The dog died...blame the vet?

Question

I'll try to make this brief. The dog ate a rope toy, and was taken to the vet. Vet did a Barium test and discovered a blockage in the intestine. Surgery was performed, rope was removed along with a piece of wood. Intestine stitched back up, dog sent home. Next day the dog was bloated, not eating or drinking, etc. They took him to the emergency vet where he stayed the night. In the morning he died. Emergency vet did an autopsy and discovered that the intestine had pulled away from the sutures. My friend, who owned the dog, blames the vet who did the surgery. Even after she admitted to allowing the dog to jump into the truck when she picked him up (after surgery). Emergency vet saw nothing to prove that the other vet made any mistakes, she said the intestine tore and he bled to death internally (Shouldn't the ER vet have foreseen this?). I know it's hard to say, but I think allowing the dog to jump into the truck probably tore the sutures. Any thoughts on this?

I know we can't determine the cause of death, but I'm very upset that my friend is laying the blame on my vet...

Sounds to me like it was a risk to begin with?

Oh gosh....I would NEVER tell my friend that I feel it was partially her fault! I'm just pondering the whole situation.

Don't you think though that the ER vet should have checked for such? She had him the entire night and even called them in the morning to come pick him up. She then called a half hour later to say he had died.

I admit the vet is only human. However, I have known him for 15 years and trust him over anyone with my pets. I almost feel that the ER vet should have taken more precautions with the dog.

My friend who owned the dog is deaf (probably should have mentioned that earlier) making communication difficult at times, but I wasn't there so I don't know if she had an interpreter or not. She understands me very well when I speak to her (vocally), but she also knows me very well. Either way, common sense says not to let the dog do anything strenuous, right?

You know Torbay, someone else had mentioned that to me also. I wasn't aware of that possibility.

Answer 1

With any surgical procedures involving the intestines there is always a risk for breaking down of the surgical site regardless of activity. At the specialty practice where I work at it is routine to wait three days after major intestinal surgery (meaning the dog is hospitalized and monitored) to decide whether the surgery is a success or not because if the sutures are going to break down it is usually in that time period. There are many factors that could have played a role in what could have caused the sutures to break down. This could of included surgical technique, the integrity of the intestines, experience of the surgeon especially with these type of surgeries, and how many incisions had to be made into the intestines. Even at autopsy it would be difficult to determine which of those could of played a role but it is a given risk. As far as the ER vet goes unless he/she was not monitoring the dog properly and missed out on significant changes in the dogs parameters it would be difficult for them to forsee this. Also based on the autopsy finding it is likely this dog died from a septic abdomen because the contents from the intestines leaked into the abdomen causing a major infection. But overall I would not hang my hat on the dog jumping up in the truck as the main cause for this complication. Just my thoughts

Answer 2

Is it not possible that the sutures tore because the intestine...assaulted by not only the rope, but also a chunk of wood, was weakened enough to cause the area where the sutures were to die. This would leave an area of intestine that began to break down and "dehiss". MAYBE the jumping was the final straw....but the breakdown of the suture line could have already started.
The initial vet may not have seen any necrosis of the intestine and the time, but it may have been starting.

It is not a common occurrence, I will give you that, but intestine is a strange thing. I have actually seen a dog that had a stick removed and it went fine. Until three days later, when the dog got sick again and they opened the dog up again and LOTS of the intestine was necrotic and THREE vets had seen it the first time and would never have guessed it would have gotten like that. The dog had two more surgeries and did live.

If it was my dog, I would prefer to thing it went that way. That way there is no blame. Bad luck of the draw. I think guilt and blame really slow the grieving process and don't help at all!!

Answer 3

I'm not really quite sure that we can help with this. Your friend won't take responsibility for her neglect and there really isn't anything you can do about that if you want to keep her as your friend.

I don't know how the ER vet would have "foreseen" any complication with a dog she didn't know and a surgery she had nothing to do with. As far as diagnosing the dog, if your friend did not give the vet the whole story, the vet could not make a proper diagnosis. I mean if your friend never said that she allowed the dog to jump and was not properly resting the dog, then the vet may not know where to start. However, a simple ultrasound may have shown fluid in the abdomen and may have led to proper care.

If your friend feels better by blaming the original vet and she won't listen to you, then there is nothing you can do. However, if she decides to take it further by reporting the vet or taking action, then you need to step in. This may be a situation where there will never be a 'final answer' or clear blame - it could have just been one of those things.

Perhaps she's so blinded by grief that she's blaming everyone - it's a known stage of grief. It should pass and the best thing that you can do is to be there for her. Good luck to you both.

Answer 4

This is a very touchy situation because no body but you knows this vet. But more than likely it's not the vets fault. Anytime you have surgery done on any organs you have to very careful not to let your dog or cat do anything that would cause something bad to happen. The vet probably should have asked that the dog stay for longer but depending on the hours they work they may not have been able to keep it form some reason. However, your friend lettingthe dog jump in the truck or do anything exerting like that is very bad. And the vet should have told her about this. More than likely when the dog did this it tore the stiches and start to bleed. There really is no one to blame because it was a serious surgery that should have been handled better by bother the vet and owner. I'm sorry this happend but at this time there really shouldn't be any pointing fingers at anyone.

Answer 5

WOW This is a hard call. What fool would have a dog jump in a truck after major surgery. That was the first problem. Why was the dog not taken to the vet that did said surgery? They would have known what to do right away. Was the er vet aware of what had been done to the dog? He really should have figured it was a bleeder by the bloating. I think the dog owner and the er vet are at fault. Just one opinion.

Answer 6

People aren't willing to accept fault for their own behaviors anymore. We've developed such a litigeous society that no one feels they need to be responsible anymore as they can always blame someone else and possibly make a buck - woman with hot coffee from McDonalds is a perfect example.

Sounds as though the owners were neglectful and now they are filled with remorse and instead of owning their part of the destruction of this pet, they're busy pointing fingers. I have no doubt when the animal was retrieved from the surgery the owner was told to keep the animal quiet, no jumping, etc. Then again, if you let your dog eat a piece of wood... really what are the chances you're going to head the advice of a vet.

I'm sorry for the dog and I concur that the ER should have been more pro-active rather than just 'observing' they should have been more invasive knowing the animal recently had surgery.

Very sad story indeed.

Answer 7

It's always so hard losing a pet that we want to find fault somewhere. It doesn't sound to me (in my not-so professional opinion) that the vet did anything negligent. There is ALWAYS a risk when surgery is involved and the sutures could have torn for any number of reasons. More often than not an untimely death isn't anyone's fault, it just happens. It's the risk we take everyday with not only our pets lives but our own. Grief is a very overwhelming emotion. I hope your friend can comes to terms with losing their dog soon.

Answer 8

Sounds to me like the friend was just plain negligent for allowing the dog to jump in the truck after having such a surgery. I think that is what happened. Any time a dog has abdominal surgery, the dog should not be allowed to do any jumping or climbing for about 10 days.The dog jumped in the truck and ripped the stitches out. The vet probably did what he could to save the dog.

Answer 9

In times of grieving, many people need to assign blame. If your friend isn't planning on suing the vet or anything, what is the harm in allowing her to vent her loss by blaming the vet?

The vet should have communicated that the dog needs to take it easy (no jumping). The owner should have taken more care in handling the post-surgery pup. That is, if blame really has to be assigned somewhere.

But more often than not, s**t happens. I'm sorry to be so blunt, but more than likely this situation isn't anyone's fault. Sometimes things go wrong.

Answer 10

Didn't the first vet tell your friend to keep the dog calm and not let him jump & run yet? It's hard to tell from overhere, I wasn't there, but I'd think letting a dog jump at that stage isn't a good idea, both animals and people I know who've had surgery of the abdomen had to keep calm for some time afterwards -no jumping for pets, no lifting (even not more than two pounds) for people... Of course if the vet failed to warn your friend that's an oversight in itself...