[Catsmuvva]

Thanks for your comments again. I think the main thing we can all learn from this is to contact our vets so that they know we are incapacitated but would prefer to be contacted if an animal is brought in on our behalf. I am fortunate that my cats' vet knows this already but in hindsight I should also have made things clear to the poultry vet.

I have taken advice from a legal helpline through my bank and will be writing a letter to the senior partner to express my dissatisfaction as, despite my neighbour suggesting the vet should contact me, he didn't & proceeded with the test regardless. Regarding joyfull's comment, the tests were not to prove or disprove Marek's as apparently it can only be confirmed by autopsy, hence my query as to their usefulness.

Anyway, I am back home now & am relieved to be partially weight bearing - hopping around the garden on crutches for the last couple of weeks was a bit awkward to say the least! - it'll be a while before I can do everything without crutches (ark could do with a good seeing-to to combat the red mite who are no respector of person or ability...), but I'm sure there are folks around who live with disability and still keep chickens! Care to share some of your secrets??

Many thanks to all.

[compostqueen]

legal advice  :blink:  Blimey

[Aunt Sally]

I hope you recover well from your injuries catsmuvva.

Serious accidents like that make you realise how precious life is - tends to put things in perspective for us doesn't it, perhaps.

[Beano]

Poor you. The last thing you needed after a nasty accident was to come home to such hassle! I remember coming home after a hospital visit to find a water leak in my kitchen. The hassle I had from the insurers made me ill again. Take care of yourself and yes I agree with you, the vet was in the wrong.

[Jeanette]

I am disabled after a stroke. But with a little bit of help from my hubby we manage with 11 chickens 3 dogs and lots of fish. Because i cant stand very well when i clean out the coup i lean myself up against it and hubby gets to the bits i can't reach and does the lifting for me. We always end up laughing, my neighbours think i am mad but i don't care and they always get eggs from me

[NormandyMary]

legal advice  :blink:  Blimey

Its no different to a garage doing work to your car you weren't aware of then trying to charge you for it, or any service provider for that matter. I think its important to understand your consumer rights.

[Aunt Sally]

I expect the person who took the chicken into the vets agreed to the treatment.  In which case it has to be paid for.

[orchardlady]

We own a small family run village garage. Our watchword is trust. It is what my husband has worked on for the last 25 years. He has some customers that request he calls them if he feels extra has to be done to their car and he has others that just trust him and he has yet others that say "why have you called me at work? Just do it please". It's a very ticklish area. The problem can be that he then spends his whole time ringing the customer to check if he can do this and that and never gets any real work done and earn his money to put food on the table.

He even had one chap who said "I trust you now. I've been marking filters and oil caps for over 15 years now and you always do what you say, I don't need to check on you anymore"...Phew....

[NormandyMary]

We own a small family run village garage. Our watchword is trust. It is what my husband has worked on for the last 25 years. He has some customers that request he calls them if he feels extra has to be done to their car and he has others that just trust him and he has yet others that say "why have you called me at work? Just do it please". It's a very ticklish area. The problem can be that he then spends his whole time ringing the customer to check if he can do this and that and never gets any real work done and earn his money to put food on the table.

He even had one chap who said "I trust you now. I've been marking filters and oil caps for over 15 years now and you always do what you say, I don't need to check on you anymore"...Phew....

You wouldnt like to move to the lower Normany area of France would you? We really could do with a mechanic like your hubby!

[orchardlady]

Sounds wonderful. Just the small problem of a mortgage and kids !!!

[Catsmuvva]

Wow, this is raising so many issues! Thank you, NormandyMary & Beano, for understanding it's the principle I was objecting to on top of everything else. As I mentioned, I was unable to get onto the site from my mum's pc so was unable to ask advice here until I got home, hence asking the legal helpline. Pam (the neighbour finally has a name!) told the vet she was sure I would want what was best for the bird but said he should check with me first, so the vet left the room for a while & came back in saying they should get on with taking the blood. Understandably, Pam thought he had rung me whilst out of the room...
Jeanette, I love your spirit! They say necessity is the mother of invention and they're right. I've got the hang of general muck cleaning now, it was harder when I could only put one foot down but the leaning thing came in very handy and luckily for me the run is made of sturdy stuff so I can sit on it & lean in (ark with removable side). If only I had an OH to carry the bucket to the pile when I've finished - but I can (slowly) successfully negotiate the garden & veg patch to the compost as well now. Oh, in my case it's 7 chickens and 5 cats - but would I be without them? I think not. In fact I probably came home sooner than I should because I wanted to get back & care for them myself, albeit still with a little help from family & friends.
Must go, the girls will want me to batten down the hatches shortly.