FINNEGAN!
He was given to us by friends because he was a boy, they had a girl, etc. We accepted him happily, and lived in harmony. UNTIL.
Until the Great Digestive Upset of Earlier in 2010. The vet then proclaimed him a girl, as she could not find testicles.
Okay. So, Finnegan's a girl now, eh? Okay. We can live with that. Same old Finnegan. what's not to love?
UNTIL.
Until we went on vacation for the first time in years, leaving Finnegan with a housesitter and her Chihuahua. When we came back, somebody had been a'markin'. We chalked this up to the Chihuahua (of course!). But the marking didn't stop. And lo, it did not smell like pug pee. (Trust me, I know what that smells like.) Finnegan had taken up the hobby of marking. Ewwwww. This had to stop, of course. So we booked her an appointment at the vet's to be fixed. (Spayed? Neutered? Whichever.) I had read up online that this might hopefully cure the marking problem.
Fast forward to the early afternoon after I've dropped her off. I received a call from a confused vet tech. "So, uh, what made you think this was a girl?"
"Er...we thought it was a boy, until the vet told us otherwise last time she was in."
"Huh. 'Cause the vet can't find any ovaries."
"What?"
"No ovaries."
"O-kaaaay. What about boy parts? Does she have any of those?"
"We'll call you back in a bit."
Now, to be fair to the local vet: they've always done a great job treating our pugs. We live waaaaaay out in the country, and it's *just* possible that they don't treat a lot of rabbits.
So naturally, I called Dan. "They can't find any lady parts on Finnegan."
"What?"
"I know!"
"Well then...it's a boy after all?"
"They don't know. They're calling me back."
Dan decided to talk to a co-worker who raises prize rabbits, among other livestock.
"Oh yeah, it can be really hard to sex the rabbits. If you don't know what you're looking for, you won't find it."
Dan called me back, and repeated this (and more!), much to the delight of his co-workers.
The vet called back, too. "So, uh, we can't find her ovaries. Or uterus. So we didn't fix her. My guess is that she was already fixed, and that's why the parts aren't there."
Really? Because my guess is that you don't know what you're doing!
I picked poor Mr./Ms. Finnegan up later in the afternoon. I also picked up a very large vet bill. Because although the surgery wasn't actually performed, poking around isn't free.
And my rabbit still is not fixed. But he'll get a cool scar out of the deal! Oh, and the marking will continue. That'll be $200, please.
9 comments:
Oh poor Finnegan! I hope s/he will get better soon!
How funny in a not funny way! I actually find it tacky they charged you! If they couldn't even tell the sex they shouldn't charge!
Egads! I have three house rabbits. I have gone through what you described several times. Many vets that claim that they have rabbit experience simply do not.
Have you checked the house rabbit society's website? www.rabbit.org
There is a list of vets with rabbit expertise on their site. There is also a plethora of information on how to work through litter pan problems (which I have also had to do). Most of the time litter pan problems are fixed when your bunny is fixed, but sometimes it's a behavioral thing that needs a different remedy.
Good luck, and I wish Finnigan a speedy recovery from your vet's mistakes. Poor thing.
That's awful!
Well, Finnegan is completely adorable and I hope this all gets resolved soon!
xoxo
Thank you for the kind & supportive comments, everyone!
Cari: Thanks for the house bunny advice!
Um... you chalked it up to my Chihuahua!? EXCUSE ME! You never told me that. I'm glad you not finally found out that it was indeed your bunny. The entire time I house sat I had Yoda with me, and I was very prompt about letting him out, Thank you very much.
Tho, I saw some peculiar marks that I cleaned up when I was there, and I knew it wasn't dog pee(I didn't smell like dog pee), I assumed it was likely you're bunny since he was out loose in your house. I didn't know you hadn't seen this before or I would've mentioned it to you.
BTW, Yoda's fixed, and he doesn't mark in the house, and rarely marks outside. Just for the record.
Well, of course! No offense to dear Yodie, though. You know we love him! (And you, too!) ^_^
It made sense at the time...we'd never had marking before, new dog in the house, etc.
But of course we know better now...it was BUSTER! (Who is also fixed.)
Anyway, I'm so sorry you took offense at that! No harm was intended. Chalk it up to our own ignorance, please.
No offense taken, I can understand the conclusion you drew. Which is why I wasn't being serious. Though I'm obsessive about my dog, he is rarely out of my sight even at home, and I clean up any messes he makes, when he gets sick and has accidents in the house. (Yes, I need a life, *sigh* But he is a large part of my life with no one else to take care of) Anyways, I hope you didn't take me too seriously.
;)
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