The vet killed my unborn kittens!

Okay, i need any advice anyone can give, I don't know where to turn.
I took my cat to the vet today to get her spayed (by law when you get a cat from the animal shelter, you have to get them spayed in a certian amount of time.) So we had 2 weeks left to get her spayed and we took her today. Well, my hubby called the vet to see how she was doing and they said that she had been pregnant but they went ahead and aborted the babys, now I just found out that a cat is pregnant for about 60-70 days and we've had her for 2 months and she has had NO contact with any other animals. She has never even been out of the apartment, so she was pregnant when we got her from the animal shelter. That means she was going to pop out this kittens any day now. The vet said that the anesthesia they gave her for the spay killed the kittens, but thats not possible is it? Anyway, they said that they suspected she was pregnant right after they gave her the anesthesia. I can't find any lawyers here in maryland that deal with that type of thing and I don't know where to turn now. I would have kept those kittens if i had known she was pregnant, but this is our first pet, and we don't know anything about it, but we had taken her to the vet 3 times in the past 2 months that we've had her and they never knew she was pregnant? That seems funny to me!

jen-

As unpleasant as this is to learn, it is acceptable for the vet to do this. Especially once the cat is under anesthesia. Some vets will do these abortions on any level, no matter how far along the cat is. It is curious if she was that far along that no one knew it, and you weren't asked by them if she was.

I am sorry that you had to learn about the kittens the way you did. It must of been a shock. I am moving this to Health

Oh, I'm so sorry for your cat...
I can say, that the pregnance of a cat sometimes can't be seen...
But the vet, if he/she is a specialist and didn't see that the cat is pregnant - for me it's noncence!
And he must know that no one should unworm or spraw a cat in this condition....
I'm really sorry...

You have my condolences for your loss.

I am so sorry. That is terrible, and unacceptable. My god.

That is so sad.

I'm so sorry for your losses, but remember she needs extra love now, after her operation and all.

Why is it acceptable for the vet to abort her unborn kittens without the owner's permission?

I have to say I really wonder about vets. I almost had that happen to me with my shelter cat last year. I also adopted a cat I had no idea was pregnant and didn't look pregnant either. I also believed the shelter checked for these things seeing as they had a policy not to adopt out pregnant animals. My cat gave birth three weeks after I got her and only two weeks before I had her spayed. Its scary to think that could have also happened to my cat! Unfortunately, the kitten died, but at least it died naturally not killed by someone.

I can't believe vets would do that!

Well, we found a lawyer and we can sue the vet as well as the the veterinary hospital for wrongful death as well as pain and agravation. They had no right to kill those kittens. they should have sewn her back up and called us to let us know she was pregnant and ask what we wanted done, but I was told when we went to pick her up they they "assumed" that if we took her in to get spayed that we didnt want her to have kittens. Well, I burst out at them. I told them "Its not that we didnt want her to have kittens, we were told we had to have her spayed! We've brought her here 3 times in the past 2 months and you didnt even tell us she was pregnant! What kind of vet are you! Do you even know the cats head from the cats butt!?" and we refused to pay for disposal of the unborn kittens, yeah right, like we are gonna pay for that! Anyway, Ashley is doing wonderful. She was all sleepy yesterday, I'm guessing cuz of the anesthesia, but when i woke up this morning she was under my covors clawing at my feet trying to wake me up like she always does, I almost cried, she wouldn't let me stop petting her for a half hour.

The vet should have known she was pregnant before the spay. In most places, the Dr. must examine an animal before doing any kind of surgery, in order to determine that they are strong enough to make it through the operation. This includes listening to the heart and lungs, palpating the abdomen (which would have told him the cat was pregnant), taking the temperature, etc. This is just as much for their own protection as it is for the animals.
With that said and done, if he did indeed not realize she was pregnant until she was under anesthetic and cut open, it probably was too late for the kittens, and the vet had no choice but to abort them.
Sorry for what happened to you and your kitty, I hope this helps.

where you planning on keeping all the kittens?

I would be livid!! Sue the ba====='s!

I would be upset, but If you weren't planning on keeping all 3-6 kittens, that is a fate they might have ment anyway I think there is just too much sueing going on in this world. The vet should have just kept there mouth shut. When I take lilly in, i'm going to tell him if she is pregnant I do not want to know. It might sound cruel, but it is kitten season, and I am already caring for 9 cats. Letting them be born and finding homes for them would just be taking homes away from other kittens that are all ready here.

I'm very sorry for your loss, but if you look at animal shelter records thousand and thousands of kittens never find a home and have a horrible fate

I agree with the last post, but I would still be pissed off. He could have AT LEAST called you. But there are sooo many kittens and wonderful strays in shelters that need your help. If I didn't have any 7 at the moment I would go looking for strays on the street and adopt 7 of them. I see soo many strays that I just can't afford to do anything about.

before you all get poopy about this, yes, we would have kept all 4 that she was pregnant with, we would never seperate her from her babies! We would never send them to an animal shelter to die anyway. Animals as well as people deserve to live no matter what! We have decided to get another kitten to keep her company and maybe she can play mother to it or something. I dont know, it might cheer her up.

That has happened to me recently! I am furious

HIHIHI said:

 

That has happened to me recently! I am furious

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This is a very old thread, if you would like to post about your experience you might get more replies by starting a thread of your own.

Regardless, when you bring an animal in for surgery you usually have to sign a surgery consent form that basically states you can't sue the clinic if ANYTHING happens, although you can still contact their governing board and file a formal complaint.

That is so horrible. I am so sorry for your loss. Vets nowadays seem to have forgotten that they took an oath to do no harm. I think if the owner can sue, by all means do so. They should be punished at the very least since they didn't contact you. I suppose you thought she was chubby? or did she not show at all?