Asking for Advice

happilyretired

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I'm asking for advice about how to handle this situation. As some of you may know from my previous postings, my boy Grigio had his teeth cleaned recently, and in the anesthesia process, his trachea was slit, so that air entered under his skin. I brought him back to the vet twice before they diagnosed the problem, and then they sent me to a larger animal hospital because they assumed he would need an endoscopy to confirm the diagnosis.

The doctors at the second hospital decided against endoscopy because they felt he was too fragile and it might cause more harm. The treatment is to confine the cat to allow the trachea to heal naturally and avoid surgical repair (they tell me that most cats will heal). He has been in critical care for three days and will be moved tomorrow to just medical care (cheaper) for the weekend. I'll probably bring him home Monday and will have to prevent him from doing any jumping for a week or so.

I've already paid for the teeth cleaning, but the bill at the second hospital will be several thousand (they gave me an estimate when he was admitted).
I'm more than willing to pay anything for my cat's care, and this second hospital has been superb. I also realize that it could have been an unavoidable accident, but it also could have been carelessness that caused the wound to his trachea. After all, my previous cat had anesthesia many times during her 20+ years, and there were never any problems.

Don't you think the hospital that did the teeth should take some financial responsibility for the subsequent treatment? I've spoken to the vet in charge (who has treated my pets for years), and he has been solicitous but never admitted any responsibility for this. Would you raise this issue and ask them to share in the cost?
 

sharky

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Truthfully ,I would call a third vet and state what you have here and ask them
 
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