Malt 379 Posted July 31, 2009 Report Share Posted July 31, 2009 One of the neighbours came around yesterday, one of her cats had brought a bat into her flat, very much alive. I went to collect it, and kept it in a ferret box overnight, outside with the door open. It's still there this morning, so I phoned the local vet to see about taking it down to them. They didn't want to know, and palmed me off with a load of phone numbers which were out of date. The people I phoned were either dead or had given up looking after injured bats due to old age. I thought vets were obliged to take in sick wildlife? It seems that they're not interested unless there's £ involved... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Guest mk3 Posted July 31, 2009 Report Share Posted July 31, 2009 hi the wifes cat did the same years back, phoned bat protection supposed to have collected next day no joy, phoned again said they would pick up, any way this went on for a week till it died, tossers Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Countryboyo Posted July 31, 2009 Report Share Posted July 31, 2009 You are right there fella. A lot of them seem to be mad for the £ ... And when you are at the vet they always seem in a rush to get your money and get you out after you waiting for an hour in a waiting room. I had a sick ferret a while back and it cost me 70 euro for two trips to the vet for injections and after the second trip the ferret was dead within hours. They probably knew it was f****d but they didnt mind charging me for an anti-biotic and shots. Im sure most vets are sound but theres definately money grabbers amoung them. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
RicW 67 Posted July 31, 2009 Report Share Posted July 31, 2009 One of the neighbours came around yesterday, one of her cats had brought a bat into her flat, very much alive. I went to collect it, and kept it in a ferret box overnight, outside with the door open. It's still there this morning, so I phoned the local vet to see about taking it down to them. They didn't want to know, and palmed me off with a load of phone numbers which were out of date. The people I phoned were either dead or had given up looking after injured bats due to old age. I thought vets were obliged to take in sick wildlife? It seems that they're not interested unless there's £ involved... And bats are supposed to be protected. As you say, £££££s talk Ric Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Bosun11 537 Posted July 31, 2009 Report Share Posted July 31, 2009 Maltenby i would have thought you'd of realised most vets are fecking shite anyway... Get on tinterweb and look for 'bat rescue' type stuff, i'm sure you'll find sommat local and they'll probs collect the little fella too. Good on yer though for doin your best Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Malt 379 Posted July 31, 2009 Author Report Share Posted July 31, 2009 Maltenby i would have thought you'd of realised most vets are fecking shite anyway... Get on tinterweb and look for 'bat rescue' type stuff, i'm sure you'll find sommat local and they'll probs collect the little fella too. Good on yer though for doin your best Just got off the phone to a decent fella at the bat protection league, seems the nearest bat centre to me is Port Talbot. Vets don't want to know, so I'm going to try to look after it here. Some woman I phoned, rang the local vets and gave them a bollocking! Appartently they won't touch bats because they can carry rabies. Guess they've never heard of gloves there... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
RicW 67 Posted July 31, 2009 Report Share Posted July 31, 2009 Maltenby i would have thought you'd of realised most vets are fecking shite anyway... Get on tinterweb and look for 'bat rescue' type stuff, i'm sure you'll find sommat local and they'll probs collect the little fella too. Good on yer though for doin your best Just got off the phone to a decent fella at the bat protection league, seems the nearest bat centre to me is Port Talbot. Vets don't want to know, so I'm going to try to look after it here. Some woman I phoned, rang the local vets and gave them a bollocking! Appartently they won't touch bats because they can carry rabies. Guess they've never heard of gloves there... They're not all bad though. Took one of my terriers in for a routine jab, saw a new guy. When I went in there was a merlin on a perch, jesses on but unhooded. My wee dog had never been scared of anything before but he took one look at this damn bird and legged it. Turned out the vet had three working birds. Can't be bad! Ric Quote Link to post Share on other sites
fin and fur 2 Posted July 31, 2009 Report Share Posted July 31, 2009 Whilst it is true that most vets these adys are more interested in the pounds shillings and pence, there is also another aspect of Bat handling that may very well put a general practice vet off bat handling and thats Rabies. Many bats carry the disease, i think the last person to die from rabies in the uk caught the disease from a bat he released from his fly whilst out on a nights sea trout fishing, so bat handling needs to be done with care these days. The vet probably saw allsorts of health and safety issues flashing before him and thought better of it, you know what health and safety is like these days. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
TIMMAY 6 Posted July 31, 2009 Report Share Posted July 31, 2009 might be teaching you to suck eggs, but if your looking for some mealworms to feed it, try silent world aquarium, or failing that there is a shop in narbeth, i think called webs and scales which should stock them. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Bryan 1,361 Posted July 31, 2009 Report Share Posted July 31, 2009 makes me sick, vets expecting to be paid? Why won't they work for free ,like the rest of us Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Malt 379 Posted July 31, 2009 Author Report Share Posted July 31, 2009 Whilst it is true that most vets these adys are more interested in the pounds shillings and pence, there is also another aspect of Bat handling that may very well put a general practice vet off bat handling and thats Rabies. Many bats carry the disease, i think the last person to die from rabies in the uk caught the disease from a bat he released from his fly whilst out on a nights sea trout fishing, so bat handling needs to be done with care these days. The vet probably saw allsorts of health and safety issues flashing before him and thought better of it, you know what health and safety is like these days. Too true, but I've spoken to bat protection groups this morning, and only something like 7 out of 10,000 bats tested carry rabies. Surely a half decent pair of gloves would suffice anyway. makes me sick, vets expecting to be paid? Why won't they work for free ,like the rest of us I agree with what you're saying, in a way, but vets in the UK have a duty to care for sick/injured wildlife, an animal version of the Hippocratic oath. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Crow 1 Posted July 31, 2009 Report Share Posted July 31, 2009 Whilst vets have a duty to look after animals they don't know everything about every animal, so putting you in touch with (possibly) someone else that may be able to help was actually the vet doing the best for the animal and not for his takings that day! Had the vet taken it in and treated it would you have paid the bill?? As the person taking it in you would have been the one legally liable for the cost of the treatment (unless, of course, the vet was feeling very generous)! Crow Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Malt 379 Posted July 31, 2009 Author Report Share Posted July 31, 2009 Just had a local wildlife officer round. She checked the bat over, we had a nice chat, then she left the bat here satisfied it wasn't injured. Turns out it's a juvenile, and I'm going to try to release it at dusk tonight. If it doesn't go, she's going to come back tomorrow and take it so tha she can feed it. Crow, turns out that the vet didn't take it due to health & safety & rabies. maybe I was naive in thing that vets didn't charge for wildlife. The wildlife officer told me that it's a sad fact, that most vets & the RSPCA, (despite the TV programs showing otherwise) have very little interest in helping wildlife. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Crow 1 Posted July 31, 2009 Report Share Posted July 31, 2009 All's well that ends well Maybe the bat will hang around your place? I have a couple that nest (is that the right word, maybe it should be lodge - I don't know) in the eaves of my cottage and they are out every evening. They fly straight for the front window, slide up it vertically and then swing outwards - I swear that if I open the top window (that opens outwards) one evening I'll find a bat in my front room Crow Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Malt 379 Posted July 31, 2009 Author Report Share Posted July 31, 2009 There's a quite few fly round here at dusk, there must be a roost here somewhere close by. I remember a few years back there was a mass release of flying ants one afternoon, the air was thick with them. The bats all came out in the daylight to have a good feed, it was great to watch. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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