Complaints

• Initial Complaint

  03/23/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  On March 1st I took my dog to this vet for a cyst that had ruptured to be looked at. They noticed it was infected and gave us an antibiotic and an anti inflammatory and scheduled surgery for the following week. On March 2nd my dog got the bandage off and there was blood all over the house and she was laying on the floor pale and looked very sick. I rush her to the vet where she walked in. They did blood work and confirmed she was slightly anemic and kept her over night for surgery the following day. March 3rd they called for me to pick my dog up because they couldn't do surgery but they did tranquilize her. When she got up to walk after being home she was unable to walk. On March 4th I took her to the vet for surgery but since she was unable to walk they wanted to focus on that. They stated it was neurological issue and gave her a depo steroid shot and sent her home. I called another vet for a second opinion and on March 5th we were sent to the animal hospital in Cincinnati. They referred her to neurology where she had an mri done on March 8th. This showed she had a ruptured disc due to moving wrong. While she was recovering there they noticed she was pale and confirmed with blood work she was anemic. They did an ultra sound and more blood work and found the mix of anti inflammatory and steroid shot caused a GI bleed. When talking to the vet who administered those medications together, he denied doing anything wrong and said it was my fault and the other vets fault and he did nothing wrong. Ending with hanging up on me. I have spend $6000 since my dog was in his care resulting in many illnesses.

  Business response

  04/21/2022

  Business Response March 2- owner brought dog in with large baseball sized bleeding tumor on lower leg; said found blood all over the house and dog was unresponsive; o wanted tumor taken off; told owner due to the size and location of the tumor, good margins and skin closure were not possible; o was mostly concerned about blood loss so wanted tumor debrided as well as possible; told owner we try to squeeze surgery in the next day; dog was wobbly in exam room, was carried to back; dog was mildly anemic; March 3- dog was premedicated in the morning in preparation for surgery; dog quietly rested in cage; surgery was swamped so we could not do the procedure that day; o was told they could pick her up and bring her back the next day if they wished March 4- Owner brought dog in for surgery, said dog was unable to walk properly since bringing her home the night before; Dog had no proprioception in hind legs but still had intact motor function; o was informed that this was a neurologic issue and not related to the tumor or effects of sedation; spinal radiographs were taken to see if a disc injury could be identified. A questionable disc space was noted but the owner was informed that a MRI was needed for definite diagnosis; The dog was given a steroid injection to reduce swelling in the spinal cord; no other meds were given. The owner was also informed that if there was any progression of signs, that a spinal surgeon would need to be contacted immediately. The next week, the owner contacted us with several different accusations, supposedly from another veterinarian. First, the owner accused us of causing the disc herniation while the dog was here. Then the medication we used to sedate the dog caused the disc herniation. Then the medication we used for the disc herniation caused a GI bleed. So what caused the disc herniation? As dogs get older, cartilage discs can deteriorate and make them prone to herniate; Was it a result of chronic deterioration or acute injury? Did this happen at home the day blood was everywhere and the dog was unresponsive? Did it happen at the vet clinic while she was sleeping in her cage? Unfortunately no one can know this 100%; but the fact that the dog was stumbling and was carried back on March 2 is good evidence that the injury happend prior. I think a detailed MRI report will help shed some light how much much chronic deterioration may have been going on. So what caused the GI bleed? Could it have been the steroid injection? Possibly. Although the dog was only on an anti-inflammatory for 2 days prior to the steroid injection. Could it have been related to the large bleeding mass on the dogs leg that could have led to decreased clotting factors and platelets? Or related to surgery? Possibly. A report with the clotting times from the referring vet might shed some light on that. Regardless, in the case of a patient with spinal swelling, the spinal swelling becomes the most important thing to address. Even if that results in a slight increase in the risk of a GI bleed. As far as placing blame, we have not blamed the owner or the other vets for anything that has happened to the dog; Although I have definitely questioned the rationale that was used to point the blame at us. It seems odd how aggressively another clinic is blaming us for things without evidence. It is a horrible situation that the owner and dog have had to go through, but there is not always someone to blame for everything bad that happens. We also never hung up on the owner. Thankfully we record all phone calls for situations such as this. Consumer Response (The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.) My dog was tranquilized and then never given surgery. I also was not given any information on what was actually given to my dog while there because I did not get a print out. My dog did not in fact have surgery therefore the GI bleed was not caused from surgery. My dog spent the night at a very large and costly animal hospital to see an internal medicine doctor that looked at all the paperwork that was sent over that stated all the medicine she was given and that is what caused the GI bleed. The mass on her leg was not the cause of it. My dog did have a detailed MRI of the ruptured disc. The accident did not happen in my care as I brought her in walking the day she stayed the night. While they are stating the animal hospital has to diagnose anything going on they do not want to take any responsibility of anything that has gone on. Since there is a recording of the phone call you will not hear me hang up as I did not hang up. They hung up first.

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