Sadie scheduled for surgery tomorrow

sadie's mom

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Sadie was spayed in late summer and since then, she's been back to the vet twice for antibiotics to clear up infections at the spay area (vet said she's having a reaction to the suture material). She just finished her last round of meds and the two small lumps are still there. I took her back to the vet and now Sadie is having surgery tomorrow to clean up the area. (Personally, I've always thought that a stitch was accidentally left inside her versus her having an allergic reaction to the suture material.)

When I pick her up tomorrow my fear is that the vet will try to charge me for the surgery, which I do not think is fair. So, I'm looking to you on how to gracefully handle that situation should it arise. Any suggestions on what to say to the vet? My hubby suggests saying whatever I please and wants to find a new vet (he's lost faith in this vet). What do you guys think?
 

yosemite

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I'd personally start off trying to be "nice" about it and letting them know you don't expect to have to pay for these results of her spay. If they play hard ball then I'd be more forceful - how forceful will depend on how comfortable you are playing hardball right back.
 
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sadie's mom

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Thank you for your response, to which I completely agree. I'm hoping that the vet (someone I've been dealing with for 10 years) will not even present me with an invoice. So, keep your fingers crossed.
 

yosemite

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Originally Posted by Sadie's Mom

Thank you for your response, to which I completely agree. I'm hoping that the vet (someone I've been dealing with for 10 years) will not even present me with an invoice. So, keep your fingers crossed.
Fingers, toes, legs and eyes crossed for you.
 

pami

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Sending vibes for everything to go well. I wouldnt think they would prsent you with a bill, but if they do Yosemite gave you excellent advise. Just dont mention it until AFTER her surgery.
 

xocats

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I think that I would wait until after Sadie's surgery before taking up the billing issue.


My Sadie sends all kinds of calming vibes to your pretty Sadie,
while I keep my fingers crossed that your vet finds the problem easily.

The billing issue is another thing altogether but I would say that if you also have lost confidence in this vet....
by all means, begin your quest for a new one when this is over.
Sadie
 
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sadie's mom

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Thank you all for finding the time to respond to me. I'm not too worried about the vet correcting the problem (she's explained it will be very fast and minor). As for the cost of the operation, I'm sure that too will work itself out, bit I will discuss this with the vet after the surgery if I'm presented with a bill.

What I'm most concerned with now is if it is indeed a case of a stitch being left inside Sadie, I will definitely have to rethink using this vet. This will also be something I will need to discuss with her. I wasn't too impressed with the fact that a person other than the vet was allowed to remove the stitches (or, is that standard practice?) particularly when this person didn't seem too comfortable doing it and said "I think I've got them all." And, why did Sadie's vet let her become infected twice before scheduling the surgery? If Sadie were your fur baby, would you be thinking like me about this? Or, am I being an overprotective Mommy (I've never had an issue with this vet with any of my other animals)? In fact, this vet even made a monetary donation to the Guelph veterinary teaching college when my flame point Siamese died last year. So, you can understand why I'm so torn.
 

pami

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Removing stitches is a pretty simple routine thing that I think is pretty common for a tech to do. The antibiotic was probably to get the infection under control, with surgery being invasive left as the last alternative.

I would just trust your instinct as far as finding a new vet or not. It could be that your baby girl had a reaction to the stitches (my mom has had that before). Im not sure, if leaving a stitch would cause infection, but I could be very wrong.

I would not decide now because you have too many things on your plate to deal with as far as your baby girl, but when shes better and you have more time to think it through, weigh all things with this vet and then decide if another one would be better for you. Good Luck with everything, I know how stressful it can be when our babies are not doing good.
 

lorina

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A lot of times with surgeries, there's internal sutures to close up the abdominal muscles as well as the outer ones that close the skin. She may have had a reaction to those sutures.
 

mzjazz2u

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I think it's totally possible she had a reaction to the stitches. This happened to me when I had my foot and ankle surgery a little over a year ago. The sutures were inside and were supposed to be disolving sutures but some people's body reacts to them and they don't disolve properly. Then they can fester up and cause a bit of a problem. I'll be thinking about little Sadie!
 

les0304

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As the other poster mentioned, there are multiple layers of suture material when a spay incision is closed. First they use an absorbable suture to ligate the uterine pedicles, then an absorbable suture is used to close the inner muscle layer, and the subcutaneous layer. Finally, a non-absorbable suture is used to close the skin. It is highly unlikely that a non-absorbable suture was left in because it is only used once all other layers are closed. The absorbable suture can take anywhere up to 6 months to fully dissolve.

Second, there is no way to know which cat will have reactions to the sutures. And while I understand why you don't expect to pay the bill, is it really fair to expect the veterinarian to eat all of the costs involved with this procedure? Ecspecially if no one is at fault.

However, if by some chance it was a mistake by the veterinarian, then by all means you should not have to pay, however, if it is a "fluke" severe reaction to the sutures, and nobody is at fault, then I don't see any reason why they should not expect you to pay some type of fee.

Good luck, and I hope the procedure goes smoothly.
 

tru

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My first thought whenever there is an infection after surgery is that a stitch didn't dissolve as it should. I think that way because whenever I've had a surgery involving dissolving stitches there is always one that doesn't dissolve with me and I have to go through the routine of the doctor having to remove it.

I'd say you have no reason to lose faith in this vet over this incident since no one can predict such an occurrence. The only reason to be upset over this is if she had blown you off and not given antibiotics or scheduled Sadie back in to take care of this.

I'm hoping she won't charge you a ridiculous amount for the stitch removal, but she will be right to expect reasonable payment for this. Good luck and I hope Sadie is up and playing in no time.
 

alleygirl

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I have had the so-called "dissolving stitches" used on me twice. Both times, there were several that didn't dissolve and had to be removed. perhaps your kitty just has the same problem with them and they don't dissolve like they should.

Good luck to you both.
 
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sadie's mom

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Thanks to everyone who helped put my mind at ease regarding Sadie's operation.

Her surgery went really well! Yes, it was a reaction to the internal sutures -- she's allergic to them. So, thankfully it was not a case of the tech leaving a stitch inside. The vet removed two areas that she explained were like scar tissue, and Sadie should be good as new in about 10 days. The only problem now is that due to her reaction, she could not be stitched internally and the sutures are only on the top of her skin. So, being the true Ocicat she is, she's already full of beans and I' have to give her sedatives to slow her down (it broke my heart to take her toys away from her) so she won't rip the stitches. The other problem is that because she can't be on antibiotics (due to having been on them 2 weeks prior to the operation), she must wear an e-collar to prevent her from licking (needless to say, she's cranky about wearing that!)

The vet did present me with a bill, and we talked about it. I agreed that no one was a fault and that it was just luck of the draw that Sadie reacted the way she did. The bill was greatly reduced - I was only charged for half of the anaethesia and half of the time spent on the actual surgery.

After speaking in greater detail with the vet about how and why this happened, I definitely have NOT lost faith in this vet. She's a good vet who has treated all my animals with love and respect.
 

epona

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Oh that's good to hear! And you're right, no-one was at fault for this, you can't know whether something will cause a reaction until it happens. Plenty of 'leave your stitches alone and heal quickly' vibes from me
 

pami

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Oh thats great news the sugery went well and that you were able to come to a compromise with the vet. Sending many healing vibes for you baby girl
 

xocats

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Originally Posted by Sadie's Mom

After speaking in greater detail with the vet about how and why this happened, I definitely have NOT lost faith in this vet. She's a good vet who has treated all my animals with love and respect.
That is great news.
Finding a new vet is not an easy task.

Be a good girl for your Mommy Sadie.
 
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