 So Worried- Long Post
Hi everyone,
This is a LONG post. Please forgive me for writing such a long post, but I am so worried and I want to include all the facts.
In the middle of October, we went back east (from California), for a funeral. I was discouraged from taking my two girls with me (Cassie and Muffin) by family and friends so I boarded them at the Vets, who i have used for a LONG time and never had any problem with. I was reluctant to leave them for so long (12 days) but I consented to leave them because I trusted the Vet. I came home on the 27th of October and picked them up. They were in deplorable condition. Both were knotted so bad, I had to cut knots out of them-mostly Muffin. The knots were impeding her walking. They are both scratching alot. Muffins eyes were so encrusted she could barely open them. She was due for a shot (I think it was for Kennel Cough) and so she was given that at the Vets. When I go to pet her around her head and ears and eyes, she seems to squeal and cry out in pain, or fear. Muffin has never been a fearful dog, now she will not walk into rooms, she is very clingy and wants to be held all the time, she will not play with her toys, and has coughed 2-3 times in a day, every day, and I'm afraid it sounds like a collapsed trachea. Muffin has always been very active, full of the devil. very curious and happy, and loves to play catch with her toys. She is a completely different dog. She will not play with her toys, is fearful and wants to be held and wants to sleep in my arms all the time. And she has cried out several times, seemingly in pain, as I mentioned before. She is just not the same dog I left in October. I have left them last year with this same Vet when our ceiling collapsed and we were living in a motel for about two months, and they were not in this condition. To make matters worse, this Vet's office staff called us about 5 hours after we got home and told us they gave us an extra $50 back, which they did not. THey were training a new person and could not balance the books at the end of the day, and so they decided that they gave us too much money. When I told them we didn't have it they got mad and hung up. Was I supposed to pay them the money they were out just to appease them. We really did not have an extra $50, and if we did and we owed it i would certainly have paid it. So now I am looking for another Vet, a naturiopathic, Holistic Vet in Southern California, and they are not easy to find or come by. But anyway, Muffins behavior is completely changed. Does it sound like she has been abused? Do you think the shot they gave her could have been done wrong and hurt her? Could it have been given somewhere around the head area? They were certainly neglected. They both came back underweight, and they only weight 2-3 lbs each respectively anyway-(Cassie and Muffin). Do you think Muffin may have kennel cough in spite of the shot she got, or worse, a collapsed trachea? I don't know what to do, I am so worried. Should I Pay the money they say we owe, even though we do not owe it, just to appease them? As I've said before, we have left them many times, and last year, for a lot longer, (6 weeks to 2 months when our ceiling collapsed and we were living in a motel). But they were a year younger then. We only just got muffin then and she was only 5 months and Cassie was only a year and a half, so maybe that is a factor. Anyway, please forgive this long post, but I just wanted to include everything I could think of. Any responses would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance to all who have had the patience and tenacity to read through this entire message. Shellie |