would you send your dog in for major surgery by a specialist who leaves the dog alone unattended all night at the clinic, and who will not consider any other alternatives?

i think i have finally found a vet to perform a laparoscopic gastropexy on my dog (stomach tacking to prevent bloat). he's a board certified internist with a specialty practice two hours from me. he uses state of the art monitoring during surgery and the latest in anesthetics.

but he insists on the dog staying the night at the clinic, to limit the dog's movement and thereby control pain, keeps the dog on injectible painkillers. all that is fine with me, but i am very concerned that the dog will be in the clinic without supervision from 10 pm to 7 am.

they say if they see a problem, of course they won't leave him alone. but my concern is what if there is no problem until midnight, and then it is 7 hours until someone notices?

this specialist comes across as rigid, closeminded, and very arrogant. i'm not going to let that bother me because he is not going to be my regular vet, and i need someone with experience with this method. but it is making it really difficult to communicate with him about my concerns and get a satisfactory answer.

those of you with years of experience in dogs, do you think his post-op care protocol is reasonable? would you let your dog stay in a clinic overnight without supervision after abdominal surgery (it is laparoscopic, but still...) ???

my only other option is to drive about 8 hours on secondary roads to another clinic, where they release the dog to you the same day and send you off with some rimadyl.

your thoughts?

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would you send your dog in for major surgery by a specialist who leaves the dog alone unattended all night at the clinic, and who will not consider any other alternatives?.....

My own personal opinion is: No.

If there were no general anesthesia involved, I'd think differently.

But there are vet med folks on this board; I hope they'll give expert opinions.

no way. no how. it is obvious you are having second thoughts and questions about this vet "arrogant", "set in his ways" - I would take that instinct you have about him and follow it to another vet, another place, and one that hires techs to stay 24/7 with post-surgical patients. My vet would send my dog home with me, knowing I could keep him quiet and be able to notice if anything was strange and be able to pick up the phone to vet who would be on call. The dog alone in a cage in the empty vet hospital with noone watching, would not be able to make such a call. If one stitch came out, or one internal suture ruptured - he could bleed to death alone in the cage, there would be plenty of time for him to look pink and healthy at 10 pm, and deceased in the morning. There would be no chance of "oops he looked fine at 10 pm, don't know what happened" with my dog - I think you already know that from your post.

molly

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..... one that hires techs to stay 24/7 with post-surgical patients. My vet would send my dog home with me, knowing I could keep him quiet and be able to notice if anything was strange and be able to pick up the phone to vet who would be on call. .....

I called my vet to ask this question, and she just called me back.

They do not generally have someone on duty there overnight. She says they DO have a tech stay all night whenever they have a post-op or a critical patient.

This makes sense to me.

The receptionist (to whom I addressed the nature of the call-back) said something interesting. She said "Oh, really? A requirement to stay overnight, even though there is no attendant? I might call that a requirement to up the billing amount."

my understanding is that the main purpose of keeping the dog overnight is to keep him confined and quiet, so that he doesn't disturb the "tacking". not moving around also helps reduce the potential for serious pain.

i just called my vet to ask if she thought it was OK. the message i got back was that if he wakes up fine from the anesthesia and all vitals are normal, he should be fine. and if he doesn't and they aren't, then they won't leave him. and that she trusts this hospital.

the other thing that is bothering me is somehow the estimate mysteriously went up $250 after i had an email exchange with the specialist. his vet tech had already given me an estimate, now my vet's office is being told to tell me it is more.

i've asked for an itemized estimate. they were supposed to email it to me early this afternoon. so far, no sign of it.

as i mentioned, i don't have a lot of other options. the closest other vet i've been able to locate with comparable experience and facilities is an 8 hour drive away. and i don't have the high recommendations to him that i have to this vet, though i liked him very much on the phone and felt a lot more comfortable.

my own vet's strong vote of confidence in the vet and his hospital should be the most important thing. but i do not like what i am hearing--conflicting information and an "attitude."

Just a thought....is there an emergency 24 hour vet clinic in your area that the dog can be transfered to where they have vet techs there 24 hours & can monitor the dog there? I know of some vets in my area that have done that since they do not have the overnight staff do monitor a post surgical patient. Just a thought. Just from the things that you have stated would make me find other options rather than 'trust' the care of my dog to a vet that is so cavalier about post op care. JMO But I can tell you I would not leave my dogs in this guys care....good recommendations of not. Sometimes you just have to trust your gut!!!

all i can add to the discussion is that, at the small an. clinic i worked at, if there was a major sx., with potential overnight problems, one of the vets ALWAYS made at LEAST 2 after-hours check-ups, more if needed.

maybe i just worked with incredibly dedicated vets (i like to think so--best job i ever had); but if it was MY dog, and the vet flat told me there'd be NO ONE overnight, AT ALL--i'd drive the 8 hrs. if there was even the slightest doubt in my mind, i'd drive the 8 hrs.

i realize that sometimes it comes down to $$ and time (believe me!!), but if i could work it, i would.

GO WITH YOUR GUT--it's usually right. FWIW... <img src="http://www.leerburg.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" />

Alice,

Are you anywhere near a veterinary teaching hospital, such as Fort Collins, Colorado or U.C. Davis in Sacramento? And is there the possibility of a several day stay nearby? We took our female GSD to Fort Collins, as referred by our vet, for cancer surgery. A hospital here did the MRI (our vet knew a doc on staff) and sent it to the school at Fort Collins. I cannot recommend the place highly enough. The people are fantastic and it's 24/7 care. I have told my kids when it's time, don't put me in the home...I want to go to the vet clinic at Fort Collins. The best of luck to you.

ruth,
i would LOVE to take him to fort collins. if we drive straight through, it will take about 16 hours to get there. <img src="http://www.leerburg.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" />

but i have already contacted the head of small animal surgery at CSU. he has said the vet i'm scheduled to see will be just fine.

in fact, everyone i've contacted says he is the best guy to go to, if only because he is closer and qualified and a specialist.

even my dog's breeder, who is a vet tech, just emailed me and said leaving a healthy post-surgery dog unattended overnight is pretty standard. in her clinic, it's from 6 pm to 4 am!

the closest teaching hospital's resident surgeon does not have as much experience as the closer guy does.

so i guess i am going to hold my nose and go for it. wish me luck. <img src="http://www.leerburg.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" />