You know what? Just because you found a couple of mice with prolapses and one hanging from the top of the cage (?!) DOES NOT MEAN that I am a sloppy tech that failed to notice these things. Is it possible I missed something (other than a mouse hanging from the cage...wtf)? Yes. If I had noticed anything amiss, I would have written up a health report. I most definitely didn't hang your mouse from the caging. I looked at the cages for a couple seconds each in the middle of the day. NINETEEN HOURS passed between the time that I looked at the mice and you presumably found these things. Is it so freaking far-fetched to think that perhaps these things occured AFTER I looked at the cages? So many investigators assume that if something went wrong (flooded box, dead mouse, whatever) that it's YOUR fault for not catching it, nevermind the fact that 24hrs passes between each check. You want 24hr surveillance on your freaking mice? BUY A WEBCAM.
Hi Red-
I feel your pain - daily. Ah, the joys of research... Remember, it's never
their fault, nor the fault of chance, that things go wrong. Thus, it
must be the fault of animal services. It's simply amazing what we get blamed for...
Once upon a time, I had a K9 suffering from what I believed to be kidney failure. We later found out that yes, it was the case; and it was most likely from a mistake made during an experimental urinary procedure. The poor beast was a mess. Oh yes, I should add this was a Sunday. Anyway, I paged the researchers, the vet-on-call, the vet-on-call, again, and the researchers, again, but everyone shrugged it off. My only instructions were 'Well, you probably just can't get the vein on your own. But, if you
REALLY think he's dehydrated, then give him some fluids.' By the morning, the animal needed to be euthanized.
🙁 And guess who got the blame? Yep - me. Why? Because I wasn't 'explicit' enough when I phoned. Apparently, my 'I think the dog is tanking... He's lethargic, vomiting, dehydrated, I can't express his bladder and I can't get a vein to run an istat. And I'm worried because I think that his kidneys might be failing!' and 'Um, he seems to be getting worse, what should I do for him??' apparently wasn't explicit enough for any of these people. My ass. It was that nobody could be bothered with leaving their precious weekend.
So, next time one of
their mice decides to hang themselves, just try to remember that the little beast may have had a good reason to do so.
Hang in there!!! No pun intended.
😛