Does a vet need permission to sedate your horse?

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Georgie2603

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Please can anyone help me?

My vet has sedated my horse without my permission and obviously now want paying for the priveledge! Are they allowed to do this?

Has anyone else encountered this problem?

Thanks.
 
I once needed my horses teeth rasped, as the vet was coming out to see to another livery she offered to look after him and have him seen to at the same time so we could half the call out fee. I'd only had him done once before but was very suprised when the livery called to say he had needed sedating. I've had him done once since and the vet who did him the third time (and first) was also suprised he'd needed sedating as he was a real sweetheart. Personally I think the second vet was a bit of a wimp (and the other livery probably made a bit of a fuss) and my usual vet thought maybe he was unsettled that I hadn't been there.

In my case I gave the vet permission to deal with the other livery and chose not to be there. I wasn't pleased but there wasn't exactly anything I could do about it, except ensure I'm there in the future.

I think it all depends on the circumstances...
 
Thanks for your replies.

I wasn't there but I had expressed a wish to be. However, vet failed to ring me to tell me he was at the yard. As it is a Riding School, he sought assistance from one of the staff and apparently my horse started misbehaving before vet even got near him!

Vet was there to do routine vac and have a LOOK at his teeth. I'd discussed a possible routine hand rasp at approximately £30. However, vet sedated him before any treatment began, gave his flu and tetanus vacc and performed a motorised rasp on his teeth and sent me a bill for nearly three times the amount I was expecting to pay!

All I had wanted was a phone call so I could meet the vet on sight and my pony may have been more settled with me around. Alternatively, I feel they should have at least rang and said your horse is misbehaving, can I sedate him? At which time, I would have gone to the yard to assess the situation and decided from there.

He has never had to be sedated before for any veterinary treatment or dentistry.
 
Im pretty sure that under the vet's code of conduct, the vet should seek to obtain the client's informed consent unless a delay would affect the health of the animal.

I think the vet should have at least attempted to call you and discuss the situation and I feel for this alone, you probably have grounds to make a complaint. In addition, I think that they should have discussed cost with you from the outset, especially as you wanted to pay less.

However, it does sounds as if there was a break down in communicaiton all round.

In my experience, this is all too common though for vets to behave in this way but we shouldn't just accept it.
 
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What does the staff member have to say? The vet may have presumed they were acting on your behalf (rightly or wrongly), I would guess that they would state that they dealt with a staff member who ok'd it. I also imagine vets routinely deal with riding school staff in the absence of owners.
 
Sedation seems so very common now, just another expence in so many cases..... we twitch if necessary, but some of the young vets are getting a tad sticky about this.... but it is free.
 
You are obviously unhappy about the situation. If it was me, then I would ask to speak to the vet in person to discuss what had happened and agree how to avoid any misunderstanding in future. No point brooding on it feeling unhappy with the situation - best to clear the air and rebuild a good relationship with the vet I would think.

Worth learning from it though, and when you "expressed a wish" to be present, were you actually clear that you HAD to be there? If not, then maybe the vet thought it would be best to proceed there and then rather than charge you for an aborted visit and a subsequent one to actually do the job? Who knows? I'd just ask and get it cleared up.

Sedation - well again, I'd choose to be there and make the decision, but in all honesty if the vet said he only felt happy proceeding with the horse sedated then I would agree rather than turn him away and pay for an aborted visit.

I suppose I'd want to know why the vet chose to powertool your horse rather than rasp. Was the sedation needed in order for your horse to tolerate the power tool, or was your horse bothered before the powertool was produced? Worth knowing this so that you know how to approach the next dental checkup, and whether to expect to have to sedate or not.

If the vet opted to sedate purely because he opted for powertooling rather than the rasping that you had asked for (again, how clear were you over this?) then maybe there's a case for not paying for the sedation?

But there are so many if's and buts, so personally whatever the actual position over "permission", I'd be looking to keep the vet onside but avoid any confusion in future.

Chances are if you discuss it reasonably the vet will remember next time that you're one of those owners who really does want to be present, and really does want to discuss options at the time.

I suppose also it'll be helpful to clarify the position with staff at the yard too, but I'd guess they too were only trying to be helpful?

Good luck resolving it all. Hope your hoss's teeth are sparkling!!

Sarah
 
I would certainly expect a vet to ask before sedating unless he knew me and the horse well and we had previously talked about such things. I used to be very relaxed about sedation but now have to avoid doing it unless necessary. My horse now reacts to all available sedatives with a pretty full-on hives reaction (she never used to but has developed it in turn to each sedative we've tried in turn) and reactions can get worse so I consider that she has a finite number of sedations left before we get some more extreme kind of reaction. At the moment it's easily knocked on the head with a steroid shot as she comes round, but you don't want to be double medicating just for the sake of it.
 
SirBrastias said:
What does the staff member have to say? The vet may have presumed they were acting on your behalf (rightly or wrongly), I would guess that they would state that they dealt with a staff member who ok'd it. I also imagine vets routinely deal with riding school staff in the absence of owners.
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this

and i really do feel that if you as an owner want to be present when a vet works with your horse then its up to you to be at the yard waiting not up to the vet to call you on arrival. we all wait in for deliveries or people to work on stuff in our homes why do people not think we should be waiting for our vet?
 
Sounds like a staff member of the riding school was dealing with the visit as there was no owner present and presumably did not object to sedation or mention that you should be rang if issues arrise.....so how was the vet to know that you did not want them to do a proper dental and sedate if required? Its not at all uncommon to sedate for a dental if the horse is being.. spirited. Especially when using power tools.
Sedating a horse before using tools that can cause serious damage to the mouth if they act up is a good idea.... you said you wanted them to do a dental check and indicated that sharp edges should be dealt with presumably... the vet did just that...

You were not there?Why not?Were you not given a rough appointment time? how long did you expect the vet to wait for your arrival? Unless you had specifically said to ring x amount before coming to the yard so I can be there I think you are being unreasonable to expect a vet to wait for you before proceeding with a routine visit if they had suitable help.

However that said...talk to your vet let them know there has been a misunderstanding and make it clear to them that you would like to be there if possible/would like a ring enroute or something in order to be there and let them know you are on a budget and need estimates etc before work is carried out....

But pay your bill. Vets are not mind readers and you sound like you are being a little unreasonable....you horse was vaccinated as requested and had a dental check and dental issues dealt with...which going by your earlier post was also requested!when you say look in mouth and rasp down edges vets tend to do just that......or am i missing something?
 
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