On thursday the 11th of dec. 08 I brought in to the vet a ferrel cat ( I caught her because she was starving and freezing to deth and I just want to give her a better life living with me); the vet told me that the best way would be spade and declaw at the same time but I also told him to go ahead to run all the tests she needs (in order to make sure she was ok); after he run the leukemia type of test he called me to tell me that she tested positive to FIV and ask me if I want the surgeries done anyway, so I asked him if that would increase her risk to die sooner, since the desease is deadly anyhow and he said..."well, you know, there is always risks even for a normal cat..but..you know ..it should be ok"; so, I agree and told him to go ahead with the surgery. Everything appeared to go ok, so I picked her up after 2 days, on saturday and on sunday night she was still feeling "not right"; on monday morning one of her front paw was swelling twice as much and she was looking pretty bad. Because of several reason I didn't trust that vet clinic, I took her to a much more professional hospital where they diagnosed my cat very sick(high fever with a secondary infection, especially in her left paw ); they promptly call the other vet, that performed the surgeries and ask the to fax the records and it looks like they didn't give her any antibiothyc or pain medication ( I thought they took care of that when I picked her up after the surgery!- I trusted them..); she was given IV, shots and other treatments but the fever was way too high and it wouldn't go down so and she was soffering too much: we ha to put her to sleep, one of the worst dfecision we had to make, but because of the situation and her desease, there was no choice.
All I want was just to give her a better life: in the 2 days she was with us she probably felt love and purr for her first time in her short life (she was about 4-5 months old) and she was the sweetest Girl.
Now, I dint'd care about how much money I was going to spend in order to keep her healthy but, I paid $ 327.00 to the first vet and $ 205 to the second to try to safe her life (and they were very professional and compassionate towards me and the cat), but it looks like we're talking about Veterinarian Malpractice here! Yes I understand the FIV desease and all the risks but I still thimk that something went wrong with the surgery and the fact that she wasn't given the correct care she should of. Is there anyhow I can investigate that vet clinic for possible malpractice? More than getting my money back I want to make sure that doctor won't continue to operate overgharging pet owners at the animal's life expenses!
Missy
For all the care you are describing, you sure had cheap vet bills.
Your first mistake was agreeing to have the cat declawed. That's pure torture you know. How would you like your finger nails and first segment of bone pulled out of your fingers?
Rose Dawson
same thing happened to me but with a bunny. my vet had some serious problems so i wrote him a letter saying that he should keep his money cuz he'll need it cuz he should go back to college and learn something more his level like working at mcdonalds!!!
schnauzer
Legally speaking this is the hardest case to prove as vets ban together when things go wrong like doctors and although you can report the vets to the vet Board l doubt much will be done and l know it was not the money issue for you but the fact that it did not get the proper care and neither do us humans if you do not have a decent GP you are in big trouble.Wish l could be more positive for you but l would send a letter to the governing vet Board of your state and ones to the vets you are accusing of negligence so at least they know how you feel but be careful how you word it as you do not want a defamation case on your hands.Wish l could help more but that is the Law for you it is a Ass!
$ arah (account suspended)
What did the second vet say about the previous vet's care? Did they say they did something wrong or left something out?
Did you talk to the first vet and ask why no pain medication was given?
Lioness
In my personal opinion, no malpractice occurred.
Infection is one of many risks you take when declawing a cat, and I have no doubt you signed a piece of paper stating you were willing to take on those risks (even if you don't remember it). It is not standard procedure to put a cat on antibiotics after a declaw, but it is your responsibility to watch the incision sites very closely for infection and contact the vet for meds if you see any signs. Also, pain meds are your decision - they are not always standard procedure for surgery. (at the clinic I used to work at, we always pushed them - and even then some people still declined)
It was your decision as to whether or not the surgery should take place with your FIV+ cat, in the end I don't think you can really blame the vet for that decision.
If you have other cats, they are at a very high risk for getting the disease if they are not FIV vaccinated.
I'm sorry things didn't go well for your cat. It was very nice of you to do everything you could to improve her life.
Shar Pei Lady
Oh shoot! Don't scold this person for trying to give this kitty a good life.Malpractice is very hard to prove..especially in the case of animals.I am sure there is a veternarian board that you could complain to,and they can investigate it,at no cost to you.Have you called that vet and tried to get your $ $ $ back?I would.They know the cat was having problems by the other vet calling them.Speak to a "higher up" in the clinic that did the surgery.Hopefully,they will at least do that.Then,I would STILL follow thru with a call the the veternarian board of your state.
Wolf Grrl
I am sorry for your loss.
The veterinarian was irresponsible to have not given your spayed and declawed (both surgerys are painful) any pain medication thats just wrong. If your cat had a fever the day of surgerys then she should have not gone into surgery, you can find that out from the cats records -if they even checked her temp.
You may want to read up more about veterinarian malpractice, and then make a claim.
K9 Angel
You signed a form saying you understood the risks of surgery. You should have done better research on the risks of amputation prior to the surgery. You also should be aware that pain meds and antibiotics might be needed for her. After all, cats did in dirt to defacate and you amputated the ends of her digging tools. Of course she is going to need anitbiotics.
Also, declawing her was an elective surgery you chose to do to her and it wasn't necessary to give her a better life, in fact it mutilated her and then killed her.
She was a feral cat..........she would never have been happy living in a home. You need to do some research on cats, especially wild, (feral) cats. Cats are not like dogs, they do not adjust to a home environment if truly feral. Feral cats are usually caught only to be altered to reduce the over population and then given vaccines, tested for contagious diseases and then returned to the wild, where they HAPPILY live out their lives, they are WILD!!!
If you wanted a pet, you should have gone to a shelter and if you do adopt a cat DO NOT DECLAW IT!!!! It is inhumane and done only by people to lazy to train and entertain their cat properly.
Orignal From: Veterinarian Malpractice?
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