Should I take vets to court??

eveie189

I would like some opinions please on whether or not I should take the vets I use to court and if I am being reasonable asking for the amount I am.

We had a kitten and as soon as she turned 6 months I took her to have her vaccinations and be spayed. The operation went fine and we took her home. A few days later (on a weekend) she pulled out her stitches and started pulling her intestines out. I phoned the emergency vets who said I would have to pay £60 as well as the cost of anyn treatment. I said ok and sent my husband through. By the time he got there she was a right mess and they said it would cost £370 to have the operation to fix her (at this point you are probably thinking I should have expected this but my last cat had a cesarean and that only cost £190). We couldn't afford this and they said the only other option would be to have her put down and this would cost £136 which we paid.
The next day I went to my vets only to be told that the emergency vet should not have attempted to charge us anything as THEY cover the costs which means my cat died for nothing. They have since sent us a letter confirming that this is their error and the cat shiould never have died. they have offered £236 which is £136 for what we paid and £100 FOR A NEW CAT. We are all traumatised by this escpeciall;y my daughter who saw the cat do this to herself and from the calls made on that night has figured out what has happened. I have said I feel we are entitled to £500 compensation and have refused their offer and I just wanted to know what others think. Am i being greedy? Do you think I would win if I took it to court. I just don't know but as I have pointed out in my letter to them I will now never own a cat again but if I wanted to get a dog it would cost much more than they are offering.

Any opinions would be grately appreciated
Thanks
Eveie

bungle4x4

I think your being greedy. By asking for more money you sound greedy as well.

DrScotsman

I don't know whether or not £500 is greedy, but I don't think you are being greedy asking for more.

This isn't the usual my-nan-pricked-her-finger-in-Tesco-how-do-I-get-£££s post, having a kitten that you've had for a few months (I assume?) die...I don't have any words for that.

I don't have much good advice to give you OP but I can tell you that I'm pretty sure a court would see you due an amount for the immense stress their negligence caused your family. To figure out that amount I suggest you get some googling done.

eveie189

Did you even read my post bungle4x4????
What makes you think it is greedy???

bungle4x4

It sounds to me that you want more money, as you think a dog costs more than a kitten. Simple as that really. Hence i think you sound greedy.

Sorry if you dont see my point, but honestly thats how i read your post.

They have apologised, admitted their mistake, and offered you a fair settlement, but you just want more. And i;d bet that if they offered you 500 quid in the first place, you'd want a grand

i have never, ever, paid anything other than a donation to the rescue society i have had a dog from.

cyberbob

£136 to put a cat down! That sounds incredibly expensive. Our last one we had to have put to sleep cost just over £30 that was 2 years ago

You may win but there is the chance you wouldn't it will put more stress on you. You need to decide if its worth it. Or whether to accept the apology and move on

Also they are not offering you compensation so you can get a dog. They are offering compensation for the situation that happened. So the fact that you want a dog isn't really relevant.

Personally I would probably take what they offered and get on with my life

Kirri

I would have found the money in whatever way, to pay the vet to keep the cat alive, sorry, just my view but pet ownership incurs some quite high costs that an owner should be prepared to pay as part of ownership, especially as it was unnecessary for this animal to die.. and did so for the sake of £234, which over the course of a pet's life really isn't a lot of money.

I wouldn't be asking for compensation when it wasn't the vet's fault the cat died after all...

Sorry, don't want to upset you further, but this is just my view.

Alcmene

I would have sold everything I owned to pay for treatment for any of my cats if there was a chance they could live.

bungle4x4

cyberbob wrote: »

£136 to put a cat down! That sounds incredibly expensive. Our last one we had to have put to sleep cost just over £30 that was 2 years ago

you may win but there is the chance you wouldn't it will put more stress on you. You need to decide if its worth it. Or whether to accept the apology and move on

it was a call out, costs a lot more mate.

I once ran over a black cat that crossed my path, and that cost just under a ton to have it put down, on call out obviously.

cyberbob

bungle4x4 wrote: »

it was a call out, costs a lot more mate.

Ahh never thought of that. Our vets when we have called them out (only ever done it a couple of times) we never really talk money as we just get billed at the end of the month. The call out fees are a lot cheaper than that. I guess we're lucky

cyberbob

Alcmene wrote: »

I would have sold everything I owned to pay for treatment for any of my cats if there was a chance they could live.

Me too....