.
But it was love at first sight with Mike ( my fiance ) and these two store pets.
I told Mike the story of my girlfriend and her prairie dog but it didnt phase
him. About a week later I went back to the pet shop and started making inquiries.
About 5 months later we got the call that we would have our " puppy " in a week
or so. During our wait we did alot of reading. And we got alot of very useful
information off the net.
When we went to pick our baby out of the litter we ended up with two, not one
like we had originally planned. They have been one of the most important people
in my life. I have dotted and fussed over these two since day one. We recently
aquired a copy of "Prairie dog pets" from a client of Mikes mom who is also
a PD owner. It has been an important tool for me in making myself and my PD
as happy and healthy as possible. But I wanted to just run one thing past you
because I never want to have this happen to anyone else. A couple weeks ago
I took my two male PD's ( Dusty & Tumbleweed) in to the vet recommended by the
woman we bought from. They were 6 months old approximately. the vet took Dusty
in first and I guess had some problem locating his testicles.
He said that he was 99% sure he had gotten everything. But since he had such
a hard time, he didnt want to do the other until he was older. I told them I
would be in after work to pick them up. When I arrived at the vet they handed
me the carrier in which I had brought them with only one PD in it. It was tumbleweed.
The doctor came out and said they had a slight problem after the surgery. They
put dusty back in the carrier with his brother right after his surgery. Well
as you may well know, especially with babies, they love to wrestle. Well this
is what happened. They got into a wrestling match and ripped Dusty's stitches
out along with some of his intestines. So the doctor said they were waiting
for an operating room to open up so they could " gas him again " and repair
the damage. And then off he went as suddenly as he appeared to leave me standing
there with only one of my babies and really no clue what had just happened.
He didnt tell me at that time about the intestinal damage.
I found that out later on that night. I asked the receptionist when I should
come back and she said check in in the morning. When I got home I called the
lady I bought my PD's from. I had called her earlier that day to find out if
she could pinpoint their age, the vet wanted to know. I also informed her of
his difficulty in finding the testicles. She became concerned that there may
be a rookie vet in the office and started making some calls of her own. Well
that evening when I called her, she was the one to inform me of the rest of
the damage. The vet told her he had called me and told me. well he hadnt. But
everyone assured me he would be just fine. The next morning I went in about
11:00am to pick him up. I told the woman at the desk I also wanted to see the
doctor and get an explaination. She handed me back my carrier with Dusty inside.
I took one look at him and began feeling dizzy.
He looked like he was standing at deaths door. How could this be happening?
I only brought him in to be nuetered. I sat down with him and the vet came out
and started rambling on to me the details. I heard very little of this. Looking
down at Dusty I was becoming more and more woozy. I told myself I would just
go out to my car and regain my composure and wait for the sickness to pass.
I think I knew at that time something was very wrong. I took two steps out the
door and passed out. I fell face forward into a conrete pillar and split my
head wide open. Someone from inside the vet came out and took Dusty back inside,
while I took an ambulance ride to the hospital for stitches of my own.
After Mike got off work, he went to the vet to get my car and our baby. We watched
him like a hawk. He slept, and drank a little water, but wouldnt eat. At least
not that we saw. We kept him next to a heated pad and repeatedly warmed it up
for him. The next day at 5:30am I woke Mike up and asked him to check on Dusty
because I was just to afraid to. He was okay. I stayed home from work that day,
not only to watch Dusty, but I wasnt feeling so hot myself and I looked as if
I had just lost a boxing match. About 11:00am I turned to check on him and he
was gone. It was too much for him and he had just given up. I was crushed. I
never imagined it would be that painful. I was hysterical for almost 2 days.
Dusty was Mike's PD but he took it alot better than I did. Still, we both had
a very hard time adjusting, as did his surviving brother, Tumbleweed. We will
all miss Dusty very much.
Tumbleweed is starting to show signs of his first rut already. The vet told
me to bring him back around the end of this month and see if they could get
him fixed. But as you may have already figured out, I do not want to have any
more to do with vets for a very long time. Perhaps not ever as far as Tumbleweed
is concerned. I hope this never happens to anyone else. The vet has never given
me the slightest bit of an explaination. He knows dusty died. I guess they were
just too busy that day.
We have our sights set on a new baby next spring. Tumbleweed is the center of
attention these days, I have been trying to keep his mind off his brother. Do
you have any suggestions on making it through tumbleweeds rut and also introducing
a baby into the family next spring. Your writing and experience have been a
great help to me. Please advise everyone to completely check out the vet they
are taking their PD to. As I have been so often reminded, these guys are new
to us all and we are all still learning. Looking back I had a bad feeling about
that doctor. He was very cold. I wish I would have just turned right around.
But I didnt.
Still I would appreciate any advise you have for me. Thank You for your time.
INTERVIEW THE POTENTIAL SURGEON!!! ASK AND CHECK REFERENCES! DON'T SETTLE FOR
LESS THAN A CARING, CAREFUL PRACTICIONER.
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