Ultimately, the vet put my dog under anesthesia and was unable to perform a small surgery because he DID NOT properly do the diagnostics and thoroughly examine my dog beforehand, causing my dog more stress, improper care, and a huge bill. The vet and upper management DID NOT take any responsibility for what happened and DID NOT show any empathy towards my concerns or frustrations. Read on for the full story.
My dog had a cut / bloody ear tip. After talking to the vet on the phone he said to keep it wrapped (which is what we did, but the wrap kept coming off) and he needed to examine it more (which is what I expected). When taking him in, the vet basically told me the same thing he told me over the phone (keep his head wrapped, buy the no flap ear wrap, and gave options to do blood work to rule out diagnosis of hypothyroidism) and sent me on my way. The vet did not even examine my dog's ear thoroughly or properly (he glanced at it), did not help me wrap it, or did not suggest anything to put on it to clean it or help the bleeding stop.
A couple days later, my dog's ear just kept getting worse. I should have just gone elsewhere, but I emailed the vet and asked if we could just cauterize his ear tip to stop the bleeding or if there are any other options to stop the bleeding. He told me that he COULD cauterize it, so I made the appointment for that week.... After putting my dog under anesthesia the vet called me and told me he cannot cauterize my dog's ear after looking at it further while he was under anesthesia. WHY DID THEY HAVE TO PUT HIM UNDER ANESTHESIA JUST TO TELL ME THEY COULD NOT DO IT. His ear should have been further examined (at the initial vet appointment) BEFORE telling me this information. I asked for cauterization and wanted a quick fix, but the vet should have told me better...
He was on the phone with me for about 30 minutes to figure out what our options were at this point and I also had a lot of questions, come to find out when we got the bill we were charged extra for an extended period of anesthesia because my dog was apparently still put under anesthesia while we were talking. Why wouldn't he tell me "I need to make this quick because your dog is still under!?" Anyway... the vet ended up just doing blood work and a cytology (which could have been done NOT UNDER ANESTHESIA) and wrapping his head, which came up (again) 2 hours later and we were back at square one
Important to note: My dog is reactive when people touch his inner ear or when he is feeling pain/uncomfort. However, that does NOT give the vet a reason that my dog needed to be put under anesthesia to examine him further.... The vet should have done further examination before putting him under to make sure he could perform this surgery. Putting a dog under anesthesia not only costs a lot of money, but has a lot of risks for a dog!!! My dog has gotten his ears cleaned out and looked at by another vet in the past with no significant problems other than needing a muzzle and an extra set of hands and/or with light sedation medication. If the vet did not feel comfortable examining my dog's ears, they should have communicated that with us..
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After talking to the vet and management about this issue for about 4 weeks (because no one would get back to me after calling every day), they had absolutely NO empathy about my frustrations or willingness to come to an agreement or own up to the possibility of taking the wrong steps. They kept saying, "we did nothing wrong and we are not seeing eye to eye." I initially was very nice with them and was hoping to work something out, but they became very defensive and off putting. They just kept telling me that my dog is "reactive" and was looking out for the safety of the vet (which I absolutely understand). Again, It DOES NOT give them a reason to skip the appropriate diagnostic steps. Like I mentioned, my dog is fine with a muzzle and extra hands. If you don't feel comfortable examining him, then that should have been communicated to me or he should have passed my dog on to a vet that felt more comfortable. I am usually not the type of person to blast companies or people on social media at all. I felt like this situation needs to be known to others and I hope my experience is helpful as you review the best care for your pets. I would be happy to share more details if there are questions or parts of the story that do not make sense as there were a lot of parts to this experience. read more
