Advice?

elizabeth79

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This is going to be quite long, so please bear with me.

On Monday a friend contacted me about a kitten that was going to die. Apparently she had found it starving, blind, and extremely weak. She is very young herself and was not able to get it help so rather than let it die I became it's only hope.
I immediately reached out to everyone I knew -rescues included. No one got back to me, so I began to look for ways this kitten could come here so that she did not suffer. I made her a vet appointment under my families account (we have been clients for over 20 years) and explained the situation to the understanding vet tech. She knew that we often bring strays in and help them from our own pocket and secured us an appointment as early as possible.
Sadly she was much worse than I thought, so I had to make another appointment to get her seen sooner. I had several friends who wanted to assist, but we unable to take on another cat as sickly as this little one was so they called into my vets office and made small donations to help cover the cost of her vet bills.
When we got to the office tuesday afternoon we were met by the office manager who treated us very rudely. She came into the room we were sitting in with the sick, dying kitten and started speaking very loudly -almost yelling at us. We were asked "Exactly what is going on here?". when we did not understand she proceeded to ask why we had donations for the kitten -a kitten she could CLEARLY see was very very sick..but she failed to even take notice. We explained the situation but we were ignored. She repeatedly kept asking us what we were going to do with the remaining funds on our account -our personal account- because people were expecting to donate to this kitten and once she was healthy what did we plan on doing with those donated funds? I was mad at this point because the kitten started to get stressed and began to breathe heavy. I opened the blanket and lifted the kittens head and assured the woman this kitten would not be healthy any time soon -she would need multiple visits. Again, this woman did not even take notice. She told my mom that we would have to donate our donated funds to a rescue (keep in mind no one would help us, so why give them our funds?) or to their own account that is offered to families that cannot pay their bills (once again, we have been going here as well as many friends and family members for MANY years and not once have we ever been offered this...they held checks). I tried to explain once again that this cat was very sick and once again we were ignored so we did what we had to do to please her and got her out of the room. She was very loud and made us feel like we were thieves for helping a dying kitten....The office manager also told me those that donated could not call in for refunds because if they did that would just open a can of worms with returned fees...
The kitten did not die tuesday, she was diagnosed with a severe lung worm infection...round worms...severe starvation\malnutrition...and an infection. Her eyes were too far gone, the scar tissue was bonding to her eyelids so she would always be blind. She could not receive any injections and needed to return ASAP if anything changed. They gave her fluids, lowered her temp, and sent us home with meds and special foods. By the time we left I was so angry that I went to my friends and explained the situation, one was so infuriated they called and asked why they felt the need to take money from a friend to give to another? The office manager told my friend the kitten was healthy and that she would only need injections, my friend asked her what kitten she seen because the one we had was near death. When she hung up the office manager immediately called us and told us that they were NOT taking our money today, they were taking it when she was healthy....if any was left. Mind you, $400 was raised and at the first appointment we left with only $300 on the account.

This is Angel, she was six months old and weighed 1lb 4 oz. She was the size of an adult males hand...
 

The next morning my mom called the office manager back and told her that we do this all the time with strays -only we pay for them ourselves and register them under our own names then we find them homes or if they are feral we set them free- but that this kitten was so bad we knew it would be a lot more and without rescue help we had to either let her die or help her. The manager told us she spoke to the vet and knew the kitten would have to return for its 'eyes' (lie, her eyes did not need treatment unless they became infected) and shots so we were to call her back for the appointment and she could get us in same day.....which is a little confusing, why contact the office manager who takes care of billing for a vet appointment?
Well, that night the kitten began to go down hill very quickly so we made an appointment again and had to take her back up. Sadly, she was too far gone and diagnosed with FIP so we had to make the choice to end her life and we chose to have her cremated. When we went to check out we told the lone technician that we would like to speak with the office manager the following morning about our donations. My mom made comments about being forced to donate what was donated to us by friends but when that was met by no reaction she said we wanted to choose where they went. She assured us that she would call....but the day passed and she never did.

I feel used. I hate that I was treated so badly by a woman when all I was trying to do was save a life -a life that did not matter to anyone else. I hate that I am being forced to give those funds to a rescue of THEIR choice...or a vet fund that I was never in my life offered, and believe me I could have used it when the only option was to save a life or put it down.

So I come to you all asking, is this how all vets work? Those that donated are VERY furious. Am I in the wrong for feeling this bad?
I really want to complain and find myself a new vet. It really made me feel quite used, as if the money was the only thing that mattered...
 

allenkm

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Perhaps you could seek legal advice on this, most lawyers will consult with you for free, then once you know if what they did is even legal you can call back and threaten a law suit if they don't refund you the Unused money. What you are doing for stays is wonderful. Please don't stop because of this manager
I would encourage you to shop around for a new vet. Explain what you do ahead of time
I believe there are vets that will applaud your efforts and want your family's business.
 
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elizabeth79

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Thank you so much, I will not stop because most rescues around here do not help and every animal needs a chance no matter how sick. I've seen even the worst animals bounce back, but I am so very sad she couldn't. FIP is a nasty disease :(
 

AbbysMom

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I'm sorry the kitten didn't make it. :hugs:

I would talk to the vet themselves and tell him your concerns about his staff. If you aren't happy with their response, I would find another vet.
 

oneandahalfcats

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Bless you for being the one to step in and help this kitten, and for persevering during what must have been a very difficult time. At least she is at peace now.

The treatment you received from this office manager was absolutely outrageous, inappropriate and incredibly insensitive. In my opinion she had no right to dictate what happens to funds that were donated for the explicit benefit of that kitten.

As Abbysmom suggested, you and your mom, should speak with the vet clinic 'owner' who may be one of the vets or collection of vets, and explain to them how you were treated by this woman. She owes you an apology at the very least. You should also insist on having any monies in your account, returned to you. If you don't receive the acknowledgement and service that you deserve, I would let people know about this place. It doesn't sound very reputable.
 
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feralvr

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I'm sorry the kitten didn't make it. :hugs:

I would talk to the vet themselves and tell him your concerns about his staff. If you aren't happy with their response, I would find another vet.
:yeah:

I, too, am extremely sorry that this beautiful kitten passed away BUT please know that in her final day or two she knew she had someone there to help her to the bridge - peacefully. I am just so very sorry but want to thank you for your efforts. :hugs: :hugs: I also agree with Karen that I would be on the HORN to the vet clinic owner and go above this extremely cold-hearted staff member's head. If you don't get some resolution to this matter and how it was handled then I would never go back to that particular vet clinic again. That woman had no right whatsoever to be in charge of where the donations went - that would and should be your choice. I have never heard of this before!! I am just sorry you had to endure such rotten treatment. Shocking, actually. I would like to give that woman a piece of my mind..... :mad: She shouldn't be working in a vet's office - a mortuary may be more up her alley. :wife: (sorry - just a little rant on behalf of you and this little :rbheart: kitten.)
 
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elizabeth79

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Thank you guys so much for the advice, we had a pretty good turn of events this morning due to a facebook post (I assume).
Those that donated were outraged to hear how we were treated and like I said above, one family member did call even though I asked them to keep calm. Well, this morning the office manager called and told us that she had to send us a check for the remaining funds because after speaking with the vet she discovered it was actually illegal to take our funding from us. They changed their policy, we are no longer allowed to have funds like that in our account or even accept donations if we are not a non profit...so we are looking into becoming one.

Many people would like us to become a rescue, but to be honest that is just opening the door to get drop offs...and as much as I wish to help them all, we cannot. We take in the under dogs. The injured ones. The sick ones. Or the ones with something odd about them that usually force people away. Usually the ones we take in are the ones no one else wishes to help, so rather then them dying alone we open our doors. I want to create something that helps people keep their pets -something where if vet care is needed families have the option of helping rather than not taking them to the vet or putting them down. I also wish to help with food donations etc, because we have so many that need help here perhaps if something like this was created we could lower that limit?

And also, so no vet could treat us this way ever again.

My mom is still going to speak with the boss to voice our displeasure, we will definitely set things right for our sweet girl. In the mean time she should be coming home in just a few days, not in the form we want her to be in...but at least she knew love (like you have said) in her last days.
 

oneandahalfcats

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Thank you guys so much for the advice, we had a pretty good turn of events this morning due to a facebook post (I assume).
Those that donated were outraged to hear how we were treated and like I said above, one family member did call even though I asked them to keep calm. Well, this morning the office manager called and told us that she had to send us a check for the remaining funds because after speaking with the vet she discovered it was actually illegal to take our funding from us. They changed their policy, we are no longer allowed to have funds like that in our account or even accept donations if we are not a non profit...so we are looking into becoming one.

Many people would like us to become a rescue, but to be honest that is just opening the door to get drop offs...and as much as I wish to help them all, we cannot. We take in the under dogs. The injured ones. The sick ones. Or the ones with something odd about them that usually force people away. Usually the ones we take in are the ones no one else wishes to help, so rather then them dying alone we open our doors. I want to create something that helps people keep their pets -something where if vet care is needed families have the option of helping rather than not taking them to the vet or putting them down. I also wish to help with food donations etc, because we have so many that need help here perhaps if something like this was created we could lower that limit?

And also, so no vet could treat us this way ever again.

My mom is still going to speak with the boss to voice our displeasure, we will definitely set things right for our sweet girl. In the mean time she should be coming home in just a few days, not in the form we want her to be in...but at least she knew love (like you have said) in her last days.
Glad to hear that things got turned around for you with this clinic, and that your donations will be returned to you.

You sound very wise and compassionate and I really like the direction you are taking in focussing on the 'under dogs'. In our world, god knows there is no shortage of these cases. Bless you for having the foresight to see the need and accept the challenge. 

All the best of luck with your future endeavours!
 
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feralvr

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Well, this morning the office manager called and told us that she had to send us a check for the remaining funds because after speaking with the vet she discovered it was actually illegal to take our funding from us. They changed their policy, we are no longer allowed to have funds like that in our account or even accept donations if we are not a non profit...so we are looking into becoming one.


My mom is still going to speak with the boss to voice our displeasure, we will definitely set things right for our sweet girl. In the mean time she should be coming home in just a few days, not in the form we want her to be in...but at least she knew love (like you have said) in her last days.
Good news about the funds being returned to you, rightfully so. :nod: AND, even also good to know that your mom is going to follow through with a call to the top vet/owner of that clinic. My heart just pours out for this little kitten that you tried to save, I thought of her again this morning. I am quite grateful to you and your mother for all you do trying to rescue the "underdogs", the ones who have no hope other than people like you. Bless you both. :heart3: :hugs: Good, good luck with following your dreams and reaching your goals - so charitable and compassionate of you. :vibes::vibes::vibes::vibes::vibes::vibes::vibes:
 
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