We just lost a 5 yr old St. Bernard.
Away camping on Aug 12, the dog was leaking thru her vulva.
Called vet first thing monday morning, took her in, they did surgery late afternoon to remove uterus and other stuff as they had diagnosed her with pyometra.
We called first thing tuesday morn to see how she was, they said she is good and we could come get her. She was very weakened and lost alot of weight rapidly. She would only eat canned dog food the first few days but was very lethargic with little activity, which we thot was just a result of having a major surgery. The vet never said to watch for this or that.
Late sat evening her appetite declined. by monday evening she would not eat or drink anything. as it was after office hours, i called the vet number and they had a girl on call for emergencies. she had the vet who did the surgery call me back, it was 12:20 am. Right away she spouts out a $125 fee to bring her in, which i coulda cared less about. i explained to her the dogs heart beat was very rapid, breathing very heavy, eyes withdrawn - the whole nine yards. so the vet says they did not have any staff available and if i brought her in, they would only put her in a pen and deal with her in the morning.
sooo - not knowing the severity, i waited, took her in first thing on the 23rd, another vet checks her and is very concerned. i leave her there, and 2 hours later they call - my dog died.
her heartrate was 200 bpm and she had a buildup of peritonitis fluid infection in her abdomion.
then i start my research, i went to website after website, talked to vet techs on the phone, talked to other vets, a paralegal and an attorney.
The focus was that after operating on a dog with pyometra, she should have remained hospitalized for at least 2-5 days with an IV to flush out any remainign poisons, along with pain medicine and anti-biotics.
I confronted the vet face to face about not doing this and she said it was their policy and she had no comment about proper procedures.
I then talked to the vet who attended her the day she died, and asked her what she would have done had she been the one to make that call, and of course she said she could not cross that line because it would cost her her job, that spoke volumes to me.
Now there is no recourse for me becoz no vet will cross that line should i take legal action. But the vet who did the surgery was deralict in her duties twice, that had she acted otherwise, we may still have our dog.
I wish legally I could get help, but no one will stick their neck out to suffice justice for our dog. maybe she would not have made it, who knows, but it is too late for maybe. Only wishful afterthoughts.
Our story is - just becoz they are vets does not make their decisions correct. Our mistake was not knowing or learning before it was too late, and the vet never explained how dangerous this disease is, the risks afterwards, nothing. she refuses to take any responsibility for her inactions.
If you have a female dog, research pyometra online - it will scare you to reality.