Community Vet Hospital is an old-fashioned kind of place. Not in a medical aspect but in business practice and decor. There are no appointments made, to see Dr. Grant, I needed to call and find out his hours and then walk-in during those hours. Bunny and I went on Friday, January 13th. Dr. Grant would be seeing patients between the hours of 10 a.m. and noon. We got there at 10.
The place looks like an old house. A very large old house. The inside reminds me of the 60's. There are deep orange accents and wood paneling. There is also a very large salt water tank with friendly fish and a crab. I was carrying Bunny when we walked in. I'm glad she weighs only 12 pounds. There were a few dogs waiting and a cat. We signed in wanting to see Dr. Grant for a surgery consult.
We sat next to a woman and a large female German Shepherd. The woman asked if we've been there before. I replied no. She said we would really like Dr. Grant as he is practical and an animal lover. She's a foster for a local rescue and said that Dr. Grant helped organizations like hers and that he was a great advocate for animals. She added that most of the time there is a wait, but well worth it. I had my doubts and was nervous too. I smiled and continued to watch old clips of
Johnny Carson with animal guests. Funny stuff.
We waited about 45 mins and were called back. Dr. Grant entered the room and introduced himself to me and Bunny. He talked to Bunny as well as me. This was different than the previous vets I had been too. Most of them never talked to Bunny, like she wasn't in the room. But here, Dr. Grant comforted her by talking to her and that action comforted me.
I explained what had happened and handed him the xrays from the emergency room. He brought in his laptop and looked at the xray disk. He said the xray was a bit fuzzy, but he could see where Bunny would need repair. He then did an exam on Bunny and made her cry. He hugged her and said he was sorry.
He then drew me a diagram explaining what surgeries that he may have to do once he is in. There were four possible surgeries. One was to make a groove in her femur for her knee cap to sit in (will have to do this one for sure), another was to fix a place on the tibia where the ACL is connected, another was to tighten up the facia around the cartilage and I forget what the other was as I was scared and should have been taking notes. I think it was fixing the ACL if needed (which he said most likely not, which was different from what the emergency room vet said).
He said it would cost about $2000 per leg. He does not charge per procedure. If he has to do all four procedures, it's still the same price. They grade the severity of luxating patella from 1-4, 4 being the worse. He said that the left (what she was limping on) was a 3+ and the right was a 3-3+. His recommendation was that we do both knees at the same time. It would cut on cost (not having to pay for anesthesia twice) and Bunny would only have to go through surgery one time. If we did both knees, it would be around $3500.
I asked when was the soonest we should have it done. He said because of the severity, surgery should take place in the next month or two. Can push it out to three at the most. The knee slipping could cause more damage to the ACL and other knee parts.
We booked the surgery for February 24th. Until then no jumping, running or playing and crating at night.
