Is my vet in the wrong

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evilmavis

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My colt was castrated yesterday, first of all the vet checked him over to see if his testicles has dropped, he could feel one really well and he thought he could just about feel the other one, so he sliced him open, got the first testicle out and then set about doing the other one, now the vet decided that he couldn't find it, that its not dropped properly! He then called for another vet to come here and help him knock my boy out completely and put him on his back, well they both couldn't find the testicle - there is so much blood it looks like someone has been killed in the stable. The vet then rang me about 3pm to ask how he was doing and to see if it was still bleeding - which it was - so he came straight back out again, he was here within 20 minutes, checked him over, gave him a acp injection so he doesn't run around and split the wound even more. He then said that they will come back out again in the morning to check him....

They haven't charged me for the castration as they have only done half a job plus they are not charging for the 2nd visit yesterday and the visit today and he also said they will come back out in 6 weeks to see if his testicle has dropped and do another castration free of charge! I personally think they have made a mistake and they shouldnt of started the procedure if they could not feel both testicles properly and thats why they are now doing everything free.

So my question to you guys is: Do you think they have made a mistake and are trying to cover it up by doing everything free of charge or just bad luck??
 
I'm no vet but I think they probably did make a mistake.

That said they are not trying to cover it up, they are trying to sort it out. Big difference.

Everyone makes mistakes, but those who are good enough to sort them out and not charge the customer are few and far between.

If I was you I would be grateful for a vet who accepts responsibility, asks for help and does everything they can to put things right.

I think most of us have had experience of vets who dont take responsibility and the customer ends up paying for the lot, I certainly have.
 
I think that they have made a mistake. The first vet made a judgement call, which tbf, is what has to happen every time a colt is castrated. Now they are trying to put that right, as far as possible. I don't think that many vets would have done anywhere near as much for free. I don't think that they are trying to 'cover it up' but that they are giving you a very good service.

IMO, the mistake was made by the first vet who should really have called for a 2nd opinion when he wasn't sure if he could feel both testicles, or decided to wait.

Best wishes to you and your colt.
 
rockysmum said:
I'm no vet but I think they probably did make a mistake.

That said they are not trying to cover it up, they are trying to sort it out. Big difference.

Everyone makes mistakes, but those who are good enough to sort them out and not charge the customer are few and far between.

If I was you I would be grateful for a vet who accepts responsibility, asks for help and does everything they can to put things right.

I think most of us have had experience of vets who dont take responsibility and the customer ends up paying for the lot, I certainly have.
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THis sounds about right from what I think too ^

Doesn't sound like they are hiding anything - and yes, mistakes can happen.
At least they are being very pro-active in resolving this for you.
Hope your fuzzy is less sore this morning

:)
 
Everyone makes mistakes, but those who are good enough to sort them out and not charge the customer are few and far between.

If I was you I would be grateful for a vet who accepts responsibility, asks for help and does everything they can to put things right

:)


g.gif
 
They made a mistake. They are not covering it up, doing the work for free is practically an admission of guilt if you were in a court. That's why so many professionals don't do the follow up work for free, because it shows they know it's their fault.

I'm sorry for the stress for you and your colt, but I think you are lucky that you are not having to fight them over this. I hope they get the second one out easily next time and all is well in the end.

It was damned bad luck for all of you, I'll bet the vet feels like **** about it.
 
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Yes I agree with everyone above. I'd say you have a good veterinary practice who actually have morals and are willing to foot the cost of things when they go wrong which unfortunately isn't always the case and can mean going to court to get them to admit guilt which can be hard. Yes, they messed up but they're doing everything in their power to make sure your little boy is comfortable. Good luck
 
Thank you for all your replies, i am very grateful to them for trying to fix the situation especially free of charge. It is the first time i have used these vets and they did come highly recommended. The first vet that came out does feel really bad and couldn't stop apologizing, i did tell him not to worry as these things happen! He is also new to the vets but does have many years experience so i trusted his judgement.

My little boy does seem to be a bit better this morning, he is now up and eating hay at least (although he did have me up every 2 hours in the night because he was calling out - the monster)

They said i can wait another year to see if the other one drops as he is only 8 months old or i can take him to horsey hospital for an operation - think i will wait a bit before taking him to hospital.
 
I agree with the above posters that you should appreciate the decency of your vets to put things right. I seem to remember when we had Breeze castrated at 6 months that our vet said it is possible for one to pop back in and then be difficult to retrieve, I know he got hold of them both and wouldn't let go until the job was done with both. It could be that he could feel it, cut the first one, by which time the other had pulled back up into the body and wasn't coming out for anyone (and who can blame it!!). I think it is admirable that they are willing to correct it at their own expense because, of course, now they have said that, they cannot really back out and if it doesn't drop and needs surgery to retrieve it then it would have cost a fortune.
 
Have to agree with everyone else. I'm a clinical vet student and making mistakes is something that fills me with dread!!

Sounds like vet had to make a call........and made the wrong one!! They are doing their best to resolve the situation which sounds very reasonable.

FWIW I think YOU are being very reasonable too :) It is hard for me coming on here and seeing 'my idiot vet has buggered it up' or posts along those lines when, in reality, we are all human!

Hope everything resolves ok and you manage to get that elusive ball out! :D
 
Just to add though - if the 2nd testicle doesn't descend I think it's unlikely your vet will pay the costs for a GA castrate at a hospital. Regardless of what happened with the initial castrate it is not their fault that the 2nd testicle hasn't dropped ( only that they didn't assess it to be so) and as a result of the vets not charging fr the initial castrate you are no worse off financially than before this started. If the first vet had said he couldn't feel the 2nd testicle and there was no change over the next 12 months you would have to send him to hospital to be operated on anyway. Interesting to see what will happen but I'm just warning you I case u get a shock if he does need to go to hospital.
 
rockysmum said:
I'm no vet but I think they probably did make a mistake.

That said they are not trying to cover it up, they are trying to sort it out. Big difference.

Everyone makes mistakes, but those who are good enough to sort them out and not charge the customer are few and far between.

If I was you I would be grateful for a vet who accepts responsibility, asks for help and does everything they can to put things right.

I think most of us have had experience of vets who dont take responsibility and the customer ends up paying for the lot, I certainly have.
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Very well said and I couldn't agree more. Apart from the last bit. My vets have always been amazing but I have just got lucky.

OP if I were you I'd be glad my vet cared as much as they do :)
 
It was a mistake and they are doing everything to put it right. I have no experience with the castration of horses but I breed dogs and I do know that in youngster the testicles can be a bit like yo-yos. They can be there for a day or two and then go awol. The testes disappear easily when it is cold and sometimes just warming the area (!!) is enough to bring the erant ball down. I should think your boy has one that is still 'floating' and is hiding just above the inguinal ring. It may well have been in the scrotum when the vet first felt but disappeared when the horse tenses up as the procedure was started. Hope he is doing well.
 
rockysmum said:
I'm no vet but I think they probably did make a mistake.

That said they are not trying to cover it up, they are trying to sort it out. Big difference.

Everyone makes mistakes, but those who are good enough to sort them out and not charge the customer are few and far between.

If I was you I would be grateful for a vet who accepts responsibility, asks for help and does everything they can to put things right.

I think most of us have had experience of vets who dont take responsibility and the customer ends up paying for the lot, I certainly have.
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This ^^ exactly :)
 
Sounds to me they have made a mistake
, my friends colt was booked in for a castration , vet came out , felt around said balls wasn't dropped enough (could fill it but just ) and refused to castrate , so
all in all yes they have done a balls up , if he could only feel it he should of told you to make another appointment later on
 
Sounds like he did misjudge the situation somewhat, but stick with him. Normally you'd get nowhere near this 'compensation' if you like, most vet's would deny everything and charge you even more. Sounds like a decent vet who is very helpful and caring :)

I would probably be annoyed/concerned initially, but you have to take into account the effort he is making to put it right, kudos to him :)
 
Vets are only human.
Yes he probably made a mistake, we all do.
Thought he could feel it but then couldn't.

He is doing his best for you and your horse.
Doing all the right checks and not charging you.
I think you have nothing to complain about.

It would be another story if hadn't got a second opinion or he was trying to charge you.
 
Dolcé;10425127 said:
I agree with the above posters that you should appreciate the decency of your vets to put things right. I seem to remember when we had Breeze castrated at 6 months that our vet said it is possible for one to pop back in and then be difficult to retrieve, I know he got hold of them both and wouldn't let go until the job was done with both. It could be that he could feel it, cut the first one, by which time the other had pulled back up into the body and wasn't coming out for anyone (and who can blame it!!). I think it is admirable that they are willing to correct it at their own expense because, of course, now they have said that, they cannot really back out and if it doesn't drop and needs surgery to retrieve it then it would have cost a fortune.
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i agree with this and remember very clearly having our colt done at 8 months and him drawing one ball back in !! Lady vet luckily had small hands and got right in there and pulled the blighter out eventually but it was getting close to having to give up and go for a hospital job, and as much as i trust my vets i doubt very much they would have offered any of the treatment for free!!
Just to add, as there was a lot of rummaging around to get the second one the poor chap did swell considerably the first few days but it soon returned to normal;)
 
the 2nd testicle is probably high up in the inguinal canal, when this happens we usually send them to horspital for surgery, however they are trying to solve the problem and at least didnt starting butchering him looking for the other testicle, so let the first castration heal and hopefully the 2nd testicle will drop in a few weeks and they can complete the job. failing that if it doesnt drop then you would need to send him to horspital to get the job done completely otherwise you will be left with a rig.
 
Yes this was bad practice. He made two obvious mistakes. He should not have started slicing until he had located both testicles and he should not have taken out the one testicle. However what's done is done and they are trying to make up for their mistake now and that vet has learned a valuable lesson for the future.
 
MontyandZoom said:
Have to agree with everyone else. I'm a clinical vet student and making mistakes is something that fills me with dread!!

Sounds like vet had to make a call........and made the wrong one!! They are doing their best to resolve the situation which sounds very reasonable.

FWIW I think YOU are being very reasonable too :) It is hard for me coming on here and seeing 'my idiot vet has buggered it up' or posts along those lines when, in reality, we are all human!

Hope everything resolves ok and you manage to get that elusive ball out! :D
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Agree with this. Sounds like both sides are being as reasonable and sensible as possible - can only be a good thing for the horse and future relationship of client and vet.
 
rockysmum said:
I'm no vet but I think they probably did make a mistake.

That said they are not trying to cover it up, they are trying to sort it out. Big difference.

Everyone makes mistakes, but those who are good enough to sort them out and not charge the customer are few and far between.

If I was you I would be grateful for a vet who accepts responsibility, asks for help and does everything they can to put things right.

I think most of us have had experience of vets who dont take responsibility and the customer ends up paying for the lot, I certainly have.
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Could not have put it better myself /\
 
The colt can't be certified as castrated unless the vet can sign a thing (as in passports of horses who had a stallion certificate) saying "I have removed both testicles and length of spermatic cord). I'm pretty sure the vet should not attempt to open the horse up to castrate unless they can feel both testicles in the scrotum.
 
rockysmum said:
I'm no vet but I think they probably did make a mistake.

That said they are not trying to cover it up, they are trying to sort it out. Big difference.

Everyone makes mistakes, but those who are good enough to sort them out and not charge the customer are few and far between.

If I was you I would be grateful for a vet who accepts responsibility, asks for help and does everything they can to put things right.

I think most of us have had experience of vets who dont take responsibility and the customer ends up paying for the lot, I certainly have.
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I agree entirely with this post.
 
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