Hello. Sorry you are having such a tough time with your piggies. You're doing such a good job taking care of them though. It must be exhausting, but we are all supporting you virtually
Regarding your experience with Ellie and Little, did you give her the feedback about the issues with the treatment and what she'd missed? It would take a bit of emotional energy to do this so I would understand of you couldn't face it, but if you could (whether now or in the future) then at least it would help her learning for the future?
Thank you!
I had considered telling her if I ever went to her again regarding another issue. I didn’t want to email her as i felt it would seem patronising.
Any time I’ve seen her, she’s never been one to ever discuss follow-up appointments (she has seen both of my pigs) so even though Little went to her after having been lethargic, not eating or drinking at all for himself, she never wanted to see him back after the appointment. If she had, I’d have mentioned any issues that were present then such as the incisors being filed too short and having no angle to them. Obviously it was another month before Little was seen by Simon as we thought the incisors were the reason he still couldn’t eat so we waited for them grow.
It’s just a really complicated situation as we don’t know the state of the abscess at the time Ellie saw Little. His tooth root was infected, but this infection could have occurred due to length of time he had had the pus which had burst from the abscess under his tooth. His abscess may not have burst at the time he saw Ellie, however I feel it may have because the pressure of the pus under his tooth made it push upwards and grow longer, but since I’m not a vet I don’t know all the ins and outs. Ellie filed the teeth at the back, however when Simon saw his teeth, the back teeth weren’t a problem at all. So, were the back teeth an issue too at the time of this appointment? Or was she clutching at straws, so to speak?
I could go on, but basically the situation became really complex once we saw Simon and he told us what was happening. Since there was about a month in between seeing Ellie and seeing Simon, there’s no definite idea of what Ellie should have seen/what issues were present.
What we do know is that Little had a jaw abscess which was causing pain, making his incisor longer, making him stop eating/drinking/moving and that was what was happening when Ellie saw Little. Whether that abscess had burst, or if the tooth root was already infected then we don’t know. However, it shouldn’t have gone as wrong as it did as she is a vet specialising in guinea pigs - and one who couldn’t diagnose an abscess.
At this point, I feel that it’s been too long, and too much has happened for it to be a learning experience. I had thought about doing it though, but everything has been so hectic and is only just calming down (for the next 6-8 weeks anyway, then we’re back at Simon’s). I just didn’t want it to come off the wrong way if I did tell her about it. Obviously, I’m annoyed and angry at the whole situation. Not completely at her, as she did her best and I couldn’t ask for a vet to do anymore, but mainly that I was misled into believing Little was in safe hands with someone ‘trained by Simon’. Watching Kim perform a dental isn’t training.
At least in the safety of his cage Harvey doesn't completely hate me. [Fickle creatures guineas. You're OK so long as you've got food. lol.] Glad I took this though because at least now I have reference to check it against for anti-biotic progress. Don't think I'm ever going to forget guinea pig abscess smell though. EW!
