Uncomfortable viewing

[maisie06]

So I just watched an epidsode of Supervet on channel 4 catch up, I know the guy is a very talented surgeon and has done some amazing work but 2 things have made me feel a bit odd. First a Lab, 8 months old, hit by a car and severe spinal damage, as upsetting and traumatic as it is I would have opted for PTS on seening the scans...it ended up with 2 surgeries and is now in a cart...

Bull mastiff with bone cancer, huge tumour meaning leg about to blow apart, has surgery and lots of metalwork plus radio therapy and lived another year or so but still limping heavily....again I don't think I wiuld choose that route .

I Know it's the owners decision but I did feel they were a little railroaded into treatment that wasn't in the best interests of the animal.

The cat however had a surgery and made a super recovery but his prognosis was much much better to start with.

 

[rara007]

The sort of owner that choses to see ‘supervet’ when faced with a grave prognosis by the GP vet is usually pretty set on pursuing treatment at any cost.

 

[splashgirl45]

I decided to stop watching him some time ago as I found that the treatment , IMO, went too far. The one that stood out for me was a 9 year old Great Dane whose back legs had given up due to a spinal problem. They (the owners and him) put her through major surgery and as that breed have short lives I wonder how much of her short life had good quality as the recovery period for the surgery would have been quite long

 

[Esmae]

I decided to stop watching him some time ago as I found that the treatment , IMO, went too far. The one that stood out for me was a 9 year old Great Dane whose back legs had given up due to a spinal problem. They (the owners and him) put her through major surgery and as that breed have short lives I wonder how much of her short life had good quality as the recovery period for the surgery would have been quite long

This. I couldn't condone that.

 

[misst]

I went to a theatre locally to hear him speak last year about himself and his life. Much of it was interesting but I came away with the view that he is a very damaged man emotionally. He is obviously on the autistic spectrum as well which, I think, can affect his thinking. I felt he was a very unhappy sad lonely man.

I have used him many years ago for my old JRT and he diagnosed her when no one else could and saved her life with massive doses steroids for a couple of months. She then had oral surgery at his other practice a few years later for a different problem which again was very successful and gave her 2 more good years and only took her 2 days to recover from.

He is very good at what he does. He did spinal surgery on a neighbours small dog and again saved him from paralysis (he was a young dog and lived well for many years more).
He is not all bad but I think he has tunnel vision and "just because you can doesn't mean you should".

He was very kind to me when my JRT was so ill.

I guess I am on the fence with regards to his practice.

 

[Mrs. Jingle]

I don't watch him anymore. I do think he is probably a very talented vet but I wouldn't want him pushing the boundaries with one of my animals. But having said that if you have a young dog that you adore it must be very difficult not to allow a treatment that offers some hope. I know when my gorgeous brown lab was operated on at only 6 and half of her stomach was gone when they opened her up, vet phoned for permission to PTS there and then on the operating table, she had never seen anything so advanced in a dog that was showing relatively mild but uncontrolled symptoms. I was begging her to surely try something, anything to save her. I truly believed that there had to be something they could do to save her, it is extremely difficult to accept the finality in a younger animal I think.

I am pretty sure if it had been super vet and he offered some sort of controversial and untried operation to repair her disintegrated stomach I probably would have agreed at that moment in time. So I will not judge others who have allowed him to experiment on their pets.

 

[Cortez]

It is, as you say the owner's decision, and I don't think that there is undue pressure on decision making. I wouldn't put mine through some of the surgeries that are shown, but I know plenty who would, and some who have, and are delighted to have their beloved pets with them for longer.

 

[Gloi]

I watched one this week with a poor'rescue' kitten with deformed legs they put through torturous operations. Poor thing. Looked like he was doing it just to prove to himself what he could do.

 

[Pearlsacarolsinger]

It is, as you say the owner's decision, and I don't think that there is undue pressure on decision making. I wouldn't put mine through some of the surgeries that are shown, but I know plenty who would, and some who have, and are delighted to have their beloved pets with them for longer.

The owners might be delighted but how do the animals feel?
I'm firmly in the 'just because you can doesn't mean you should" camp.

 

[CorvusCorax]

I had him clocked a long time ago when it wasn't quite so acceptable to not fawn all over him.
As long as people know he's experimenting on their pets, which he has said himself, intimating that his work may have benefits for human patients in future, then it's up to them. Again, no dog of mine will be on wheels or have prosthetics.

 

[SkylarkAscending]

I wouldn’t allow him near one of my dogs if he was the last vet in the world….. although when I’ve said that on here before, I got a lot of responses about “how did I expect veterinary medicine to progress if we didn’t do these experimental procedures”

Each to their own I suppose but personally I don’t believe a lot of the things he does necessarily add to the quality of life of the animal concerned.

 

[paisley]

I would sincerely hope a veterinary ethical board is involved, but if you were to apply to do these some of these procedures under a Home Office personal/project research license, you would be very firmly refused.

 

[Mrs B]

Just because you can, doesn't mean you should.

 

[Jenko109]

I don't like him.

I don't like the act he appears to portray for the cameras.

I don't like that he could use his position to highlight problems in certain breeds and educate the public on responsible breeding, but doesn't.

I especially do not like the experiments he does on animals which very clearly need to be PTS.

There is some sort of ethics commit that overlook his work. I think they may have been put in place since the tortoise concerns.

 

[FieldOrnaments]

I don't like him.

I don't like the act he appears to portray for the cameras.

I don't like that he could use his position to highlight problems in certain breeds and educate the public on responsible breeding, but doesn't.

I especially do not like the experiments he does on animals which very clearly need to be PTS.

There is some sort of ethics commit that overlook his work. I think they may have been put in place since the tortoise concerns.

"the tortoise concerns"? I didn't know he treated anything except dogs and cats, very occasionally rabbits? Haven't watched for years though

 

[Jenko109]

"the tortoise concerns"? I didn't know he treated anything except dogs and cats, very occasionally rabbits? Haven't watched for years though

He fitted three prosthetic limbs to a tortoise and a lot of vets reported him for malpractice. The tortoise died about 2 months afterwards, although they indicate the death was not related to the prosthetics.

 

[poiuytrewq]

When I had my dear little disabled lab a regular comment was I wonder what he could do or isn’t it a shame you can’t afford it.
I never once felt guilty that I couldn’t afford it because I always felt he went too far.
I’d said I’d keep Doug as long as he was happy as he is and the day he struggled we’d say goodbye. I stuck with that and I’m always glad I did. I think he put dogs through way too much and kept them going longer than they should. It’s for the owners not the dog.

 

[Cortez]

There has been a veterinary ethics Council for many decades, and he has been investigated for the tortoise case I believe. I stress that I wouldn't go to the lengths for my animals that many do, but that is the owners choice.

 

[FieldOrnaments]

three? oh my god, that is horrid

 

[FieldOrnaments]

Don't vets need extra qualifications to treat animals like that over 'normal' pets, anyway?

 

[Christmascinnamoncookie]

I decided to stop watching him some time ago as I found that the treatment , IMO, went too far. The one that stood out for me was a 9 year old Great Dane whose back legs had given up due to a spinal problem. They (the owners and him) put her through major surgery and as that breed have short lives I wonder how much of her short life had good quality as the recovery period for the surgery would have been quite long

Absolutely. I just wouldn’t go there, particularly with my breed, it would be unfair. I can’t stand to see dogs in carts, when Jake was paralysed, it was an immediate pts decision, not ‘Let’s put him in a cart’.

His prosthetic caster for a cat’s paw was awful. I don’t see the point of going so extreme with an animal, then put it through a crazy rehabilitation. We made the decision with Zak too, quality of life is key.

 

[Pearlsacarolsinger]

There has been a veterinary ethics Council for many decades, and he has been investigated for the tortoise case I believe. I stress that I wouldn't go to the lengths for my animals that many do, but that is the owners choice.

The owner doesn't always know best. It sometimes takes someone without emotional Involvement to take a step back and give realistic advice as to the benefits *to the animal*. A vet should be perfectly placed for that role

 

[HopOnTrot]

I’ve never been a fan.

My love for having my dog around should never exceed my love for his wellbeing.

 

[Errin Paddywack]

I agree with a lot of this but have to admit that he does do some amazing work. The three cases they revisited this week all made amazing recoveries as they showed a good time later. There was at least one of the cases that had to be referred to the ethics committee and was passed.

I am 100% against the bone cancer treatment where they replace part of the bone with metal. Totally pointless as the dog only has a short time to live anyway. As for putting a dog in a cart, no way in hell would I do that to one of mine.

 

[MyBoyChe]

Totally agree with Mrs B, I cant even begin to tell you how angry I get and cant watch him. I cancel my pups insurance when they get to 10 years old, I firmly believe that by doing this I can make an informed decision based on their welfare rather than just pursuing some random treatment because its paid for. Im lucky that I could pay for anything that I think will benefit them, but I wouldnt embark on a prolonged and drawn out treatment plan that may lengthen their lives a little but would severely reduce its quality

 

[Goldenstar]

Just because you can does not mean you should .

 

[MiJodsR2BlinkinTite]

I've got a little Teckel with a wonky leg; we don't know quite what happened to him but I've been there and done the rounds with "referral vets". Have been to two now.

Sadly with the first one we saw (local clinic) the first question was "are you insured". Nope being the answer, he visibly lost interest and yes whilst he did take some time to explain what he wanted to do there was no guarantee of whether it would be effective or not, and "if not", then that would mean a PTS decision (after spending a good £6000). He then, at the end of the appointment, seemed quite hasty to get the card machine out pretty damn quick I have to say.

Second one was our nearest vet school; had a better feel to it this one did, but I did suspect that if the op they were proposing did "go wrong" (and again there was no guarantee of success) it wouldn't really be an issue to them because it would have been yet another "experiment". Whereas we'd have had a little dog in pain and distress and facing a sad decision.