getting answers

lurcher98

lurcher98

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For those who dont know i recently lost my girl . I know it wont bring her back but i feel i need to speak to my vets about it all. We started off with a kennel cough diagnosis, then lungworm and after 3 weeks eventually found out it was her heart.
I just feel she was let down. The thing that is really playing on my mind though is something the last vet we saw said. After the ultrasound, the vet turned to me and said "its a shame she's not insured or else we could send her to a specialist".
Why should insurance make a difference? would she have been sent there sooner if her records had shown she was insured?
Even if she hadnt been id have put myself into debt if it fixed her!
So how do i go about getting answers? Do i speak to the vets or go straight to the practice manager? where do i go now? do i speak to the specialist first or my own vets?
 
I think you need to speak to the vet who said it was a shame you didnt see a specialist.Write down all the questions you want to ask and wait until you feel emotionally stronger before you ask. I too felt exactly the same as you when I had my dog put down and was not happy with the answers I received. I changed vets straight away and now my dogs are with a large teaching vet hospital with state of the art facilities and top specialists on tap.

It is natural to feel you have let your dog down but if anyone let your dog down it would be the vet that made that call. You have nothing to blame yourself for and took your dog to the vet the minute you knew you had a problem.
 
I think vets assume people do not have the type of cash a specialist would require. Shame her heart problem was not found sooner..... hope your vet manages to put your mind at rest.
 
lurcher98 said:
I'd like to give my vets a chance first, I have been with them 20 odd years and until now have been very happy with them
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I think you are wise to do this but as I said wait until you are emotionally stronger. There is no doubt CM is a killer and is quite common in my breed. There is a lot of work going on into this and they think they may have identified the gene, of course this is no help to dogs that have it but they have targeted specific drugs for treatment.

Let us know how you get on, Im sure your vets did the very best they could and were dealing with a problem which almost always never has a good outcome.
 
I would take time and think about what exactly do you want to get out of having spoken to your vets.
Do you want to know what they did and why?..... or to find someone to blame for your dogs death? I know its not a nice question to ask and im sorry to ask it but its one you need to consider...you are grieving for a lovely young dog who was lost very suddenly and that has to have been a horrible shock. Blame is part of the grieving process and is perfectly normal and understandable. Its normal to be angry as well.

But will speaking to your vets now without knowing what you want from such a meeting while you are still dealing with the raw loss may not provide closure or may damage a 20 year long relationship.

If I were you I would write a letter of how you feel now and all your concerns. Keep it for 2/3 weeks and then reread it. If you still agree with all your concerns on rereading then arrange to speak to the practice manager/vet in charge of your case....time allows for more perspective and will let you know exactly what you want to know/express to them better.If needs be then write down again what you feel it is you would like to talk with then then having given yourself time to think.
You and your vet may get more out of the meeting if you know what it is exactly you want and need to know.

Im sure your vet/manager will be happy to talk to you and explain what happened as best they can. You have been a client for 20 years if they do not appreciate they need to speak to you when you have lost a dog so unexpectedly then they need their heads checked.

If you feel that you should have been offered a specialist opinion earlier then I would make a point of telling then that. It may make them think that for the next unusual case they come across and save another dogs life by offering referral quicker.


P.s I will say I am bias here as I am a vet, but I thought I would give my opinion as I can see it from both sides of the issue.

Also I didn't get a chance to write it on your other thread but I am sorry for you loss. RIP to your Spaniel. She sounded like a lovely dog who will be much missed.
 
Im not looking to blame anyone, i know i let her down by trusting them. I know her conditon was never going to have a good outcome. But (and this is where the what ifs start) if her condition had been diagnosed sooner instead of misdiagnosed she'd have been at home, not in some strange kennel surrounded by strangers. I dont see how i can ever rebuild my confidence in them after this.
The first vet we saw commented on her racing heart, the murmur was a longstanding condition. Her heart was irregular and beating at 240 bpm ( im told normal is 60-80) yet they missed it. The second vet we saw a week later told me her lungs were crackly and again commented on her racing heart, then sent us away with more antibiotics (this is the same vet who then a week later said it may be lungworm).
All i want from them is for someone to explain why no one did anything about it, why the heart didnt ring alarm bells for them, why them thinking she wasnt insured meant a damn.When i phoned them ,2 days before she died, about her gums being pale(almost white at times) i was made to feel neurotic.
 
I would be looking for answers in your position as well, there is absolutely no harm in asking and if the answers help put your mind at rest that would be a good outcome and give you closure.
 
Were you insured? If so I am a bit surprised that a dog with a known murmur was not booked to a cardiologist for ECG and Colour Doppler,if only to find out if the known condition had accelerated as they usually do.Lungs would sound crackley if the heart was not working well,as there would be a fluid build up.
Difficult to say if they were a bit deficient or not on the ball,each is an individual case.Guess I am lucky to have the know how as to what procedures are normal for conditions,think I would talk to them and sort it out in your mind. Unless there is gross ineptitude/neglegence /drunk vet or you were assaulted the complaint department is`nt much of an option!And every vet is obviously insured against complaints.
I have had far worse and distressing things happen to me but complaining got me nowhere,although eventually that vet was struck off for other complaints.Find a good one who you trust and cling like a limpet.
 
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