Looking for advice & thoughts on my veterinary surgery - Neglect

vicx

Hi all,

I am hoping some of you here will be able to offer me some help/advice regarding my Veterinary Surgery which I believe neglected my poorly little boy last week.

Some of you may have already seen my previous thread which I posted last week when I had to make that awful decision (we all fear).
For those of you that missed my thread I will explain what happened.

My Yorkshire Terrier had a heart murmur and he coughed occasionally (over the past two year) - usually when he got excited, barking and exercising. His cough didn't really bother him as he was able to keep it under control without any medication.

Around 7 year ago my dog had to undergo an operation to remove all his teeth. When we picked him up from the surgery at the end of the day, the vet told us he had left 8 teeth in but he had cleaned the remaining teeth. (His four fangs and four back molars, top and bottom). I was a bit upset as these were the main teeth which were causing him problems but I didn't want to put my dog through that operation again. I'll never forget that day, I cried from dropping him off at the vet (first thing on the morning) until I picked him up again at 5.00pm. I never complained to the vet about leaving those teeth in as I was just so relieved that he had pulled round after the anesthetic and I was able to bring him back home.

Over the past few year my dog had shown signs of toothache every few months (pawing at his face and ear). Each time these symptoms occured we took him straight to the vet and he was prescribed pain killers which seemed to work. The vet wanted us to put him back through that operation and have the remaining teeth removed when they should have been removed the first time round. We declined for two reasons, his age (13 - 14) and because he had a loud heart murmur. The vet did say it was risky yet he still wanted us to do it. I didn't want to risk losing my dog under anesthetic unless it was a life or death situation.

When we have took him to the vet for his pain killers, the vet would prescribe a 2 week course then my dog seemed fine for around 3 month - sometimes longer.

Last year when we went to the vet for his pain killers, the vet listened to his heart and he advised us to put him on vetmedin & frusemide as his heart murmur was 'quite loud'.
I am familiar with these tablets as my sisters dog is on this medication. (Well she is more or less my dog as I took her on when she was 1 year old and she's lived with me since, she is around 9 or 10 years old now. She is under a different veterinary surgery as I kept her under the same one my sister used to take her to from being a pup).

We agreed to put my Yorkshire Terrier on the heart medication and have him checked over in another two weeks to see if there was any change in him. When we took him back, we seen a different veterinary nurse - not the usual veterinary surgery owner. The veterinary nurse asked if there was any change in him, if it had helped with his cough etc. There was no change in him at all and he even said himself that it would probably be pointless to carry on with the medication. I asked if there was any fluid on his lungs. He said 'no, they sound clear', so I have no idea why the surgery owner prescribed frusemide and tell us he would be on it for the rest of his life. To me he's just in this business for the money.

Now I'll fast foward to last monday. My dog was having coughing/choking fits which were constant and very loud/harsh so I phoned his usual vet who said they are fully booked and to ring their other surgery. (The surgery I usually go to is only a small place with only one veterinary nurse on. They do have a bigger surgery 5 mile away which is where they do the operations). I phoned their other surgery and got an appointment booked for 4pm.

When I took him to the vet, he was in so much distress and constantly coughing. I honestly thought I wasn't going to bring him home but the nurse looked on his records and said she would prescribe the heart medication for 2 weeks and to have him checked over again. I asked to pay for only one weeks medication and see how he was over the next few days as I knew myself that he was in too much distress and nearing the end but I didn't want to believe this without a qualified vet telling me it herself. Throughout his appointment he was constantly choking/coughing very loud and in alot of distress. I took him back out to the car and someone even said to my mother 'is that your dog, have they really let you take him out like that'.

He seemed to settle down in the car and when we got home but his cough was very loud and harsh to his usual cough and it would go on too long. Within 2 hours he took a turn for the worse, constantly coughing/choking and gasping for breath. As it was out of hours I had to rush him through to the emergency surgery around 30 miles away. He was very distressed, wouldnt sit still or let me hold him, he just didnt know where he wanted to be. I had all the windows down for him to get some fresh air into him but half way there his tongue turned blue with lack of oxygen. Then 10 minutes before we arrived his tongue was black and it sounded like he was choking for breath. I thought he was going to pass away but his tongue turned alot pinker and he was fighing back.

When we arrived at the surgery, the nurse noticed he was off colour and in distress so she took him through to be put on oxygen and check him over. We were then called into another room to discuss what was happening. She explained that my dog had Trachea Collapse (windpipe) and that has been the cause of his coughing, getting worse over time and finally reaching the servere stage. There is no cure for this awful condition so we had to make the awful decision of letting him go. We went in to say our goodbye, kissed and cuddled him until his last breath. It was heartbreaking, he was a big past of my life for 14 years and 9 months so I'll never get over the loss of him.

I now want to approach my vet as I was never told about Trachea Collapse which is a common problem in small dogs. He's knew all along that the problem was not treatable but has wanted to make money from heart medication which wouldn't have helped.

When I took him for his appointment at 4pm last monday, my dog should have been put on oxygen or we should have been told he was dying and that it was best that he should be put to sleep but they prolonged his suffering. It's killing me the way he had to suffer, I can't get over it.

I've been doing a lot of research on Trachea Collapse and seen how common it is. Another thing that hurts me is that a dog with trachea collapse should wear a harness instead of a collar but as I was never aware of this condition I couldn't do what was best. (I was always told it was his heart murmur causing him to cough). He did pull a lot on the lead and sound like he was choking even with a loose collar but I thought it was because he got over excited. I would always stop to let him settle down a bit or let him off the lead.

This vet clearly should not be in business and I feel I should make a complaint but unsure how I should go about it. I strongly believe they neglected my dog several times and prolonged his suffering.

Can I please have your thoughts and advice to help me on my next step.

Thanks in advance and I'm sorry for the long post - I just feel I needed to include all of this information as it is relevant to this matter.

Tropez

I'm sorry for your loss.

If you wish to make a complaint about a vet, then you need to contact the RCVS - http://www.rcvs.org.uk/complaints/. You should be aware though that if you're making serious allegations about negligence and the unnecessary prescribing of medications you're going to need an unbiased party to agree with that assessment. You will also have to comb through every little detail about all of your dog's vet visits over the years and be prepared for a long process that may come to nothing.

The RCVS can only act in some circumstances and the initial step should be to contact the veterinary surgery in question and lodge a complaint with them.

elsien

I'm sorry to hear about your poor little dog.
I'm a little bit confused though - I may be reading your post wrong, but it reads to me as if you were seeing a vetinary nurse rather than the vet? I didn't think they were allowed to prescribe medication themselves.
At what points was he actually seen by the vet rather than the nurse?

cjmumto2

I am so sorry too, and as far as I know a nurse cannot prescribe medication. I do thing they were neglectful but I dont think you are going to be able to prove this unfortunatley. At your appointment did you actually see a vet it sounds like you saw a nurse who did not even check him over? If not you may have something there. If not I would just accept that he had a good loving home with you and it was not your fault. It is not worth the pain and heartache which may take months.

Try to remember the good times.

I would still make a complaint as if they did know the trachea had collapsed you really should have been informed and they need to learn from their mistakes so that no other animal goes through it and also it will be on record if any other complaints come up.

vicx

Thank you for the replies and helpfull website link.

The veterinary surgery owner works between his small surgery and his other surgery where he operates, as do the staff which he employs. There would only be one veterinary nurse working in his small surgery at one time but it was mostly the owner the times we went.

I would have thought all his staff would be fully qualified to prescirbe medications and give professional help/advice. I am not sure if the girl we seen last monday was a qualified nurse or surgeon. I am guessing nurse as she didn't seem to be able to offer the best advice/help for my poorly dog. She just looked at his records from last year and prescribed the same medication. I think she must have knew he was dying or just didn't know what to do in this situation and never asked for the help of another professional.

I have never been told about Trachea Collapse. The veterinary surgery owner (who has been in this business for 25+ year) must have known about this condition as it is very common but he failed to tell me, as did his staff. They just put the cough down to his heart murmur when it was his upper airways that have been causing the problem all along. The first time I had heard of trachea collapse was exactly one week ago today when we had to rush him to the emergency surgery.

The surgery owner prescribed frusemide which is a diuretic tablet that is used to eliminate water from the body. According to one of his other staff that we seen last year, my dog didn't have fluid on his lungs so there was no need to continue on this medication. The surgery owner has clearly known what the cause of my dogs cough was (how could he not when it is so common?!) but he has wanted to make money from medication which would not help.

elsien

I think the first thing you need to do is talk to the practice and clarify exactly who saw him, what their qualifications were, what they did and why.
It's obviously a very upsetting time for you, but you really need to get things clear in your own head before you head down any complaints routes, as it will be easier to make a case if you're a bit clearer on the details.

From previous experience, frusemide is a diuretic that can be given for several conditions, not specifically for water in the lungs. It's not easy to work out why a dog is coughing - mine has a similar problem - the only way to really find out what is happening in her case is to do the camera down the throat, which isn't justified putting her under anaethetic for at the moment. It's easy enough to say trachea collapse after the event, but I think that saying your vet must have known because it's a common condition and he was trying to make money from you is possibly being a little unfair on your vet.
You may have cause for complaint or you may not, but give yourself time to grieve and think things through before you go rushing in with accusations. Even if you're right and the practice was at fault, you need to set out the facts and try to keep emotion out of it if you can, or any complaint may not be taken as seriously as you would like.

snowman2_2

You need to speak to the vet and find out what happened as there seem to be a number of inconsistencies. Firstly, most vets would not remove healthy teeth, especially canines and the larger molars. It would have been very easy to break your dog's jaw trying to remove them so I agree with your vet on that one - remove only the damaged / diseases teeth, leave the healthy ones.

Tracheal collapse is common in Yorkies but would not cause a heart murmur. It is likely that both vets were correct, an underlying heart problem with tracheal collapse developing later which unfortunately was too much for your dog to cope with. It sounds like the main problem is communication - speak to your vet and ask for an explanation.

Elle7

I'm really sorry about your loss.
Did you opt for a heart scan at any stage? I know these are usually offered, but because they are expensive and heart conditions usually show symptoms (such as the cough) they are not necessary. If you didn't, it's possible the vet honestly thought your dog was suffering from a heart condition. The symptoms sound very, very similar, especially if your dog had a murmur.

Was the Tracheal Collapse a separate condition? A lot of dogs with heart conditions don't die of heart failure, but a secondary condition.

I think you should meet with your vet and discuss the conditions and prescribed treatments. Then you'll know whether you still think there was an element of neglect involved, or if it was just bad communication, which it sounds like. Don't get me wrong, though, I think it's vitally important communication is good in these circumstances, as you only have the vet's expert advice to go off and make decisions. I'd probably complain about the communication anyway.

undaunted

Once again I'm sorry to read of your loss, pain & worries. If I recall your last post correctly however you had happily used this vet for many years, now apparently continuing to do so despite now seemingly blaming him for not taking more teeth out 7 years ago?

Without wishing to sound harsh I therefore have to ask why do you therefore automatically assume the emergency vet to be right & your trusted vet wrong? Could it be that your feelings over the loss of your boy are biasing your opinions?

As has already been said above if you wish to make allegations of negligence & inappropriate treatments you need independant evidence to support that or you will be unlikely to get anywhere with your complaint.

Are you sure that trachea collapse is untreatable? I think you'll find that medication assists many dogs & surgery is possible for those that didn't. Any innacurate statements could also cause your complaints to be taken "less seriously" / attributed to grief I suspect.

Perhaps a call to the Blue Cross pet bereavement service may help you think & talk through your feelings & the merits of pursuing such a complaint?

jumpedtheshark

undaunted wrote: »

Once again I'm sorry to read of your loss, pain & worries. If I recall your last post correctly however you had happily used this vet for many years, now apparently continuing to do so despite now seemingly blaming him for not taking more teeth out 7 years ago?

Without wishing to sound harsh I therefore have to ask why do you therefore automatically assume the emergency vet to be right & your trusted vet wrong? Could it be that your feelings over the loss of your boy are biasing your opinions?

I'm not the OP, but wanted to respond on this point. I know that my own vet has been negligent, and yet I continue to use them. Why? I don't have a car, there is very little choice in my town and it's a case of 'better the devil you know.' Now that I know a lot about my own dog's ongoing medical condition, I "manage" my vet by simply having them run the blood tests, me suggesting any adjustments to medication, and them agreeing (because they don't really care). When a more serious issue arises, I rent a car for the day and get a referral to a vet hospital.

When I can afford to buy a car, I will move my dog's care elsewhere, and I will tell my vets exactly why - in writing, with a formal complaint to the RCVS, documenting my concerns over the years.

Tiddlywinks

I'm so sorry to hear that you have lost the dog you loved - no matter how it happens (even natural causes at a ripe old age) it is always hard and you will always have questions about why and how and whether you or anyone else could have done things differently.

How about contacting your vet and making an appointment - say that you just need to get things clear about what caused his death. Take a pen and notepad and write down what he says; take a friend for support (and who can recall what he says if necessary).

At the end of the apointment casually say 'oh by the way can I just have a print out of your records about my boy?' - it'll be tough for him to say no as you are there in front of him. Go home, consider what he says and what the records say and then decide if you think he was negligent.

I hope you find peace over this. Remember, no matter what, YOU did your best for your boy - your vet's actions were beyond your control.