Vets errors - thank goodness i didnt listen

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putasocinit

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Following on from some posts where the vet said it so i will do it, right or wrong, thought i wud start with 2 stories whereby if myself or my father listeed to the vet the horses would be dead.

Story 1 - 3yo tb filly gets leg caught in wire fencing pulls skin above fetlock on cannon bone down to fetlock like a sock, vet arrives says cant save PTS, my father tells him where to go softens the skin with liquid paraffin and a tight bandage, wound heals, barely a scar 5 months later, horse goes on to be an A grade sj later in life.

Story 2 - my tb 5yo filly knocks herself with end of shoe causing deep hole on inside of fetlock, clear fluid runs out, i speak to vet advises bandage, day 2 filly is really lame still clear fluid coming out, speak to vet says just bandage, keep clean, day 3 get another vet out who says she has a tendon sheath infection and has to drain it, 5 days ab's and 50% chance if will become sound again. Luckily she did.

I don't always trust the vet, anyone else got a story
 
Story 3 - unfit horse collapses after x country, breathing labored, vets says PTS, my father tells vet give horse 20mins first, he removes the saddle and girth, cools horse down with a bucket of water and squirts water into is mouth whilst lightly rubbing it behind its elbow in the heart area, horse gets up 30mins later, eureka star was his name. This wasnt one of ours but my father was always around when a horse needed help.

Story 4 - neighbours horse had colic, my father advised the groom to lead it out, after a couple of hrs horse was settling, told groom to take it to its box and stay with it see if it will eat some hay, recheck in 30mins. Vet arrives and tells groom to just keep walking the horse, groom didnt speak or understand english very well, he should have made sure he understood, groom walked the horse all night it died of exhaustion. When my father heard the vet had arrived he didnt go back as thought the horse was now in safe hands.

None of these stories happened in the UK by the way.
 
I agree, sometimes they forget we know our animals better ( nit suggesting vets don't know anything )

My old cat got very poorly after having her kittens ( I rescued her and she was already in kit ) OH took her to our vet , he said she was very poorly and should PTS, but did not want to do it without me being there ( he knows me well enough to say that)

So I went up to the surgery. Lovely vet explAined what he thought I should do, I asked if an IV over night would help, he said he did not think so, but was happy to give it ago.

They rang be the next day to come and get her, she had been going mad over night wanting out !!!

I lost her a few months ago aged 18 :(

So glad I have a vet who listens :)
 
Yes lady has a horse who has a dental , horse has had a sinus issue in the past , and wolf teeth removed quite recently .horse presents not well the day after the dental vet attends as an emergency call out says not sure what's wrong could be might be sinus might be issue fron wolf tooth removal medicates gives advice about feeding height ,horse seems happier.
Someone from the Internet who is not a vet has not seen the horse says sinus issues best fed from ground lady decides to tactfully ignore this advice and follow the vets gets online earful.
Casually a expecting people to ignore veterinary advice because you think differently is a dangerous path to tread.

FWIW vet one would not have left the yard if clear fluid was coming out of one my horses joints before I had called another .
 
I think that there will always be tales like this. Unfortunately vets are not gods and make mistakes.

I had a yearling go lame. was certain it was stifle vet said foot. He did find an area where there was some pus in the foot but horse remained very lame.
Vet kept digging and yearling got peed off with having a hole in his foot.
In the end decided to X-ray. Vet just wanted the foot done I insisted on stifle - sure enough he had a bone cyst on the stifle.
At the same time I had a a filly in for breaking. She came with a fat fetlock behind. Owner said she did it in the field. She was sound and I was told to press on with her by owner's vet.
Something was telling me that all was not right. She was never lame, the swelling did not go up or down with work nor did her leg fill when in the stable. I took her along with the yearling to have it X-rayed. She had a broken sesamoid!

Experience and an inner 'gut' feeling often needs listening to.
 
Good job you got there, 18 years old wonderful.

it is not that we as owners because we are not qualified we therefore do not know, but you learn the more interaction you have with yours and other animals what signs of illness are and what steps to take.

Yes even vets are only human and are allowed to make errors, but i dont think anyone should throw the "you are not a vet" in ones face, when the person clearly has the experience and the knowledge to offer good advice and there are many many knowledgeable and experienced posters on HH, that i would ask first before a vet.

Take Oberon regarding barefootedness, many vets are still to be guided towards the barefooted route.

Thanks for reading.
 
I think people forget that vets are human, and do make mistakes, they're also like our GP's, not specialists, and have the added bonus of having to deal with animals that can't sit down and details all their symptoms.

I'm happy to question my vet if I don't think they've given me the correct advise, and also gone against it too where I've felt appropriate.
 
Goldenstar said:
Yes lady has a horse who has a dental , horse has had a sinus issue in the past , and wolf teeth removed quite recently .horse presents not well the day after the dental vet attends as an emergency call out says not sure what's wrong could be might be sinus might be issue fron wolf tooth removal medicates gives advice about feeding height ,horse seems happier.
Someone from the Internet who is not a vet has not seen the horse says sinus issues best fed from ground lady decides to tactfully ignore this advice and follow the vets gets online earful.
Casually a expecting people to ignore veterinary advice because you think differently is a dangerous path to tread.
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Tbh this thread seems to be started just to get at the lady who Goldenstar describes above. It rather negates the "apology" supposedly offered to her. :rolleyes:

Of course vets make mistakes, but the lady concerned is quite happy with her vet and believes their advice to be correct. She didn't ask for advice here, she just wanted a bit of moral support.

She was given unwanted advice and politely declined it. As Golenstar said, she then got an earful.
 
FionaM12 said:
Tbh this thread seems to be started just to get at the lady who Goldenstar describes above. It rather negates the "apology" supposedly offered to her. :rolleyes:

Of course vets make mistakes, but the lady concerned is quite happy with her vet and believes their advice to be correct. She didn't ask for advice here, she just wanted a bit of moral support.

She was given unwanted advice and politely declined it. As Golenstar said, she then got an earful.
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VERY politely put
 
putasocinit said:
Following on from some posts where the vet said it so i will do it, right or wrong, thought i wud start with 2 stories whereby if myself or my father listeed to the vet the horses would be dead.
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Hmmm you do seem to have had rather bad luck with vets. I do think it is important to source a vet who is a specialists equine vet (when ever possible) and ideally one who comes recommended.

I know other liveries who use a vet I would not touch with a barge pole (unless I had cattle - he is great with cattle).

putasocinit said:
I don't always trust the vet
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Seems you problem seems to be that you choose vets who aren't fit to treat a hamster,or perhaps they should stick to hamsters!
 
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Well it is easy with hindsight to look back at all the "mistakes" vets have made.

How about telling us instead about all the stories of the horses and other animals that vets have saved over the years.

Vets have a hard enough life as it is, with long hours and very stressful jobs, without being slated on internet forums for making mistakes. Rates of depression and suicide in vets is amongst the highest for professional careers. No wonder with this type of negative attitude.

Can all those who are slagging off their vets here, freely admit that they have never made a mistake in their working or personal lives. There will always be those who think they know better than the vet - sometimes they will get it right, but when they get it wrong it will be the vets left to clear up the mess.
 
Yes an earlier thread did prompt me to start this thread, no law against it is there?

By the way the other poster and i have pm'd each other and we are grand about my mistake, so why others carry on about it, makes me think they are making a mistake like i did.

Luckily in the UK there are a lot of very good vets around, sadly in third world countries there are not so you kind of have to learn how to fix it yourself.
 
Vets are human. But I will also add something else to the mix. Insured or not. Or assessing if this person might be suited to the "bute for a week" and chuck him out policy. As in one don't really want to spend a small fortune here but horse ain't right. And not suggesting any of these stories are that way.

And I'm getting this from my former vet. And that came about due to my now 17yo Frank. I bought Frank for €500. At the time I was looking for a riding club horse. A friend of a friend told me about a racehorse that had recently fallen in a race. Said he just hyper extended his hock. What I found was a horse in a stall with top and bottom doors shut and standing in filth. Hugely lame on said hock and had a big hole at the back of his knee. That was bandaged. Ok I wasn't exactly going to get a riding club horse out of this but I couldn't exactly leave him there could I? So as soon as we got home my vet came out to X-ray and to see about knee. Left me expensive creams and so on. Horse was also a choker. Great fun. Get a call back to say that we may just want to put Frank down as his hock looks like someone smashed their fist down on a crisp bag. Surgery was out of the question I'm afraid. Right so, now we had a decision to make. I'm not joking when I say husband and I spent 2 hours at the kitchen table drinking tea and discussing Frank's future. We had been told he'd never come sound. Went out to see him before the bullet beckoned. I don't know but he had such a happy look in his eye. And he looked so defeated when I picked him up. So we decided we'd let Frank decide when enough was enough. And because we wanted to have quality time we decided going out daily to the paddock would be happier for him as long as he wasn't stupid.

Well he wasn't stupid or silly and just ambled along eating grass. The knee thing drove me crazy. 2 months of special expensive creams only for the thing to abcess. Proud flesh that we tried all the remedies on. After 2 months I said feck it. I put him out with no bandage and I let those flys at it. Yup, cruel horrible person. I'd like to say that in 1 1/2 weeks that sucker was closed and healed! I do not recommend this type of thing by the way. I had given up.

At any rate, knee healed, choking stopped, and now a horse that was walking around the place quite sound but not really anything but walk. I had my first foal that year and only one so when it came time to wean I though well maybe it's a job for Frank. He was brilliant at it! Taught her manners but was gentle. The moment that brought a little tear to my eye was going out to bring them in one evening. They'd been out 24/7 but it had been raining non stop for 3 days and I wanted them to have a dry night. Heidi was asleep on the ground and Uncle Frank was standing over her. Protecting this little filly. It was sweet. At any rate next thing you know Frank is galloping around the fields with Heidi most days and was sound. So 9 months after his death sentence I started back riding him. After 2 weeks I had my vet out for another matter. Husband did that while I tacked up Frank and headed to the arena. Brought up vet and he enquired who this was. So we told him Frank. He couldn't believe we still had him nor that he was sound.

Then over coffee he had said that putting down was a good recommendation as we didn't want to spend over a 2k on surgery. But then went on to say that because he did his healing while moving that he actually healed better than had he had surgery. Taking out so many chips may have left a hock with very limited motion. So basically if we'd had money Frank might not have still been with me 8 years later and still riding I might add.

So yes vets may not always get it right but not only do they have to treat what's in front of them they have people to deal with as well. And even if you're insured or have an unlimited income, some things don't work out then either.

Terri
 
Oh and before things get taken wrong. I do use vets and I do everything necessary to keep my horses happy and healthy. But no I wasn't going to spend 2k that I did have on a horse that wasn't guaranteed to be any better off with regards to soundness. They may really get to some people but that's just the way it is. I have had huge vet bills with other horses because of the situation. Treatment was working and quality of life was more of a guarantee.

Terri
 
Brilliant story and i use vets to, and the purpose of this post wasnt to slat any vets, it was to tell a story about owners making the right decision sometimes over their vet. We are not as stupid as some may think.

There have been a few posts on HH where owners choose the bullet in fear of the injection going wrong, so where is the faith!

There have also been some posts about why is the bill so high when only this was done?

This is just a conversation, just like people talk politics, so be cool and lets hear the stories, i might learn somehing from one that i havent experienced yet. I want to learn everday and how better to do that than share stories on HH.
 
I've just Gone to a new vet and so far they have been great. I have very little faith in vets not because of a mistake that I could deal with but I had my mare who had colic op 12 months previous colicing bad. Vet came out and no signs of improvement, he refused to come again against me YO and mum calling constantly. My mare was dying in front of my eyes he eventually sent the meat man so no choice was given on how she was PTs but by this point I didn't care I wanted her out of the pain.
The vet was called at 8:30 and she was finally put to sleep at 5:30
 
Had a horse pouring yellow mucus from one nostril - my own vet x-rayed and said that he thought a tooth had abscessed but as he wasn't sure he sent the x-rays to a well renowned vet hospital who said that there was nothing there. Treated with anti-bs - no improvement. Horse was sent to hospital, x-rayed again and told no abscess there despite the fact that when the vet did a dental examination she commented on a fractured tooth. She was trephined and sent home after a week. Condition deteriorated and she returned to hospital where I pleaded for further x-rays which eventually were begrudgingly done. Vet then conceded that it could actually be a tooth problem and she was kept in and trephined again so that they could clear the sinuses enough for a clear x-ray. Eventually (and this was about two months after the first vets appointment) they decided to remove the tooth, made a cock up of attempting to remove the tooth as the horse moved her head, they fractured the crown and the horse had to be taken to surgery for a general anaesthetic where the tooth was removed via repulsion. This should have been more or less the end of it, but oh no. Infection still didn't clear and didn't respond to antibiotics. After a month of it not clearing they found out that she had pseudomonas which doesn't respond to antibiotics. It took another few weeks to clear and then the day before I was supposed to be bringing her home, they turned her out in a paddock then phoned me to say that they thought she had damaged her eye in the paddock and had conjunctivitis. This didn't clear and it was discovered that she had a streptococcal infection at the internal suture site between her eyes. She came home nearly 3 months later with a disfigured face and I received a bill for £6500......so I'm afraid I will always question vets, although my own practice is fabulous and I can't make any complaint whatsoever about them.
 
putasocinit said:
Following on from some posts where the vet said it so i will do it, right or wrong, thought i wud start with 2 stories whereby if myself or my father listeed to the vet the horses would be dead.

Story 1 - 3yo tb filly gets leg caught in wire fencing pulls skin above fetlock on cannon bone down to fetlock like a sock, vet arrives says cant save PTS, my father tells him where to go softens the skin with liquid paraffin and a tight bandage, wound heals, barely a scar 5 months later, horse goes on to be an A grade sj later in life.
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Another ending to story 1 I have come across, vet advises PTS, owner goes against advice does pretty much as your father did, massive infection weeks of pain and distress before PTS anyway.

I would not class this as a mistake, vet advised, you went against the advice which is your perogative, it could have been very different, had the vet advised to try and save the horse and the infection set in, vet would have made a mistake then too??

There is a big difference between 'mistakes' and fortuitous outcome. Vets can only do their best, unlike doctors they cannot talk to a patient and cannot control sanitary condition, nor can they predict miraculous healing and recovery.
 
Sorry can not quote, she was the horse that tested my confidence and turned into my one of two once in a lifetime horse.
In hindsight I should have called the hunt but we live and learn. It was about 14 years ago and I still get angry and reduced to tears by that day. What gets me the most was I later found out that vet had a intern order on him previously to treating my mare for being an alcoholic and turning up drunk. He prob refused to come cause he was getting hammered
 
Absolutely agree with you batgirl.

i see i should have used a different title or worded my story differently, i am not having a dig at vets just sharing stories, however some posters seem to want to have a dig at me, hey ho, its saturday, by the way these occurences happened 25 years ago and were in a third world country not the UK, but errors still happen here from some of the posts posted, but isnt that what making choices in life is all about hoping you make the right one.

Can our government heal the country and all other countries who have problems, doubt it, but they will try and make a few mistakes on the way.

Can a doctor heal someone with an incurable disease probbly not, but they will try and make a few mistakes on the way, and if the family feels they should do something differently they will, its allowed, and maybe that same family will offer advice to other sufferers its how the world goes around.
 
Am debating vet versus experience now. I do wonder why he hasn't used coritsone injections for an arthritic hock. :confused:

My dog vet gave Bear an anti emetic before saying he thought he'd been poisoned. I was fuming. Let him puke it out! I spent a weekend cradling my limp dog thinking he was dying.

Yes, vets are human and make errors, yes they save more than are PTS, but IMO, that was a dumb thing to do.
 
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Do you know what OP I think these posts are useful, I thought the sun shined out of vets you know what until I experanced first hand. So it's good to realise the right to question
 
Not an error but my vet listened to me.

My then 22 year old New Forest mare stopped eating her feed on the Friday and then her hay on the Saturday, no other signs.

On the Sunday my friend phoned me to say that the mare had dreadful loose droppings and a very dirty tail and was not a happy pony. We thought she had just eaten something but because of her age I called my vet.

The little mare was in shock and very toxic. ,my vet wanted to PTS but I asked for her to be treated. We took bloods and treated her. I felt that if she servived the night we were fine. I slept in the stable with her (Cold as it was Feb) that night and yes she was with us the next morning. The bloods only showed bad dehydration but nothing else really.

On the Tuesday we put up a drip and gave her some fluids. Over the next week she slowly improved and today at the age of 25 she is cantering around the field, trying to keep up with the others.

If my vet had not listened to me I would not have her today. Sometimes it is good for the vets to listen to the owners.
 
cinnamontoast said:
Am debating vet versus experience now. I do wonder why he hasn't used coritsone injections for an arthritic hock. :confused:
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Because Steroid injections are a common treatment for human osteoarthritis, but are rarely used for dogs. They are expensive, not always effective, painful and can have horrible side effects :)
 
Batgirl said:
Because Steroid injections are a common treatment for human osteoarthritis, but are rarely used for dogs. They are expensive, not always effective, painful and can have horrible side effects :)
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Sorry, should have mentioned, it's the horse with arthritis. And I don't care about cost, I just want my horse comfortable and various people (equine techs etc) have asked why the vet hasn't injected cortisone yet. It's my next question to my vet.
 
I too am enjoying this post, so enlightening, because my horse could have one of the symptoms mentioned and vet could say i am not sure, it has happened, and i could say what about this i read about it on HHF. Keep em coming please
 
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