RattusNorvegicus said:
I would like to clarify, Debbie DOES anesthetize her rats for surgeries using isoflurane.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/Ratfanc ... 690672214/
That's what she says now but we don't know if that's actually true or not. If she were open and had nothing to hide, the conversation would not have been deleted.
She does defend someone who said they saw a rat have a tumour cut out without sedation and not even flinch in the screen shots and argues rats don't feel as much pain as humans. I go back to my earlier point about babies. Times change, science evolves and admits earlier misconceptions. In recent years, the dosage recommendations for pain relief for rats have increased significantly because it's becoming more and more clear they need it and they do better post op. The vast majority of serious issues we see on the forum post op are caused by lack of pain meds.
No matter how you slice it, she does not have a science degree. Veterinary assistant programs are short diploma programs at colleges (I think the term is junior college in the US) and do not even compare to the standard required in veterinary technician programs. It *may* be legal for her to provide her own vet care and to dispense advice for free but it is not ethical, especially the way she does it. It is not legal for her to buy all the medications she does without a prescription (otherwise, why does Jedd's not sell Baytril more openly?) and if she is indeed using isoflurane, she is getting it from a vet that is breaking the law.
How arrogant is she that she's doing surgeries, not only her own rats but other people's as well, in her own home? If veterinary medicine is something you can master by working as someone's assistant, why do so many people waste all the time and effort of competing to get into vet school and then busting their butts to get through it?
Last but not least, I want to point out that she is benefiting financially from dispensing all her 'free' advice and services. She sells a lot of books and handbooks and by using the RFC as a forum to dispense the advice AND sell her wares, a compelling argument could be made that she's not helping people day in and day out out of the goodness of her heart or concern for rats but so she can promote and sell more books and THAT may very well be illegal. I really really hope this gets brought to the attention of the right people and she ends up where she belongs - JAIL.
The other Debbie said it really well. Most people would be up in arms if we were talking about dogs but because it's rats, people think somehow it's different. Maybe it all goes back to the "it's just a rat" mentality because it sure is not easier to treat rats than it is dogs.