The death of my pet from medical malpractice cost me forever the chance to be with him. I hold my pet's ashes, filled with grief and anger. It is necessary for me to share the story of my pet's medical experience to remind everyone to be cautious when choosing a veterinarian.
I first came across The Links Road Animal & Bird Clinic when I was looking for the right hospital to treat my pet rabbit in the Toronto area. However, due to their long wait times for appointments and my pet's relatively mild symptoms, they provided me with a list of hospitals in Ontario that can treat rabbits, which allowed me to try and contact other hospitals for an earlier appointment. McGilvray Veterinary Hospital's high Google ratings led me, wrongly, to think that it was a solid option similar to The Links Road Animal & Bird Clinic and that they provide prompt medical care for pets. However, it is not.
Although McGilvray Veterinary Hospital claims it can provide medical care for rabbits, it only has one veterinarian Dr. Adriana who can see small animals. The veterinarian appeared to lack the basic experience and knowledge needed to diagnose a disease in a rabbit. What she didn't realize was that older brachycephalic rabbits often had eye discharge from overgrown teeth, and mistakenly attributed it to inflammation of the eye. To make matters worse, her misdiagnosis led to subsequent wrong treatment which ultimately killed my rabbit. I would therefore like to remind everyone that without a medical team, pets can be more difficult to get a proper diagnosis.
When I took my rabbit to McGilvray Veterinary Hospital, the veterinarian checked. She explained that the eye discharge was due to inflammation of the eye and that nothing unusual was found in the rabbit's teeth, heart, lungs or body temperature. When I raised concerns, the vet tried to explain that the rabbit's abnormal breathing was due to eye inflammation leading to nasal congestion. She prescribed eye ointment as a treatment and advised that antibiotics and pain relievers were not needed. But out of an abundance of caution, I chose to buy them, even though I had to wait two days for my prescription to arrive. Her misjudgment and treatment have seriously affected the health and life of my rabbit, even though my rabbit has been in good health and has never been sick.
At a follow-up exam a week later, the veterinarian attributed my rabbit's unusual half-squatting, outstretched paw posture to the medication's interference with his daily life. She suggested stopping the drug for observation. However, three days after stopping the drug, my rabbit's symptoms significantly worsened. I urgently contacted The Links Road Animal & Bird Clinic, whose veterinarian deemed the situation critical and required immediate attention. Upon inspection, they found that my rabbit had been very ill for a long time. The lack of oxygen caused the skin to turn blue, and the discharge from the eyes did not indicate an underlying cause of inflammation or disease. X-rays showed compression of the lungs and a large white area in the chest cavity, incidentally confirming the impact of the teeth on the discharge from the eyes. The unusual posture my rabbit exhibited afterwards was an attempt to expand the body for more efficient breathing. The vet expressed shock at the seriousness of the case and that my rabbit was alive. The veterinarian at McGilvray Veterinary Hospital assured me a few days ago that there was nothing major and I couldn't believe what my rabbit had suffered for weeks.
Despite emergency measures by The Links Road Animal & Bird Clinic, including oxygen and more potent antibiotics, my rabbit collapsed on the way home and was pronounced dead at the hospital.
The Links Road Animal & Bird Clinic have a dedicated team and their own pharmacy for small animals. Even their receptionists have a knowledge base similar to that of a trainee veterinarian. If I had taken my rabbit to The Links Road instead of McGilvray when the symptoms were mild, maybe we would have spent more years together.