Urgent Advice Needed Please

[calliech]

Seamus, one of our Westies went a new vet on Tuesday to be desexed. We have recently moved from Gladstone to Caboolture and everyone we asked referred us to this vet. One testicle was in the scrotum and the other was retained in the inguinal canal. We had persisted with him hoping it would come down in the vain hope of showing him but alas it never did.

He came home and was a bit off colour due to the anaesthetic but recovered ok until Thursday when he started to get really sick and lethargic and scouring. My husband took him back to the vet and he gave him a shot of antibiotics, some non steroidal anti-inflammatories, scour-ban and lactaid as follow up treatment. He checked the wounds and said he had a haematoma in the inguinal canal but it would heal. There was no bill as it was follow up treatment. I was still in hospital after the birth of our first child so I couldn't check him myself which worried me immensely.

Last night (Saturday) Seamus began vomiting but I didn't check him as I'd only just got out of hospital that day after a caesarian and I was exhausted so hubby tended to him. Today he couldn't even keep water down and when I checked his vomitus it was water and faecal matter. Straight away I checked his wound and saw that the "haematoma" in the inguinal canal was in fact a herniation. I assumed it was a bowel obstruction due to the herniation and tried to phone the vet but of course he's not on call on weekends, not even for follow care of his post op patients!! So we had to contact an emergency service vet so that Seamus could be treated as he would not have made it through the afternoon. So because it's a different vet (which our vets voice message referred us to) we incur a bill - $100 just for the consultation. But there's more.

At first the emergency vet thought it was a paralytic ileus but after ultrasound they discovered that the dumb old breeder (moi) was right and that he did in fact have a bowel obstruction from the herniation where the testicle was removed from the operation. We had to discuss payment as we don't for a second think that we should have to pay another bill for the stuff ups of the original vet. Basically if he f***ed it, he should fix it .

The emergency vets said they didn't have an after hours contact phone number for our vet but finally found a phone number for our vet and got him to call us at home. Hubby asked him to bring Seamus back as it was going to cost us a fortune to have the stuff ups fixed but our vet refused saying that he couldn't get any vet nurses to come in. I thought his wife was his nurse but that's beside the point.

Hubby said to him "I don't want to have to pay another vet for this operation" and the vet's response was quote " It will have to be done or the dog will die".

Shaun said "right, then we will have to work it out tomorrow" (who's paying) and vets response was "it will have to get done".

So the vet bill is going to be around $2000 for a dog that went in healthy and came out dying.

He went in with absolutely no medical problems whatsoever. We don't even know if he will survive yet but we have to pay a vet bill we should not have incurred in the first place.

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE any advice on where we stand legally would be greatly appreciated. I'm going to cross post in General discussion too.

[ShesaLikeableBiBear]

Replied in General

[Staffyluv]

Personally, my first obligation is to the dog and making sure he has the treatment he needs and then I would follow up to get the money back for the first operation and perhaps follow the pain and suffering route...

I would not let the first vet anywhere near my dog after what happened...

Jodie

[mita]

I know how you're feeling....

Our beautiful Tibetan Spaniel girl died recently.....after being given a medication.

She had one health problem only....she tended towards allergic hypersensitivity. First showed up when she developed an allergic reaction to internal sutures when desexed. In that case, I had to search for a good vet....who diagnosed that.

And said that if it didn't clear with steroids, he'd have to operate to get the material out. Fortunately, the reaction cleared.

She then had a long history of skin hotspots.....but I noticed they were always down around her flanks & bottom.

When she started having trouble with anal glands, I asked could this be connected with the allergic hypersensitivity. Was consistently told no.

Then the vet got the bright idea that her anal gland problem might be cancer . I asked could they merely be impacted. Was told cancer had to be investigated. So she was referred to a specialist. I told that specialist her only problem was allergic hypersensitivity.....showing up in things like nasty skin allergies.

So they put her under anaesthetic to investigate . Results were... no cancer.....the anal glands had been impacted.

BUT they had swabbed her bottom end for the operation.....& she developed a massive allergic reaction on her skin that made her scream in pain for 3 nights. To say I wasn't happy was an understatement.

Changed to another vet.....who listened when I said that I thought the anal gland problem was associated with her allergy. At first she said, no.....but went & looked up the research & said I'd been right. There is an association.

I told her how Gracie's only health problems had been how vet treatments had triggered her allergic hypersensitivity....iatrogenic, it's called.

So she said to give Gracie polaramine (antihistamine) for her anal glands ....no problem, she'd had it before.

And it did help her.

Then the vet said there was some inflammation when the glands emptied, so prescribed an antiobiotic I'd never heard of before. Knowing Gracie's allergic reactions.....I asked about side effects. Was told could be upset tummy.

3/4 way throught the pills, Gracie (an enthusiastic eater) lost her appetite. Told vet who said it was a side effect & said stop the pills. But even then Gracie's appetite would not come back. I told the vet.....who made no remark on this.

Then one night, Gracie started to throw up......just as I was getting her into the car to go to the emergency vet, she just died.

I looked up the website of the maker of that antibiotic. And was horrified to see that it warned about life-threatening dangers in giving the medication to a dog who might be allergically hypersensitive to it. It said loss of appetite was a side effect.....& it was a serious sign if the side effect continued AFTER pills ceased. And there you have a picture of Gracie & what happened to her.

I phoned the vet & told her this.....her answer...'My guess it was cancer.'

Needless to say, I've taken our remaining Tibetan Spaniel back to a vet I took the pets to.....12 years ago.

If there was a legal action....or a complaint.....that would bring Gracie back, I'd pursue it. But there isn't. Incidentally, Gracie was not only a loved pet.....but a valuable pure-bred, an Aus Ch.

I remain appalled by all this.....

Edited October 29, 2007 by mita

[Rysup]

Oh doG mita, that is so sad, RIP Gracie.

Edited October 29, 2007 by Rysup

[mita]

Thank you, Rysup.....which is why my heart is going out to Callech & her Westie.

[calliech]

I know how you're feeling....

Our beautiful Tibetan Spaniel girl died recently.....after being given a medication.

She had one health problem only....she tended towards allergic hypersensitivity. First showed up when she developed an allergic reaction to internal sutures when desexed. In that case, I had to search for a good vet....who diagnosed that.

And said that if it didn't clear with steroids, he'd have to operate to get the material out. Fortunately, the reaction cleared.

She then had a long history of skin hotspots.....but I noticed they were always down around her flanks & bottom.

When she started having trouble with anal glands, I asked could this be connected with the allergic hypersensitivity. Was consistently told no.

Then the vet got the bright idea that her anal gland problem might be cancer . I asked could they merely be impacted. Was told cancer had to be investigated. So she was referred to a specialist. I told that specialist her only problem was allergic hypersensitivity.....showing up in things like nasty skin allergies.

So they put her under anaesthetic to investigate . Results were... no cancer.....the anal glands had been impacted.

BUT they had swabbed her bottom end for the operation.....& she developed a massive allergic reaction on her skin that made her scream in pain for 3 nights. To say I wasn't happy was an understatement.

Changed to another vet.....who listened when I said that I thought the anal gland problem was associated with her allergy. At first she said, no.....but went & looked up the research & said I'd been right. There is an association.

I told her how Gracie's only health problems had been how vet treatments had triggered her allergic hypersensitivity....iatrogenic, it's called.

So she said to give Gracie polaramine (antihistamine) for her anal glands ....no problem, she'd had it before.

And it did help her.

Then the vet said there was some inflammation when the glands emptied, so prescribed an antiobiotic I'd never heard of before. Knowing Gracie's allergic reactions.....I asked about side effects. Was told could be upset tummy.

3/4 way throught the pills, Gracie (an enthusiastic eater) lost her appetite. Told vet who said it was a side effect & said stop the pills. But even then Gracie's appetite would not come back. I told the vet.....who made no remark on this.

Then one night, Gracie started to throw up......just as I was getting her into the car to go to the emergency vet, she just died.

I looked up the website of the maker of that antibiotic. And was horrified to see that it warned about life-threatening dangers in giving the medication to a dog who might be allergically hypersensitive to it. It said loss of appetite was a side effect.....& it was a serious sign if the side effect continued AFTER pills ceased. And there you have a picture of Gracie & what happened to her.

I phoned the vet & told her this.....her answer...'My guess it was cancer.'

Needless to say, I've taken our remaining Tibetan Spaniel back to a vet I took the pets to.....12 years ago.

If there was a legal action....or a complaint.....that would bring Gracie back, I'd pursue it. But there isn't. Incidentally, Gracie was not only a loved pet.....but a valuable pure-bred, an Aus Ch.

I remain appalled by all this.....

That's the most appalling treatment I've heard of. Poor poor Gracie. The vets I had in Gladstone listened to everything my husband and I said so I've never encountered bad treatment until now. A dog screaming is the most horrid sound I ever heard. My brother had a puppy who had been bitten on the head and developed a brain abcess that was misdiagnosed and it cried for 24 hours before the vet listened to him. She didn't make it either. I am so sorry for your Gracie. Calliech xxxx

[calliech]

Hi everyone. Sorry for the late reply. I'm a little exhausted at the moment. Seamus is great! He came home yesterday and he was so excited to be back home. He must have been sore as he has 3 lots of stitches. One lot in his little scrotum from the desexing, one in the inguinal canal and one from the penis to the ribcage. But it doesn't seem to affect him. He ran around giving everyone kisses. He's still isolated from the other 2 dogs for a while but he'll be able to go out to join them by Friday. It was such a relief to see him bounce through the door rather than walk in with his head hanging and his feet dragging like he was when he left. We went to visit him the day after the surgery and give him a stinky old work shirt of mine to sleep on which apparently held him in good spirits. I must have looked like an idiot hiding behind a bookcase and peeking through the glass to get a look but if he'd seen me he would have been very distressed. The vet ER rang us every 6 hours or so to give us updates on how he was progressing so we were very pleased that he was in good hands. It was all very professional and it had the feel of a human private hospital.....very organised and efficient.

So the stressing over my darling boy is over and we're all alot calmer (I'm up to expressing 50ml now instead of 20ml ).

We sought legal advice from my friends mother who is a solicitor. She has drafted a letter of demand and a please explain but we probably don't have to go that far. The original vet was kept informed of what was happening with Seamus by the emergency vet. He rang my husband and explained what he thought had happened, which was that Seamus may have had a hernia in the inguinal region which was plugged by the retained testicle. Once the testicle was removed, the hernia had to be plugged by the nearest organ which is how the bowel (I think it was the ileum) slid into the hernia and he developed a constricted bowel or bowel obstruction. He was very very ill and would not have lived through the night but he did not have any dead bowel, just inflamed and very angry looking. There was no need for resection thank God. He was on the phone to my husband for a very long time and appologised profusely for misdiagnosing the condition as a haematoma. He offered to pay for half of the costs of the final bill from the pet ER which I found to be redeeming. My husband said he genuinely seemed to care about how Seamus was and sounded very concerned and not evasive and wanted to follow him up for his stitches removal and his recovery. Hubby placed a lot of weight in that conversation and if he's sounded evasive he would not have accepted the offer. Our solicitor said that although it was not a great outcome in monetary terms, it was wise to accept the offer as suing or threatening to sue was the only way to recoup any lost money. Suing can be fruitless and expensive even though she was going to do it for free. Not that it would go that far. It was more the threat of a solicitor looming that she would go for.

We're yet to take the bill ($1603) to the vet but if all goes well then we will be somewhat satisfied with the outcome.

What I don't get is that I'm not a vet but as soon as I smelled faeces in the vomitus, I picked Seamus up and found that the haematoma was a herniated bowel. I'm disappointed that it wasn't picked up sooner. I'm over the anger now that he's back home. There are more important things such as his survival and my new baby.

Thank you all for your advice. Thanks to the lactation consultant for your very kind offer of talking about my dilemna. Thanks for the offers of personal help from those who live in Caboolture - we love it here. There was some really great advice which I passed on to the solicitor, so thank you all so much for your help.

Seamus is home and doing well and my baby boy is doing well so we're all happy now.

Cheers

Calliech

[Griffo]

sounds like a happy ending, so glad your boy is okay, scary how a simple operation can turn so bad.