Mary’s surgery, advice? Feeling a bit emotional and overwhelmed.

[Hannah_xx]

Hi guys!

Mary my gorgeous Rex piggum, has an entropion eyelid (medical condition in which the eyelid, the lower lid folds inward.) and requires surgery.
She’d have to have the surgery done at a specialist eye vet in Melbourne. They phoned me today to discuss costs.
So the surgery it’s self would be about $850. Medication $250. They’d like a specialist anesthetiser to anaesthetise her.. which alone costs.. $1500!!
But a vet there has also said he’s happy to do it at the regular cost, she’s going to phone me back next week to let me know exactly how much.

I tried to ask her why she’d need a specialist to do the anaesthetic? When my boar was neutered at my regular vets, surely he was anaestised and that only cost me $110? She said because the specialist would do it with little tubes etc and has lots of experience with small animals. Whereas the other vet would use gas and has experience with rabbits.
I have no concerns with that actual eye surgery as I’ve spoken to the vet doing that and he sounds fantastically experienced.
Unfortunately I got upset on the phone, and started crying and becoming overwhelmed. My anxiety has been troubling me for a few weeks, and in the past 2 days we’ve had 2 separate tragic horse deaths on the farm. So I just couldn’t handle hearing the huge costs of what Mary’s surgery is going to cost. I don’t have that money. My partner is desperate to buy us a bigger car (which has also gone wrong). And my parents are coming over to Australia to visit me in a couple of weeks (so excited!), and I’m travelling to Queensland with them to visit family and the whole thing is going to use up a lot of money.
And our immigration costs and stress are very high.

Gosh I love my piggums so much, I’ve ordered them an expensive C&c cage that should arrive this week as I only want the best for them. Mary’s eye is fine right now but I know she has to have the surgery at some point as soon as possible ideally. I’m just so overwhelmed.

Sorry, for this post.

 

[Lady Kelly]

Huge hugs, I think any one of us would cry at that estimate. I don't fully understand the reasons you've been given. Maybe you could ask what risks of surgery they think would be increased by not having the specialist on hand? That might help you decide if this is a legitimate cost or more of a "would be nice".
Do you use any meditations or anything for your anxiety? I've used positive affirmation videos and mindfulness meditations before so it's worth having a look to see if you find something that fits with you. Just 10 mins when you are finding your anxiety levels increasing can really help

 

[Betsy]

That does seem a lot of money. Why do they need to intubate? Wouldn't gas be enough? I would ask more questions as suggested by @Lady Kelly.

 

[Swissgreys]

I had a similar situation when I asked about a rabbit spay here.
I was given a quote, and then given another quote if we didn't have the 'specialist' anesthetist.
I asked about the difference, and then went on to ask how many small animals the 'regular' anesthetist dealt with and it turned out quite a few.
So in the end i decided a specialist was really unnecessary and went with the regular and everything turned out just fine.

Over here part of the issue is that not many people take their small animals to the vet for treatment, or if they do it is the absolute bare minimum.
So for a specilist to keep their specilaist status they often struggle to find enough small animals to work with, so other vets will reccommend them as much as possible.

 

[Betsy]

So for a specilist to keep their specilaist status they often struggle to find enough small animals to work with, so other vets will reccommend them as much as possible.

Ooooh now that's a bit sneaky!

 

[Swissgreys]

Ooooh now that's a bit sneaky!

I said the same, but as my vet pointed out, specialists are important and also sometimes genuinely necessary in complex cases, so helping them to keep their skills up benefits all small/exotics owners in the end.
To be honest I am still not sure I agree with the increased prices but I also understand they paid more for additional training as part of their qualification so its a difficut one.

 

[Hannah_xx]

Huge hugs, I think any one of us would cry at that estimate. I don't fully understand the reasons you've been given. Maybe you could ask what risks of surgery they think would be increased by not having the specialist on hand? That might help you decide if this is a legitimate cost or more of a "would be nice".
Do you use any meditations or anything for your anxiety? I've used positive affirmation videos and mindfulness meditations before so it's worth having a look to see if you find something that fits with you. Just 10 mins when you are finding your anxiety levels increasing can really help

Thanks so much. I’ll talk to the vets again next week when I’m feeling a bit more human and ask some more questions.
I don’t currently take anything for my anxiety. I did a couple of years ago for my depression but stopped soon before I moved to Aus. I’ve been feeling good up until a couple of weeks ago, I don’t know what’s the matter with me and I don’t feel like I can go to the doctors about it yet as I’m worried it could effect our chances of getting our permanent residency visas. As we have to have health checks and I don’t want them to pick up mental health issues lol!
So thank you for the advice on peaceful, mindful videos and meditation etc. I should definitely look into it and make the time to practice some meditation.

I had a similar situation when I asked about a rabbit spay here.
I was given a quote, and then given another quote if we didn't have the 'specialist' anesthetist.
I asked about the difference, and then went on to ask how many small animals the 'regular' anesthetist dealt with and it turned out quite a few.
So in the end i decided a specialist was really unnecessary and went with the regular and everything turned out just fine.

Over here part of the issue is that not many people take their small animals to the vet for treatment, or if they do it is the absolute bare minimum.
So for a specilist to keep their specilaist status they often struggle to find enough small animals to work with, so other vets will reccommend them as much as possible.

Thank you so much! That makes sense! Must be the same situation out here, I don’t feel the vets have much opportunity to do many small animal procedures as not enough people care for their small pets as they should, let alone take them to the vet.
If I was rich or at least comfortable I would love to go ahead with the specialist anesthetiser, but it’s just not possible for me.

 

[PigglePuggle]

Sending hugs! That sounds a huge cost for anaesthetic and if she's otherwise healthy you might not need the expert. I guess Aus is so big and the piggies are so few... our vet had a more specialised piggy vet on hand to help anaesthetise and operate on skinny pig Tallulah but there wasnt any extra charge, I think the specialist just came along out of interest to see a skinny pig!
Its a difficult situation, any of us would struggle with a vet bill that size however much we prepare and save up vet funds...
I think you should talk to the vet about all possible options when you've had time to think things through.
Go hug some piggies and kiss their funny ears, lovely pets are great therapy!

 

[Hannah_xx]

Sending hugs! That sounds a huge cost for anaesthetic and if she's otherwise healthy you might not need the expert. I guess Aus is so big and the piggies are so few... our vet had a more specialised piggy vet on hand to help anaesthetise and operate on skinny pig Tallulah but there wasnt any extra charge, I think the specialist just came along out of interest to see a skinny pig!
Its a difficult situation, any of us would struggle with a vet bill that size however much we prepare and save up vet funds...
I think you should talk to the vet about all possible options when you've had time to think things through.
Go hug some piggies and kiss their funny ears, lovely pets are great therapy!

Thank you for understanding
I do save my money up for vet bills, but seem to keep having to chip into it for one reason or another lately.

Took your advice and just given my sqwigs a cuddle