A Vet You Do NOT Want Anywhere Near Your Dog - Page 1

Some of you may recall that last summer, I had a local vet spay my 2 year old bitch, when her OFA results came back with mild dysplasia. She started to bleed about 12 hours after the surgery, and, if I hadn't insisted the vet go back in and stop the bleeding, I might well have lost her. He still insisted that the second surgery wasn't necessary, believe it or not!

A very experienced veterinary nurse said this can happen if the vet does not give IV fluids during surgery. The anesthetic drops the blood pressure, and the vet thinks he's got everything tied off properly. Then, a number of hours after surgery, the BP comes back up to normal as the drugs wear off, and the dog starts eating and drinking again, and the animal begins to bleed internally.

I was lucky with Star. She was young and healthy, and the day after the second surgery, was begging me to play ball with her.

A friend of mine, a contractor who's been helping me around home here, had an elderly bitch which developed pyometra. The vet didn't want to operate due to her age, so they tried treating it with antibiotics. It didn't work. She became very lethargic, and wasn't eating or drinking much of anything. They actually had to spoon water into her mouth to try to keep her hydrated.

So, finally, they took her back to the vet to be spayed. He operated on this elderly, badly dehydrated, badly infected bitch without bothering to give her intravenous fluids. When the surgery was over, he called up the owner, and said he could come and get her.

The next day, the owner noticed a large amount of clotted blood on the bitch's bed. He called up the vet, and the vet said, "I can't do anything right now. I'm just going into a meeting. Just keep an eye on her."

Several hours later, the bitch was dead.

I really can't believe this guy is practising veterinary medicine!  And the language I used when Sean told me about this...well, I think he didn't know I used those words when I get really upset...

If I were the owner, I'd be reporting this guy to the Ontario Veterinary Medical Association. And I wouldn't be paying that $1,700 vet bill for the treatment, either!! 

 Holy cow!

They were at the point of spoon-feeding her water, and the vet didn't recommend subcutaneous fluid???  That's much easier than IV, very very simple.  So simple even I was able to do it for my old guy in his last days.  And it makes them so much more comfortable, when they are unable to drink.

I'm so sorry for your friend's loss.

He did say to bring her back in for sub-q fluid if she wasn't able to drink. I don't know if they did that or not. The owner doesn't have a lot of money, so he may have been trying to avoid having to do that.

This really is a small town, and the people are not well to do. The vet's excuse for not giving IV during surgery is the clients wouldn't be able to afford it.

Tess, you twisted around what I said completely.

The vet told the owner to bring the dog in if it wasn't drinking. The owner loves his dog, but how do you expect a lay person, a contractor, who probably never got past Grade 10 to know for sure if his dog is dehydrated?

He loved her, and would have taken her in if he felt it was necessary. He DID take her in when it became obvious she was going to need to be spayed to save her life. It was the VETS decision not to give the dog IV fluids during surgery, NOT the owner's. The owner was totally floored when he found out.  The vet said that about the owners not wanting to pay for IV fluids when I brought him to task for not giving Star fluids during surgery. IT IS HIS POLICY, not something specific to this one owner!

A bag of normal saline costs a couple of bucks. It's absolutely inecusable that he wouldn't give fluids to a dog this sick!

Just saying I've been in vets' waiting rooms as the staff went over pre-surgery requirements and heard owner after owner say, No, I don't want that...when it comes to things like IVs during Sx.  You wrote "the owner doesn't have a lot of money, so he may have been trying to avoid that" and "the people are not well to do."  So what's the vet's side of the story?  I bet he's sick & tired of endless people saying no, don't do that, it's too much money, and then complaining when things go wrong.

I can't tell you how many times I've heard this - the clients will not or can not pay, the vet does what they're told, and then the client bitches because the vet didn't pay "a couple of bucks" out of their own pocket to provide for the dog.  So the owners can't pay ONCE, yet the vet is supposed to provide IV for this dog, that dog, and I guess everybody's dog because it's "only a couple of bucks" every time.  What a mean vet for not paying the IV bill when the owners won't!

Sorry, but I have too much experience in veterinary offices and with clients; this is an old story.  Don't want to operate because it's expensive and of course yes, it is a risk, so we'll treat with antibiotics.  That doesn't work, then you really have a poor prognosis for surgery, but there's no alternative now, and there you have it.

Also, vet said "Bring her in if she can't drink."  Well, she can't drink, and so instead of bringing her in he tries spooning water.  Bitch deteriorates even more while that's being tried, poor thing, but the owner doesn't want another bill for another office visit and vet treament, so he spoons the water. THEN when she's really bad he calls the vet and is furious that the vet can't drop everything that very moment to take care of this neglected dog.

And on top of all that you say don't pay the vet for the work the vet did!  The dog died so the vet gets no money. 

No wonder there's a vet shortage.

 

 

If this is the same vet you took Star to, I agree with you Sunsilver.  He should be avoided at all costs.  No one should have to go through this and the vet owes it to the pet's owner to at least offer the option rather than assume they can't afford certain treatments.  That is bullsh*t.