hello everybody,
some of you might know that i have ben fighting my breeder about neutering my gsd.
Well i gave in and decided to neuter him. Just made sence for me right now.
Next time i will know better and get full rights.
Anyway I took my dog to get neutered and he was not bouncing back from the surgery. I know this dog well and i could tell that somthing was amiss with in a few days. I took him back and he had a fever of 106 and looks like pneumonia, I know and the vet knows he got sick thru this surgery. So who is liable to pay for his treatment me or the vet.
My first concern is my dogs Health, but im pretty PO over this whole situation
sorry for the misspellings
thanks
james

Step one is to tell your vet, very frankly, exactly how pissed off you are. Explain that since the treatment is a result of surgical complications, you intend the vet to swallow some, or all of the costs.

Should your vet disagree, call the Better Business Bureau, and your state's Veterinary licensing agency.

It's unusual for a neuter to go so sour.

I would speak to your vet as suggested about them covering the costs as unless it's a post op infection this is not something that should happen. It's also important to document everything as it happens. Begin this process today. You will need these documents for reporting to a vetrinary board and BBB.

Best of luck, I do hope your dog feels better soon.

James,
Sorry about the dog, hope he comes around okay.

Did you read the release you signed when the dog was turned over for the surgery?
I have to admit I've never read the darn things through. But I'll bet the answer you seek is in there.

Hope your dog recovers in good shape.
Randy

And I wouldnt be too surprised if it excludes liability for post op infections.

 Quote: Melissa Thom

It's unusual for a neuter to go so sour.

I agree.

Talk to your vet, as suggested, and talk to the practice manager, as well. Ask for a copy of your dog's file, including the surgical log.

Was blood taken pre-op? If not, why not? Was your dog's temp taken before, during, and after surgery? Was your dog's vital signs (respiration, BP, gum color) monitored and noted on the surgical log?

With the possible exception of a pre-op blood panel, the rest is SOP for any anesthetic procedure and the numbers tell the story and will bolster your case if the surgical care and follow up was less than ideal.

thanks everybody
good advice as usual
james

I'd probably go in unannounced and request and wait for the CCs of the chart (file).

First of all, James, my best wishes for a speedy and full recovery for you dog.

Great suggestion Connie. That will reduce (but certainly not eliminate) the risk of tampering with/destroying any relevant evidence.

James, you said that your dog got sick after a neuter surgery and it looks like pneumonia. It seems, IMHO, that the surgery was not the legal cause of the illness (to state the obvious, the vet should be nowhere near the lungs). A more likely cause of your pet's illness is improper care AFTER surgery (e.g. allowing him to recover in too close proximity to a sick dog).

I don't know all of the facts, but this is the avenue I would pursue. In any even, it comes down to whether or not the vet was negligent (breach the standard of care) in treating and caring for your dog and that negligence caused your dog's illness.

When I went in (as Connie suggested), I would also ask for a list of all other animals who were at the vet's office while your dog was in surgery and in recovery at the animal hospital. If the staff/vet will tell you, find out what the pets were in for. If they won't tell you, you might have to contact each owner individually.

The vet might contend that your dog was already infected. Thus, it is important to get an accurate diagnosis of your dog's illness. Then you can figure out probable incubation periods.

This may seem like a silly question, but have you asked the vet to reimburse you for the charges? My vet would certainly do so.

I hope this helps.

Again, I wish your dog the best.

If the vet actually discloses the other patients who were in the hospital at the same time, the reasons why they were there, and the owner's information that would be a MAJOR breach of doctor/patient confidentiality. He can't do it and if he did...well, that would really disturb me.

In California, at least, it is against the law to change the medical file. You can't erase, White-Out, or any way eradicate what has been previously noted.

If the dog was sick and running a temp before surgery, then the temp should have been noted in the file. The next question would then be: "Why did you operate on a sick animal?"

If no temp was taken the morning of surgery then the question would be: "Why didn't you check? How do you know his system wasn't already under stress, which you made worse by performing surgery?" It is the doctor's job to do a pre-op exam on every animal and assess if that animal is fit for anesthesia and surgery.

Neuters are quick procedures so pay close attention to the surgical log and note how much time it took. If it took longer than an hour, I'd ask why.

If this happened to my dog and there was a confirmed diagnosis of pneumonia, I know I would ask be looking hard at the surgical log and asking questions about the endo-tube, if there was any problems placing it, and who placed it. I'd ask if my dog vomited at any point during the procedure. I'd ask if my dog took a long time to wake up from anesthesia.

Pneumonia in a young, healthy dog is unusual, in my non-medical experience. Post-op neuter complications of this kind are extremely unusual.