Veterinary malpractice

Ruby_Moon

It is always horrible to lose a pet and more so if it could have been avoided. However, I am positive that the Vet is also as gutted as you are and would love to be able to turn the clock back, though mistakes do happen in life and cannot be altered.
Would it really do any good to sue the vet? It wouldn't bring your dear cat back.
A complaint would be enough, and of course do not pay for the operation.

MrsTinks

I think it's probably a little more complex than just forgetting to give the reversal drug - as said already usually the animal will come round itself depending on what anaestetic has been used... respiratory arrest can and does happen for unknown reasons which is why any operation carries a risk. I'm not saying the vet wasn't at fault here, just that if you want to lodge a complaint you need to try and get something in writing from them first...

Morganarla

If you signed a consent form before the operation that (should have) clearly stated that any anae comes with a risk, including a risk of death, you may find yourself in a bit of a tricky situation.

welshmoneylover

That's dreadful. Sorry to hear about the cat x

alenax

patchwork_cat wrote: »

That is appalling. I am surprised though that they admitted error, every anaesthetic carries a risk and I would have thought that a simple terribly sorry, but your cat died under anaethetic would have been a more common response.

You didn't pay for the operation did you? The thing is would compensation bring your cat back? I would complain to the RCVS, though.

We didn't pay for the operation, and I'm not even after compensation, I just really think they should be sanctioned. I'm not sure 100% exactly what happened as I don't live with my parents and my mum still finds it a bit hard to talk about it (it happened 3 days ago) but she did say they admitted they "forgot" to do something. I'll have to quiz her more on it when she's recovered a bit but just wanted to know what the options are if they are indeed liable.

MrsTinks

Looking at your first post the main thing it looks like they forgot was to phone your mum to tell her the bad news! Every operation my furs have had have been completed with an update call by the operating vet once they were out of surgery... Could your mum have been upset enough to get muddled if they said "We're sorry we forgot to call you when he didn't come round from the aneastetic"? It would certainly be an understandable thing to muddle up if you've just been told your beloved pet has passed away...

alenax

MrsTine wrote: »

Looking at your first post the main thing it looks like they forgot was to phone your mum to tell her the bad news! Every operation my furs have had have been completed with an update call by the operating vet once they were out of surgery... Could your mum have been upset enough to get muddled if they said "We're sorry we forgot to call you when he didn't come round from the aneastetic"? It would certainly be an understandable thing to muddle up if you've just been told your beloved pet has passed away...

No, it definitely wasn't that, apparently during the op they put some sort of sponge or something into the cat's mouth so it can breathe properly, which is what they forgot to do.

She's also suspicious about the fact that they sent him off to be cremated before they had a chance to say goodbye/to figure out whether they wanted him cremated or not.

edit: They did call, or she called them, I just didn't mention it in the post because I didn't think it was a necessary detail to include. There were phone calls.

[Deleted User]

If it was deffo the vets fault, I'd be kicking him down the road...

foreign_correspondent

alenax wrote: »

She's also suspicious about the fact that they sent him off to be cremated before they had a chance to say goodbye/to figure out whether they wanted him cremated or not.

oh, that was very insensitive of them - when my last dog died, I really felt a need to see her body - I don't know why, I have never felt the need to see any of my relatives after they have died, but my dog I did...

As you say, at best it is insensitive, but at worst, it is suspicious - how have they explained this decision?

alenax

foreign_correspondent wrote: »

oh, that was very insensitive of them - when my last dog died, I really felt a need to see her body - I don't know why, I have never felt the need to see any of my relatives after they have died, but my dog I did...

As you say, at best it is insensitive, but at worst, it is suspicious - how have they explained this decision?

I totally agree, like I say, if it was a person and a "human" doctor we were dealing with, people would be screaming blue murder.

I'm not sure how they explained it, my mum is going to call up and ask them for a written explanation of everything that happened and then lodge a complaint with the RCVS. Do you think there will be any difficulties with getting the written explanation from them?