It's 10:40pm and I just got back from ACRIS in Gangnam. First off, regardless of the outcome, I'm so thankful to one of my coworkers), who drove me all the way there and even stayed the whole time while we were talking to the vet and looking into options. I feel like he really went above and beyond his way to do this for me today and I'm deeply overwhelmed and thankful to him.
The staff at ACRIS were incredibly nice and knowledgeable and you tell right away they knew how to handle rabbits.
The bad news is after they examined him (he weighed 2.42kg + cleaned out the gunk in his eye with saline solution), they said his eye is already irrecoverable. When they opened his eye up for the first time in 4 days, his eyeball was covered in that white pus color. I told him that before his eye swelled up and shut, his eyeball was clear, black, and didn't look to be a problem at all. I'm not sure what cause his eye to become irrecoverable after his eye got more swollen and shut. They said that he'll be blind in that eye and that it was already necrotizing? (the term that means it's in the process of death). The only option given really for him to live on is to surgically remove the eye. At that point, I realized that he had to be put down and I couldn't control my emotions. I wasn't expecting that news that his eye was this bad. I was prepared just enough to pay the 7 day hospitalization fee (7x$80) and then pick him up healed, and return to normal life. But now this meant not only would I have to pay $330 more for his eye surgery, but hospitalization too for his recovery time after surgery, and now some after care if/when he is released from hospital. It meant that he most likely would need someone to take him in for good and keep in a clean environment and look after him. With much distress and tears, I had decided he should be put down because I have no idea how i can commit to take him in after the surgery and now give him full attention as my own rabbit. There was no guarantee too that he would survive the surgery cuz of the use of anasthesia. I kept looking at him and he seemed so fine except for the eye...and he was still breathing so fast cuz of being nervous and he'd prop up and down to look around his new surroundings.
After I told them that was my decision, they convinced me (but I sort of wanted to change my decision too) that all the vets there didn't think euthanasia was the best for him because they believe he could be fine and live normally after the surgery. Then they told me, he could possibly still keep the eye, but he'll just be blind....so they suggested, why not i just let him stay for a couple days and they will treat him and see how the infection responds. If they can get the infection under control, then we won't need the surgery and he can just keep the blind eye in there, but if he's not getting better, then they'll tell me after 3 days that he needs to get it removed. Obviously, i had 2 thoughts run through my mind...one good and one bad. The bad thought was that maybe these guys are just milking me out of as much as they can before the rabbit dies. I dished out $200 to keep him there for 3 days under there care and treatment....and opted not to do surgery right now...after 3 days, they'll tell me if they think he can make it without removing his eye or if he must have the surgery. I have a feeling these 3 days I just paid for aren't going to mean anything....after 3 days, they'll just tell me that his eye infection is not significantly better or cleared up and i need to give him surgery. I would have been better off just paying for the surgery now ($330) and then 7 days of hospitalization afterwards ($560), for a grand total of just under 900. But now, if I do the surgery 3 days later, its the 200+330+560 of after surgery hospitalization and i'm paying way more than i first started lol..... now that's my bad thought. Do you guys get what I'm saying? I'm sorry I can't type and say things clearly right now, im completely wasted, stressed out, been on emotional rollercoaster all day, had to go through horrible traffic and then bus it back home.... I just don't know what the hell i got myself into sometimes. But one thing I know for sure is that i didn't him to die just yet. I want to give them a chance to see if they can help him recover without the eye surgery....but my guess is the eye surgery will be required and i'll just end up dishing out more money than I bargained for. So one moment he was on the brink of being euthanized to the next moment, me agreeing to let them hospitalize him for 3 days and then see if he needs surgery...then hospitalize him some more, then when he's ready to go home (if he survives the surgery) I now have committed to take care of him in my place. I worry what will happen when I have to leave this country ....not sure I can take him with me to Canada....I just know that me having to say bye to him later, will be harder than if i just said bye to him now.
Ok I'll stop rambling...im giving myself a headache...im mixed in feelings right now because im totally content knowing he's still alive and has a chance to live on even if albeit blind forever in one eye....but im stressed and kinda in shock that i just committed to dish out 1k for a rabbit that's not even mine, and now looks like i'll have to care for him everyday in my home for the rest of his life...
How did it all come to this? I was just a NET who was compassionate about animals, and wanted to get him medicine. Now this.... I'll find out on Saturday what they say about his progress....but again, initially, they said it was really bad and worse than they thought and said right away the eye is lost (irrecoverable) and he needs to have surgery to remove it.
A couple pics of him i took while he was at the hospital....
ray:
