On Friday I took my female dog to the vet to get fixed. She was a Chow 2 years old, up to date with her shots healthy. 7 months ago she had 6 puppies all of which survived. In the morning that she left she was playing with two of her puppies in the yard and seemed happy. She was a live in dog that was great with kids and babies.
I dropped her off at 8h30am and at 10h30 I got a call from the vet telling me that she had died on the operating table. The vet did a blood smear and said it came out clear. She has no idea why the dog died...
As most of you know live in dogs are members of the family and I find it hard to accept no answer as an answer. Are there any questions I should have asked my vet to find out what happened? What do you think happened? She said the bill will include some adrenaline shots that she used to try revive my dog. She said that this is the first time she has had a healthy dog die on her with a simple procedure like this.
2006-10-01 22:28:40 · 12 answers · asked by Odie 5 in Pets ➔ Dogs
I'm very sorry for your loss. Sometimes these things happen, and they're very hard to accept. Even if the vet did everything right in every possible way, some animals (people too) just can't do surgery. I almost died getting my wisdom teeth pulled, even though it was a simple proceedure. I was allergic to the type of anesthesia used and we had no way of knowing that before we started. Perhaps that's what happened. It would be hard to test for that in your dog after the fact. It could even have been an unpreventable blood clot- the body's own defense gone arwy.
Your vet tried to revive your dog and even if she does have to charge you for the medication used during the surgery (as cruel as that might seem), I'm positive your vet feels horrible. Just the fact that the vet did a blood smear shows that the vet wants to know WHY too. Chances are that your vet is going through a lot of the same confusion as you, but with guilt heaped on top.
You can ask what was the cause of death: sudden heart failure, blood loss, seizure, or any number of things. It may not provide an answer in certainty, but maybe ruling out doctor error will help you.
Try to cope with your loss the best you can. Loosing a pet is equally traumatic as loosing a child to many people. Part of the pain of loosing a pet is wondering if there was something more we could have done. Having a pet suddenly die during surgery makes us horribly guilt-ridden about taking the pet in for surgery, or in to that vet, or doing it at this or that time. We want answers. Sometimes we can't get them.
Grieve. Send a donation to an animal shelter in memory of your pet. Write a note on a baloon and send it into the air. Love the puppies and cherish them.
But please, don't take it out on the vet. I'm sure she did the best she could.
2006-10-01 22:57:40 · answer #1 · answered by sandostrich 3 · 4⤊ 1⤋
You should talk to your vet and find out what happened. As many before have said anesthesia carries a risk and your vet did perform emergency treatments in an attempt to resuscitate your girl. It is a very horrible thing to have happen and very rare but sometimes even outwardly healthy animals have complications that cannot be forseen just as humans do. If you want more answers you could have had a post mortem performed on your dog, this may give you some closure and find some pathology that was not otherwise noted.
Call your vet in the morning and tell her you want to understand a little more of what happened. I'm sure your vet will talk you through it, you do have the right to know what happened and whether it was a surgical complication, an anesthetic complication etc... Your vet may not know exactly what happened, your dogs heart may have just stopped, or it may have thrown a clot to the brain; I'm sure your vet wouldn't have undertaken elective surgery on your pet if there were any indications of ill health so it is most likely as big a mystery to your vet as it is to you which might be why your vet can't explain it to you; unfortunately in the vet world there are sometimes no answers as animals aren't routinely post mortemed.
As for the charges, the vet doesn't get the drugs to resuscitate animals for free so they do have to charge (just like with humans), it doesn't sound like any charge was incurred for resus time which can sometimes be quite long; it is just terrible when these are the circumstances.
2006-10-02 01:27:18 · answer #2 · answered by doolittle 3 · 2⤊ 1⤋
Unfortunately things like this happens. Some dogs cannot take the anesthesia. I really am sorry about your loss and i cannot believe the vet cannot even give you a hint to what happened. There is always a risk and my vet will tell me this before they ever put a dog under surgery. Usually dogs die because they have a allergic reaction to the anesthesia, and your vet should know this. I would get another vet for any other dogs you decide to get.
The vet should not charge you since the dog died under her care, mine absolutely refuses to charge when they loose a patient and also my vet will tell you the risk factors in putting a dog under anesthesia.
Once again i really am sorry about your loss.
2006-10-02 01:18:28 · answer #3 · answered by badgirl41 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Any time you give an animal anisthesia, you are putting the animal at risk. s slim but as a vet tech I have seen it happen before. The vet that I was working for was doing surgery on one of his best friends dongs and this happened. We did all that we could to save the puppy to no avail.
I'm sorry about your loss but sueing would just be stupid. I do think that is dumb for her to bill you for the adrenaline shots but some vets will do these things.
Again I'm sorry for your loss.
2006-10-02 01:47:48 · answer #4 · answered by farm girl 2 · 1⤊ 1⤋
I'm so sorry about your puppy. :( I know what that feels like.
Anaesthesia does carry risks, but this sounds a little fishy. They should be able to find some reason for her death. When they try to keep from explaining anything to you, it's usually for some reason, like they don't want you to find their mistake.
If I were you, I absolutely would not pay that bill. If the vet tries to threaten you into paying it, get a lawyer. It is not right for them to expect you to pay after that.
2006-10-01 22:45:12 · answer #5 · answered by ChiChi 6 · 3⤊ 0⤋
my bulldog came through a neuter surgery fine, but died a few hours after surgery in the vets holding area due to panting caused by stress / being hot and the people at the vet not paying attention or doing anything to remedy his escalating panting. i had warned them about bulldogs breathing issues before the surgery and they said they would handle it. Too bad they didnt.
2015-05-12 16:25:58 · answer #6 · answered by AN 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
a similar situation happened to me with my cat punkin although he didn't die he went into shock and almost died.
the vet i took him to didn't give him any pain meds during or after the procedure and he went in to shock immediately. when i asked the vet why he didn't give my cat some meds he said that "animals don't feel pain the same as humans do". I was billed for an emergency visit and lots of meds. all things that should never have been. sounds like your dog got anesthesia but no pain killers. look into it. i hope that is not the case.......
2006-10-01 22:35:12 · answer #7 · answered by beckdawgydawg 4 · 0⤊ 2⤋
I think you need to sue her if she does not want to tell you maybe she will tell the judge, makes a person wander how many other dogs she has killed.
Just so by the way, did you see the dogs body, she could want to keep the dog for herself, Iv'e known vets to do this
2006-10-02 00:06:05 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
any vet will tell you that anytime you put a dog under any type of anesthesia there are risks up to death. just like with humans anyone can die from even the simplest surgeries. i'm sorry to hear of the loss of your chow. i know it was like your child. i've been in your position and i know it's hard.
2006-10-01 22:45:28 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 1⤋
Sorry,but "stuff" happens.
You could be struck by lightning too.
The odds of anything happening during any surgery are VERY LOW but NOTHING is 100% .
2006-10-02 00:59:51 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋