Is it possible to sue a vet (or the receptionist) for this?

Question

Not that I'll even be able to, even though I /want/ to, and my dog died last year, March 29th, but I'm just curious...
My dog, Strider had heartworms. The vet said that he had VERY little. So little that it almost didn't show up on the test. He was also young (2 1/2) The vet only gave us ONE option (the series of 3 shots over a few month.) Later, I found out that worms can be treated with Heartguard or even surgically removed. He also gave me some pills for strider. I had to give him one in the am, and one in the pm, everyday. I've never heard of pills going with this treatment. What were they even for? So, then my mom called TWICE within one week saying that Strider was breathing too hard, and the receptionist just said, "That's normal". Strider was breathing WAY too hard, mum told her, but again, she said "it's normal" So, after 2 weeks on treatment, Strider died from suffocation. Could they get sued for this? The vet didn't explain any other options & just said to keep him calm.

Which we did, and a couple months of grieving and bawling later from the loss of my brother (YES, my brother), I got another pup. When we brought him in to the /same/ vet, he couldn't even get Stride's name right. "I'm sorry about Striker." is all he said with a straight face, not any sympathy, it seemed. I SO wish I could sue! -_-

Yes, Heartguard can be used to cure heartworms. It kills them slowly over a couple years or so. It probably would have been WAY easier on Strider, and I think he most probably would have lived through a Heartguard treatment.

Yes, I would /like/ to have back what we paid for treatment. Which was $400+, not to mention we paid $100+ to have him cremated...

Yeah, but how were /we/ supposed to know to crate him? The vet never told us anything about crating him. He said to keep him calm, which we did the best we could. I didn't even take him for walks b/c the vet said not to after I had asked. But how were we supposed to know about crating him? We had never gone through HW treatment and knew nothing about it, but to keep him calm. And we did that the best we could...

Well, it's not my fault that my mum keeps putting it off! D= She never wants to go searching for another vet. She keeps putting it off and putting it off, just like she put off getting Strider on Heartguard for 2 years, and look what /that/ resulted in? -_-

Answer 1

Ill do parvo coccidia anyworms even whip but I hate HW treatment.

They are doing more studies with treating HW with Heartgaurd but they still need the first treatment from the vet. Heavy breathing is normal that is exactly why you are to "KEEP HIM CALM" He should be calming lwalked on lead and never let loose outside to do business. When not out on lead for very short potty trips he should be crate!!! Yes Crated 23.5 hours a day.

If not they run the risk of the dead worm (from treatment) getting into the lungs and the dog will die.

I am wondering what the pills were. Sometimes they give pain meds after a treatment but the treatments are a 2-3 day visit at the vet under constant supervision. They give them shots of poisen in the spine. Horribly painful. These treatments are a month apart and it usually only takes two.

My Bess had it so bad two was not enough but we opted (The rescue and vets) to let it go. Her heart was eaten so bad. She barely moved. She has arthritis and had been hit by a car so she can't get up and down and I cried everytime i tried to pet her. We did start her immediately on heartgaurd and she still gets her HW preventative but we never tested her again we decided to let her live her life. But we couldn't adopt her and I didn't think anyone would ever love her as much as I do I went through the treatment with her.

It sounds like your dog died because the dead worms were not expelled from the body properly. They went into the lungs and suffocated him. This happens when the dog is not still for the duration of the treatment. That would not be the vets fault in any way.

I am so sorry for your loss. I think HW treatment is horrible and it is very difficult to isolate your pet for the duration of the treatment. It destroyed me to do it to a foster dog let alone if it had been one I was previously attached to.

Added:

You should have been told. The vets tell you to keep spay/neuters calm but its not the same thing. Any thing that gets the heartbeat up increases the blood flow. I was told to crate because I have several dogs and I went through it with 20 other people at my beckon call (volunteers- a lot of vet techs, animal control officers, others with experience) (I cried constantly) she was my first rescue to be HW positive. I have since taken rescues for others and I have refused to foster through treatment. A lot of newcomers immediately realize Im a b*tch.

I would certainly take it up with the vet that you should have been told. Maybe even call and or have someone else call and have them explain treatment. Say a school newspaper article so they will let you tape it. That way you will have something that the vet didn't explain clearly the importance of being calm and not to do anything.

Answer 2

I am a receptionist/assistant at a veterinary clinic. I always take messages for the vet and allow the doctor to call back a client, especially with patients that have been ill. ALWAYS. I am not a doctor and I do not want the responsibility of giving clients the wrong information. There is basic imformation that we can give out, but if it's regarding an animal that has been seen by the doctor and is ill, the vet always speaks to the client.

We do a heartworm test in our office and if it comes back negative we then tell clients that their dogs should be on Heartguard. I know it prevents heartworms, but I did not know it was a heartworm treatment. From what I understand it is only a preventative, which is the only way we use it. If it takes two years for Heartguard (or any medication) to work on killing the worms, that is way too long. Heartworms is a dangerous disease and should be taken care of as quickly as possible.

It's been a year....if you were thinking about taking legal action you probably should have done it before now. You could have also had an autopsy to see what exactly Strider died from. Sometimes, when the worms are being killed by the medication, they can flow back into the heart and create an embolism, that could have also been the cause of his death.

It probably wouldn't be in your best legal interest to be seeing the same veterinarian though.....if you feel he was negligent, why would you be still using him would probably be the question.

I'm sorry for your loss. Losing a beloved pet and friend is something we never get over completely. I pray that your new friend lives a long and healthy life.

Prayers to you.

Answer 3

The Heartguard treatments are only for a healthy dog that doesn't have heartworms at all. All vets test all dogs for heartworms before they start them on Heartguard. Some dogs have allergic reactions to treatments for heartworms, like in Strider's case, that sounds like what happened. I see that the vet did have some negligence. So I would try going to a small claims court, don't expect to get more than $5,000 for this. They may make them pay you for vet expenses and if you missed any time from work. I'm so sorry for your loss. Just remember that heartworms can be avoided, they may try pointing the finger back at you.

Answer 4

First of heartgard would probably have killed him if he had heart worms. Heartgaurd is a PREVENTION not a TREATMENT. If you give dogs heartworm prevention and they already have heartworms it can kill the dog. It kills off the heartworms rapidly and causes them to block the heart which causes the heart to stop. Now I dont know what to tell you about your vets protocol on heratworm treatment, but it sounds the exact same as what we would have done at our clinic. They get a series of shots (which is not arsenic like it use to be it is a synthetic shot that has the same effect that arsenic had) to treat the adult heartworms and have oral meds to treat the baby heartworms but usually you treat the ones that are most prominent first then treat the others later. The microfalaria (baby heartworms) travel through out the body and the heartworms do a lot of damage to the lungs which is why the receptionist said the breathing hard is normal (that is one of the major signs of heartworms). You HAVE to keep the dog from running around and being overly excited because of the treatment it can cause them to have complications with the damage to the lungs. So probably you wouldnt be able to sue them because they told you to keep him calm and were doing the best treatment for him. The surgery is very expensive and very complicated and you have to have a specialized vet to perform the surgery and it is VERY risky. I mean they are cutting open the heart and MAJOR arteries and trying to close them back up with out complications and that risk is just too big of a risk for the dog itself. I know it is hard to lose a pet but honestly from what information you have given me the vets did everything they could. Now I am not saying that you let your dog run around which complicated his treatment and killed him, but I dont think anyone here was to blame. It is a sad situation and I am sorry that it happened the way it did. The best thing to do in the future is to start your next puppy on prevention and keep him on it year round. It only takes one mosquito to give your dog heartworms and mosquitos do manage to get into the house every now and then so indoor dogs arent safe either. I am so sorry for the loss of your dog and your brother and I wish I had better information for you. I wish you luck. and if you have other questions feel free to email me

Answer 5

Heartguard is only for prevention of future heart worms, and is not recommended for young pups or dogs that already have heart worms.
It sounds more like Strider had an allergic reaction to the medication than negligence on the vet's part. If you were so concerned, you should have taken him back to the vet for observation, not just talked to the minimum wage receptionist.
Also, most vets put in a liability waiver in the consent to treat form that had to be signed before any treatment was performed.
I'm sorry, but you don't have a case, and even if you did, the statute of limitations has run out.
You possibly could have sued him in civil court for costs and pain & suffering, but it's been too long.
Sorry about your losses...

Answer 6

I am so sorry for your loss. I agree with several of the above answerers. I have heard of Heartgard used to treat heartworm, but it is definitely NOT recommended over traditional heartworm treatment. I don't think I've ever heard of surgery to treat it.

I can only speak from a receptionist's point of view, and I don't think your vet's receptionist had any business saying, "that's normal." If I were in the same situation, I would have had a doctor speak with your mom immediately. Whenever there is doubt about a pet's breathing, we advise our clients to bring their pet in now. No one can evaluate without a doubt whether or not the dog is in distress over the phone. I've taken numerous calls over the years and have advised the owner to bring the pet in. As soon as I hang up with the client, I call to the treatment area to let them know there is a dog coming in having problems breathing and the circumstances surrounding it, including how long it will take the client to get there. When the pet comes in, we are ready for them, including what they call the "crash kit." It saves a lot of time if the pet is indeed in an emergency situation.

Sometimes the visits are truly an emergency, sometimes not. All of our six doctors would give the same answer, "Bring him in so that we can examine him to make sure he's okay."

It sounds like the vet didn't communicate well with you on what "keep him calm" actually meant. It's too bad he doesn't have a instruction sheet to give to his clients when their pets are going through the treatment to explain it more throughly, especially what to expect and what to do at home.

I don't know about suing the vet, especially because of the time that has passed. You would have to contact a lawyer for that. You could try contacting the Department of Professional Regulations in your state and see if they can help. If your mom doesn't want to pursue anything legally, and if your vet isn't aware of ALL of the circumstances leading up to Strider's death, I would definitely put it in writing and let him know. At the very least you may save someone else the heartache you have suffered if they handle the next case of heartworm or any pet with breathing issues differently, including training their support staff properly.

Lastly, I do know that vet would never touch one of my animals ever again. Hopefully your mom will decide to switch vets soon. You'd hate to wait for an emergency and have to rely on someone you have no faith or trust in right now.

Answer 7

I'm really sorry for your loss. The vet should have given you COMPLETE instructions for Striders care. I think I would try a claim through small claims court. Before even doing this find another vet. Why would your mother want to take another dog to this vet IF you already don't like his services? The dog isn't just a dog..... It is a LIFE. Would your mother go to a doctor for herself if the Doc had a bad reputation? You start calling around and see if you can get another vet, or ask friends and family members for vets they may use. Good luck with the new addition to your family!!!

Answer 8

You could definately sue. Also Heartguard is to prevent new heartworms. However, if a dog has a very mild case and is young, you can simply continue with the heartworm preventative and eventually the heartworms the dog has will die. Our vet offered this as an option for one of my parents' dogs, and so that is what they did. The dog was actually older though, but he's still running full speed. They discovered the worms when he was about 10, and he's now 14 and the only problem he has is his gums are receeding and he's losing some teeth.

Answer 9

You actually should never give a dog that is infected with heartworms the heartguard medication. It can have terrible outcomes if you do. This is why vets always take a blood test BEFORE allowing a dog to start on the meds.

I would suggest you seek out a different vet for any future dogs you get, and keep them on heartguard year round from day one to prevent the infection of this in the future.

Answer 10

I am sorry about the loss of your doggie.

It is possible to sue, but it would be a stretch. The heartguard doesn't work all that well and it can take years to cure the dog of heartworms (but since your dog was barely positive it would of been okay to just put him on the Heartguard), and I would think that surgically removal is pretty drastic. It sounds like your dog was having complications of the heartworm treatment, but your vet should of recognized it and told you to bring him in.