I have had it!!

I am so angry about this and I get tears in my eyes just thinking about it. Today at work I left for my break and came home. We have a cat at work who is 17 and her owner dropped her off today to have a pin removed from her leg tomarrow. I absolutely love this cat. She is so sweet and at her age and what she went through when she broke her leg she has been so good about it. Well when I got back from my break one of the techs came up and said "They removed the pin from her leg already."

I looked over to her cage and she was sitting up and looked as though she was never sedated. I figured they must have gassed her down for her to be up so quickly. I asked the tech "What did they gas her down?"

Her expression fell and she said "No so and so just held her while the doctor pulled it out."

I flipped!! I could not believe they did they without sedating her!! I was so angry and I rushed over to her to make sure she was ok. She purred away and rubbed her face on my hand. The rep told me she screamed so loud a customer thought it was a bird.....

So here I am at home and I feel sick to my stomach thinking that that poor little girl had to go through that. There was absolutely no reason for her to have gone through that and the surgery was set for tomarrow. I went home and cried. I feel so guilty for not being there. I would have quit if the doctor tried to make me hold her while he did that. I lost a bit of respect for him today.

I am so sick of how animals there get treated at times. This other tech is so mean to the animals when they don't "behave". She'll yell at them, drag the dogs down the stairs to shove them in the cages down there, she'll smack them if they don't hold still for x-rays. I mean an animal has to be practically sedated for her not to get frustrated with them.

I do have a stressful job and it wears your patients down but there is no excuse. I am ashamed to say I would not leave my own animals there without me being there. I think I've said enough for now.

Wow. That is horrendous. You are absolutely right to be so upset. I hope you don't work for my vet, but now I am absolutely certain that I will never leave my kitties alone with anyone. What are you going to do?

Jessica, that is just horrible! You can't blame yourself for not being there for that precious girl. At least she got some comfort from you when it was over with.

I'm sure you have, but have you talked to your boss/vet about the way that tech treats the animals? Is there another vet clinic you could work at that treats the animals better in your area?

That's so sad that you have to see this kind of treatment. At least the animals get a loving touch from you if nothing else. They know you love them.

That sounds really terrible! I hate to even think about things like this happening at a veterinary clinic! I agree with Valanhb, you should talk to the vet about your concerns and tell him about the abuse that you have seen. There may be some things going on that he isn't aware of, and there may also be some communication problems that need to be corrected.

I am on your side but I am also wondering about the safety concerns vets must have when they work with animals who have reached an advanced age. Is it possible that the vet didn't feel any type of general anesthetic(sp)? was safe for this cat due to her age? Maybe the cat's leg was injected with a local anesthetic instead? FYI: My brother once had to have pins removed from his own leg and he told me later that this is a very painful procedure.

I hope the problems at your clinic can be resolved successfully.

Lorie to answer your question, there was no local anesthetic given and giving a sedative to remove a pin is the normal procedure. So there was nothing given to the cat. She felt every bit of it. Otherwise I wouldn't have been so upset. She was set to be sedated tomarrow to have the pin removed but they went ahead and did it today for whatever reason.

I am not the only one who was upset about it. The tech who told me about it and the receptionist were angry as well. As for telling my boss about the abuse, he knows about it and he won't do a thing. The tech who does it is the head tech and he "needs" her and even if I were to tell him not a thing would come of it.

We've had several staff meetings about what we feel can improve the place and any suggestions are never put into action. My boss is the type who'd rather not cause any waves and would rather let things be. I know it's hard to understand all this but unless you are there and know the situation you won't see my point.

I feel helpless and it's making it so I don't want to go to work. I do my best to make the animals in my care feel comfortable(even the difficult ones) but I am not always there nor can I tend to every animal.

My own vet is excellent and I was trying to give the vet at your clinic the benefit of the doubt. Your last post cleared up those misconceptions.

I know the procedures for humans and animals are probably very different, but if you have a pin removed from a bone in a person its normally done w/ no sedation. I am not sure for a leg, but my neighbor just had a pin from his wrist done and he said it felt a bit "weird" but it was not painful. Perhaps this cat just didn't like the "feeling" of it, but it maybe didn't hurt as much as expected. My neighbor said it was the kind of feeling that made you get a chill, but it was not an uncomfortable pain.

Just a thought, I may be wrong. But perhaps it just sounds worse than it actually was.

I appreciate you guys trying to give the clinic the benefit of the doubt but this is not the first time something like this has happened.

I'm not sure how the procedure is done in humans but with animals thay are sedated and an incision is made then the pin is pulled out. So the cat felt her skin being cut with a blade and the pin that has been in place for quite a few months being wrestled out of her weak little leg.

If this was a common practice then I wouldn't have been upset but it's not and it was wrong. I've assisted in many many pin removals and they have all been under sedation because the pin doesn't come out very easily, not to mention an incision has to be made.

**sighs**

I'm sorry Jessica, I was in no way trying to minimize the pain that the kitty might have felt. I just thought perhaps you'd feel a bit better knowing that people have it done w/ no sedation quite frequently.

I completely understand you are upset. I hope you and the vet you work for, are able to work it out, so the care can be better for these animals. You obviously are bothered when the animals aren't treated properly, and you are right in feeling that way. Maybe you should schedule a meeting with him to discuss your concerns, or maybe its time to move on?? There are a lot of great vets on Cape Cod, perhaps you could find a more "compassionate" one to employee you!!

I don't know how hard this would be because you work there, but could you go to the medical board that oversees the vets in your area?? I sure as hell would!!

Keith

Animals can't report cruelty and pain. Anesthetic is expensive, so it's easier to say they don't feel it. Human baby boys were being circumsized with no anesthetic because of the same reasoning. And when I was helpless and near death this last December, despite my insisting on a female nurse, protests, and lucidity, the nurses insisted that I be bathed by an eighteen year old boy who wanted to study nursing. They said "Do it yourself, then." Primo, non nocere, correct? I was very ill, and many things were done no one thought I was lucid enough to remember. I almost died in intensive care when my oxygen was left off. I reported all of these incidents, but I don't know how much credence was given to my reports. The field of medicine has both heroes and villains and I met both. I'm afraid of what will happen when I get older, very afraid.

I used to work for Chandler Veterinary Hospital in Chandler, Arizona. I quit because of a similar situation. I was unhappy about the way the main vet treated the animals, the sloppy means and the fact they still flea dipped pets, the use of the rope leash.

It's important to find a good vet. For any Arizonans out there, go to Dr. Conti in Tempe. He's amazing. He was always so good with my dog, and obviously cared a lot about her and all animals. She almost died once and he saved her. A lot of vets came to see her, because the surgery was so complicated they were amazed she survived. But the most important thing he ever did ~ I was a teenage and so upset about my dog ~ he let me live in her kennel with her. I asked him, and there were no questions about it, it was fine with him, and they all thought it was great, not weird, how much I loved her. That's a good vet.

Jessica, I completely understand the "political" situation in your workplace. It happens more frequently than you could imagine. I've had bosses exactly like that - avoid cofrontation, no listening to employee suggestions since they know best, etc. It always amazes me how many incompetent people are still employed, no matter what field. Your situation, however, is ten times (more really) worse since the incompetence is hurting a living creature.

Have you looked into getting a job at a different vet's office/clinic? It sounds like you have good experience, and obviously a caring attitude that a compassionate vet would love to have in his/her office.

ALica,
Where is the Chandler vet located? I live in Gilbert, and go to Gilbert Vet (on Gilbert/Ray Rd.).

Jessica....this story just made me sick! I would have been furious too!
That poor cat!!!!! I feel so bad for it, and for the woman who dropped it off thinking it was in good hands...if they did that to one of my cats and I found out, I would be livid!!!!!

Since this was really bothering me I kept on about it at work today. I found out the reason why they pulled the pin without sedation was because the owner was complaining about the cost...... So you'd rather have her feel that than pay a little extra money because of a mistake you made?!(the cat broke her leg when the owner backed over her in her car.)

**shakes her head** Much too nice of a cat for them to have. Not to mention if I was the doctor I would have refused to do that without sedation.

Originally posted by Tigger
ALica,
Where is the Chandler vet located? I live in Gilbert, and go to Gilbert Vet (on Gilbert/Ray Rd.).

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Let's see....it's been a while, and may even have new staff (my experience was around 93?) but it's on Chandler Blvd I thing, maybe around Kyrene, just past the Bowling alley on the left.