Time to change vets?

I am not sure where to put this but its either here or cat S.O.S.

So, yesterday I was trolling Kijiji to see what sort of animals people are giving away and I saw an ad stating that if you go to so and so vet (which happened to be my vet) to be careful and to email this person if you want to hear her story. So I did….

Please read below for the story… I guess its time for a new vet. I started off thinking that it cant be that bad, I know some owners are overly protective and have seen parents cry and complain just by sticking a thermometer up their butt, so I didnâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]t think much of it… but, omg, I want to cry… this mistake was HUGE, when I read this my eyes just opened up wide… I have brought my Bugsy there so many times and am scared to think what could have happened I have also spent all of my “travel to visit my family†money for a whole year on him… probably for nothing… Anyway, I am sad and pissed.

PS. they included pictures which i have not included. To be honest i only looked at one before I started to cry (Iâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]m at work...so ya, thats bad)... It was just horrible.

_______________________________________________________________
Hello

I have had to do up a quick form letter I have received so many responses from my ad on kijiji regarding this matter

We recently took our cat to the clinic for treatment, our cat was left there for in house care , we had brought the cat home on a couple of occasions but realized she was getting worse,,,, on the last weekend home we realized we had to make a decision the cat was obviously suffering and barely had enough strength to walk across the floor,,, we were trying to feed her though the feeding tube that was inserted in her throat as we were instructed to do but every time we would try to feed her she would vomit severely ..

On Sunday night the wife and I decided that we would have to put her down , it was a tough decision but one that had to be made,,,,, but on Monday morning I had a change of heart because this was our oldest cat and I was looking for a piece of hope , so I decided to take her to a second vet to get their opinion, thank god I did ,, I was amazed and shocked at what I was told

The feeding tube that had been inserted into the cat was 16 inches long , 12 inches longer than it should have been… I was told this tube should have been no longer than 4 inches long ,,,, the extra 12 inches of feeding tube was actually strangling her.

The tube had also been inserted wrong , they tried to glue it in and the stitching was done wrong.

If you zoom in on the pic you can see the infection and vomit around the tube , everytime she would vomit some of it was forced out though the hole around the improperly inserted feeding tube,,, it was a mess and sickening
It was the new vet that took the pics because she was amazed at what she was looking at.

After about 2 days of treatment at the new vet , our cat began to show drastic signs of improvement, after about a week she was eating again , drinking again , running and playing…..

Thank god I got this second opinion or this cat would have been put down.
Last year I had another cat under their care their was not so lucky, this cat was put down,,, I received word yesterday from an independent vet that the treatment this cat received while under their care was questionable,, they examined the medical files I provided them and they believe that this cat may have been saved , it is the cat in the picture tine tine…

We have 8 cats and a large dog , we consider ourselves responsible pet owners and we will do with out to pay for our animals health care but how do you really know what kind of treatment your animal is receiving, my last trip to that clinic cost us app 1500.00 , when I requested our money back , so I could pay the other vet who actually cured our cat , I will not repeat what was said to me,,,

Thank you for listening

Wow, unbelievable. You have to wonder sometimes how these people even get their license to practice. Popsie is already on his third vet because I just haven't cared for the other two he's seen. I really hope you find a good new vet.

Oh my, how scary! This is far more than a clerical error or a mix-up, this is simply the vet not knowing what s/he is doing! That poor kitty

I think I'd also check with my state's vet board or department of professional regulation to see if complaints have been filed against this vet. If he's really that bad, there should be complaints filed, especially by the Kjiij poster - on the other hand, I've learned the hard way to take complaints posted on the internet with a huge grain of salt, especially if I've had good experiences with whatever's being complained about and if the complaining people haven't bothered to follow up with appropriate regulatory agencies.

In any event, it never hurts to interview new vet practices - if they won't take the time for you to come in and visit (even if there is a minimal charge), they may not be that great anyway. Good luck in finding someone you're happy with.

I normally give people the benefit of the doubt. I listen to people but always make sure I make my own judgments and opinions and research the issue. Thatâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]s why when I first started reading I sort of skimmed trough it thinking it would be stupid and I would laugh at the end at peoples stupidity. It wasnâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]t until I read how much of an error it was and saw the picture proving the horrible things this tube did to this poor baby did I start to get scared.

I do have a good relationship with them. One of their vet techs took in a stray I fell in love with but couldnâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]t keep (tried to eat my Bugsy for dinner!) I am also there a lot with Bugsy mysterious illness and they call me to make sure things are ok. I do however think they do unnecessary things to find out what was wrong with my boy, but im not going to complain that you are trying everything to fix Bugsy.

I am going to go over there and ask them about it. To be honest though, I am turn off by this whole thing. Its not a little thing like they spilled something on him, or by accidentally poked him in the eye, stupid little things, this was something they did that almost killed this cat…and that is unforgivable in my mind. I will talk to them though and see what they have to say. I donâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]t want to post those pictures, they are bad, trust me, they did something horribly wrong to this cat.

Oh that is just horrible!! Those poor poor animals. I do hope that unfortunate couple filed a complaint or sued that vet!

Now what is this " Kijiji " and how do I find it? I want to see if I can find anything going on in my area!

Thank you for posting this, and yes, I would definitely change vets!

Kijiji is sort of like Craigâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]s list I think (having never been on Craigâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]s list, but have heard about it) Its just a place people go to buy and sell things. I believe its just www.kijiji.com and you pick your city. Its just like the classifieds.

I hate stories like these, its so scary. You never know whatâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]s going to happen when you leave your baby at the vets.

It certainly sounds like a gross misconduct of treatment.....and you are wise to talk to the Vet's office...don't know how much they will tell you, but their openess might clue you in to their ethics.

I also changed Vet's after 18 yrs at the same office because I felt that the Vet was becoming complacent in how he performed annual check-ups. In this case..Phoebe is an overweight 12-yr old cat with trouble walking. Her annual check-up included listening to her heart and giving her the vaccinations...and that was it!! This Vet also feels that Hill Prescription dry food is the BEST food.
When I switched Vet's, Phoebe received a thorough Senior check-up and now we're trying to treat her arthritis to help her to have a better quality of life.
Through my own research and through the wonderful information found in this forum..my cats now eat a much better quality of food, and they get wet food....something that the ex-Vet didn't recommend.
He's a nice man, just maybe too old-fashioned for my tastes.

If it doesn't feel right, listen to your instincts...Vet Dr.s have their own opinions and ways of treating ailments. Sometimes they don't find out the newest techniques or recent advancements (such as in pet nutrition).

Just my 2 cents worth!!

You have to decide if the quality of care is worth any negatives in the practice.
If you don't trust the vet, then it is time to leave.

Feeling that our pets are in good hands means peace of mind. The fact that photos were included leads credence to the story. I am wondering if you were having some doubt already and this just confirmed it?

Thats terrible. I would check the vet board also. I mad a terrible mistake with Coco when we moved here. She got very sick after we lived here for 6 months and I was desperate so we called alot of vetss but none could see her until the next day. I had seen a Vet open so we called them and they said come. It was terrible and now has been shut down. They told me she had lung cancer. If anyone wants to know more about what happened send a pm. We did file a complaint.

I did have my doubts but I contributed it to the fact that I moved far from home and away from a vet I had for a decade who I would literally bet my life on the fact that he could save my babies and have had years of proof that he was the best Vet I could ever hope for… I mean seriously, how can you compare to that?

I am a research freak, I research everything (a little overboard) and knew one day that a vet tech had given me wrong information on Advantage because I called the company and made them let me talk to their resident veterinary but I figured it was only because she was new, and a vet tech and I should be asking the vet this. It was also just one girl, the other girls seems really nice and knowledgeable. Also they gave me bad feeding advice, but then again, everyone has their own opinions on food.

Also the fact that I think I am spending WAYYYYY too much money. But again, I contributed that to the fact that my Toronto Dr. was awesome and because we had so many animals and spent so much money we got a discount with him. BUT it was nothing compared to this vets prices… in all honesty, Toronto should be 50% more expensive then where I am now judging on the cost of living. So why am I spending the same for less problems then I had in Toronto?

There have been a few issues, but I always give the benefit of a doubt and didnâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]t think too much of it until now.

I just called the NB Vet association to try and find out if they have any other malpractices… Ill see when they call me back… I think I will switch, its just not worth the chance.

I would switch also. We got a 2nd opinion and never went back to the bad Vet. Then it was shut down about 6 months later.

It's been many years since I lived in NB and things may well have changed, but most vets were large animal vets and folks (at least in the area we lived) were farm people who never took dogs and cats to vets. I hope and pray things have changed, but it seems you may have stumbled upon one of these vets and he/she doesn't have a clue about smaller animals. The vet may be totally ignorant about dealing with small animals which is no excuse but could be an explanation.

I hope you get a happy resolution to the issue. Please keep us posted.

We just had a vet issue too... ours was poor record keeping.

We knew our Patches was due for her rabies , Zeus we were told was up to date ( hes 11 but we just got him this past Christmas day ) . We are going through the adoption process for a Maine Coon Mix Girl named Grace. When we started the process we called the vet to make sure we knew what shots were needed. They told us that it was just Patches that needed shots.

The shelter called our vet to do the normal reference check , where they were told Zeus was 2 years behind on one of his shots!

My husband went up one side of our vets office and down the other. They did admit it was their mistake and they called the shelter to tell them that . This left us having to make an appointment for Zeus ( Patches already had one ) . This vet that wronged us tried to tell us he couldn't be seen till Mid August! This would have totally derailed the adoption.

We found another vet the next town over who was able to get us right in , saw both Patches and Zeus everyone is healthy and up to date ... they even clipped the dogs nails free of charge. The vet took her time with us ... it was a very nice experience. Our appointment was for 1 we didn't leave till 330.

We are keeping the new vet on a full time basis.