Business ProfileforSpartan Animal Hospital

We are sorry to hear of this customer's dissatisfaction with our clinic and would like to provide some additional context to the review.

The following were the recommendations that were provided to the owner for her rabbits care:

During patients examination we found bilateral aural swelling at the base of the auricle (pinna) with palpable small nodular swelling at the base of the ear as well. This may be due to a suspected congenital defect in drainage of normal ear wax, secondary to infection, or some other causation. While the nodular welling at the base of her ears is consistent with aural diverticulosis, there is concern that we have additional pinna disease present as well, since the swelling in this area is not consistent with aural diverticulosis. It is evident that the pinna swelling is completely occluding the ear canal, which would not allow for normal flushing of the ears in their current state.

We recommended sedation to evaluate the ears further, drain fluid from the pinna swelling, and flush and remove buildup from the ear canal. In addition, an ear cytology would be performed to evaluate for inflammation vs an infection with bacteria or yeast or both, so proper medical therapy can be instituted.
An estimate for these services was provided to the owner.

We discussed that if the defect is not able to be resolved with flushing and routine ear cleaning and milking buildup daily out of the ear canal, surgery may be indicated. We would refer owner to a specialist for surgical consultation options (a surgical estimate was not provided as we would not be performing the procedure).

We advised that repeated draining of her ears with needles poses a risk of infection and we do not recommend repeat drainage of fluid from the pinna portion of the ear. Infection in this enclosed space can put patient at risk for necrosis of the ears.

After speaking with our veterinarian, the owner destroyed her paperwork in the exam room. She also sent a communication to our office extensively verbally abusing our staff when a summary of her visit was sent to her.

While it is apparent we were not the best fit for this client, we wish her and her rabbit the best. We do always strive to provide open and clear communications with our clients, which includes all options available to assist them in making the best medical decisions for their pets.