my puppy died after being spayed, i need help.?

Question

my puppy was spayed on a thursday. the following sunday i went to work at 2:50, my wife and 2 sons came home at 4:00. they foud the puppy with it guts hanging out. they bundled up the puppy and headed to the vet, the vet found she had shewed threw her intestines and could do nothing to help her and gave her a shot to ease the suffering. 2 weeks before her surgery we were at the vet and i had mentioned that puppy like to chew on herself. the vet set that was becuase she was working breed dog and thats what they do. so after the puppy died i called a couple of vets and they were puzzled why i had not recieved a e-collar after telling him that the puppy liked to chew on herself. i have filed a law suit against him. i proballt pissing in the wind with it. but i am angry. my 6 year old asked me why didnt god answer his prayer to save the puppy. and my wife is still having nightmares after 2 weeks.

thanks to everyone who sent me good wishes. i did purchase another dog for the kids. i bought a full blooded german sheppard, her name is MIA. we have choosen not to have anymore elective surgery on anymore pets. i blame myself for the puppy dying. i had no idea what a ecollar was to after the puppy had died. all you hear is to have your pet spayed or nuetered. i thought i was doing the right thing. as for the court case, i had 2 vets tell me that the other vet was wrong. but they both said no about going to court. i dont blame them. becuase we all live in a small town in montana. so if anyone knows of a vet that might be able to help me let me know. thanks

Answer 1

Wow that is horrible! I'm not sure what your question is, but I would make that law suit stick if I were you. How old was your puppy? The e-collar is optional for you, but they should have mentioned it, if they didn't. Good luck and I hope your wife and kids can stop having nightmares.

Answer 2

I am so sorry to hear what you have gone through. My dog had an operation recently and the vet offered us an e-collar to prevent her from opening up the wound and removing stitches. From what I can gather this is the normal procedure following an operation. Seems to me that your vet was negligent and would of thought that they can be prosecuted for that, after all if it was a human being then the doctor would be prosecuted. Why should an animal be any different? They are part of the family and also need our help to protect them. You were not given the correct advice and obviously not offered the collar. You go for it, get a good lawyer and if possible ask the other vets whom you spoke to, to write a note, explaining that an e-collar should have been provided and that they cannot understand why it wasn't offered, it may help your case a bit.
Best of luck and hope you get some justice for the loss of your puppy. I know it won't replace her, nothing ever will but that vet shouldnt be practising if he/she isnt doing there job properly.
Let us know how you get on

Answer 3

Agree with all the posters who've already said that nine weeks is TOO YOUNG for spaying and neutering. Google the SPCA ( you'll come up with loads of SPCA's around the USA) and most recommend the process no earlier than three months, with most vets upping that a month and doing this surgery at four months and up. If you adopted this poor baby from a shelter, please find the contact info for your state veterinary board and report this ( same goes if you went to a private vet or vet clinic). Something else to try to remember for the next pup you may have ( besides finding a different vet--next time, ask the vet techs at the office outright what their policies are for age and surgery before going ahead with it) is that though veterinary practices generally have you sign off consent forms before these surgeries, some will ask you to select whether you want "additional services". These can include pain reliever for the dog ( some vets do not give these as a matter of course--you have to ask for them, and pay extra) and also may include an emergency setup during surgery. Our dog is a breed known for possibly having complications during anesthesia; when she was spayed at four months, we ordered the emergency setup--which was basically a line IV on standby, just in case. A good vet will give you options in advance. So very sorry about your puppy. It's hard to say that the vet was entirely at fault, since anesthesia at any age in any procedure is always a risk. But this situation could have been handled better for you and your dog.

Answer 4

This is horrible, and I am sure the doctor is to blame as well, because he should have made sure the stitches were protected, but it is normal not to remember something you had casually said 2 weeks before the surgery. I don't want to make you feel worse, but shouldn't you have asked for an e-collar, knowing the situation? And remind him of the chewing thing? I put an e-collar to my dog although the vet said there was no reason, and he was a male, he didn't run serious risk. By the way, with females, my vet covers them up completely around their body with bandages for the first days, he doesn't rely on e-collars!

Oh, another thing: I think spaying at a very young age is more risky, I thoink in the US you do this too early, and it is not needed so early either.

Answer 5

That vet was so wrong not to give you a proper collar to stop your dog chewing, you are doing the right thing filing a law suit against him.

Your whole family will need greiving time, and at some point in the future it might be a good idea to look into getting another dog, but not before your whole family is ready.

Good Luck with the Law suit!

Answer 6

I am so sorry to hear about your puppy. I do think that the vet was negligent, but I do not know if you would win a lawsuit over it. If you vet is a AVMA (American Veterinary Medical Association) member, you can try reporting him to them. Some of her behavior could of been due to the anesthetics, but most of them should of been out of her system in 72 hours.

At my vet's office, they will give you a cone when the dog has surgery and tell you to return it for a refund if you do not use it. They also will use stainless steal sutures and dissolvable sutures that they "bury" so you cannot even see they are there. I kind of wonder if he sutured her properly. When a spay is preformed, they suture the abdominal wall and then the skin, which is done in part to keep this from happening.

I really am sorry to hear about your puppy and I hope you do win your lawsuit.

Answer 7

I'm so sorry to hear about your puppy. My girl friends dog just died after getting spayed. But hers was from the vet messing something up on the inside. She couldn't sue because she had signed a disclaimer. Also they are going to say it was also part your reponsibility to watch the dog knowing she was a chewer. I've had things happen over the years vets arnt' held as reponsable as a human doctor. Someday maybe that will change. Good luck on your law suit. Maybe that will help start waking people up and animals need to have more rights when it comes to good health care.

Answer 8

At Christmas my pup went uner the knife and came out with stitches almost the full length of her bellie. Her wound was covered with a dressing and I was also given a collar to place around her neck if required. 8 days later I took my pup back to the vet who carefully removed the dressing (sticky dressing nothing special) and again was told to use the bucket/collar provided if required. On the 14th day our pup was taken back to the vet to have her stitches removed..... I then handed the unused collar back to them. I didnt need to use the collar because the dressing was put over the wound so well our pup could not chew it off... Each time I was told about the collar (and given one without cost)...
I don't know you would go in a law suit.... Here in Australia we sign a disclaimer which waivers all rights..

Good luck. I also reccomend a new doggie but most of all I reccomend a new vet!!

Answer 9

That all sucks. Sounds lke you're taking the right steps - that was negligence on the part of the vet.

Consider getting another puppy - get one from the rescue shelter - it will come to you already spayed and done by professionals who do it all the time, and will not release a sick animal to you.

My sympathies to you and yours.

All I can think to tell yoiur son is that god decided that this puppy had lived as long as she should since she was not healthy. That sonetimes things have to die so other things get a better chance to live.

Answer 10

How sorry to hear about your loss, the vet was wrong you clearly highlighted the problem with the dog chewing its self and the vet neglected to listen to you concerns.

Filing a law suit is the best cause of action as the vet clearly neglected the poor dog. You have done everything you should have done.