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Vet botched spaying of cat

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kate930

Junior Member
We live in Missouri.

On Friday, March 4th, we took our cat to the vet for a scheduled appointment to have her spayed. Our cat is about 18 months old, of which we've had her 10 of those months.

We were referred to this particular vet by P.A.W.S., and so we had not had any previous experience with him.

We followed the pre-op directions to a "T". No food or fluids after dinner, and had her at the vet's office by 8AM friday morning. We picked our cat up at 3PM, friday afternoon.

When we picked up the cat, we were told she was still "out of it" from the anesthesia. By that night, she still had not returned to a normal state of consciouness.

On Saturday (day 1 post-op), she was still incredibly lethargic. She would not move her head or respond to any kind of stimuli (calls, jingling of her bell-toy, etc). She also refused to eat or drink anything.

By Sunday (day 2 post-op) she still had not eaten or drank anything, but her breathing had become very labored, and her stomach and chest began to move in a see-saw like pattern. Because the office was closed that day, we had no choice but to wait until Monday morning to take her back to the Vet.

At 8:30am Monday morning, my husband took the cat back to the vet. They decided they needed to keep her and would be back in touch with us.

Monday evening we were told she did not look good. The vet thought she might have asthma, and that she had fluid on her lungs. When I told him that fluid on the lungs (of a perfectly healthy cat) post-operatively, did not sound suggestive of asthma, but seemed more pneumonia (common complication from anesthesia), he agreed that it could be. When I informed him I was a nurse, he stopped trying to convince me he was it was asthma, and conceded that it could be pneumonia. He also said that Ketamine (which was one of the two drugs used for the anesthesia) is known to cause fluid to accumulate post-op.

He told us that her temp was floating between 97 and 99. He was only treatin gher with Salix (loop diuretic) and a steroid.

My husband and I went to check on the cat at the vet on Wedenday (day 5 post-op) and she was completely lethargic and totally unresponsive. She had not even attempted to groom herself and looked a complete mess.

Finally, on Friday (day 7 post-op) the vet suggested that she wasn't getting better, but she wasn't getting worse. He said that she might respond to coming home with us for the weekend. I agreed and brought her home.

I am so upset. The cat refuses to eat (she has not eaten now in 10 days) and only took a few sips of water as soon as I got her home, and only that one time. She will nto try to eat or drink. She just lays on the heating pad we've been instructed by the vet to leave out for her (her temp is still very low). She won't eat (we've bought 12 different types of cat food hoping she'll eat one of them). She don't even acknowledge that we walk by her, won't meow, stares off with a glazed look continuously, and has absolutely NO purposeful movements or responses.

We really think there has been some serious brain damage to our cat. While the change in her personality concerns us, our main concern is her inability to to eat or drink independently, or her unwillingness to even try.

What do we do????????? We have already paid this vet for her spaying, and now he wants to charge us for the care she's received the past week post-operatively. He also expects us to pay for the meds he's given her.

I really think her condition has been brought on by his negligence and I can't help but wonder if she wasn't given too much sedation during surgery.

Our children are so upset.... and so are we. She has completely endeared herself to us and we love her completely. The thought of losing her hurts and is compounded by her inability to possibly ever recover enough for her to be able to do some basic self care (eating and drinking independently).

What can we do??? Do we have any kind of recourse??? Can he sue us to make us pay for the care she was given this past week due to the complications from surgery?
 


rmet4nzkx

Senior Member
If you're a nurse, you already know in your heart the answers to your questions.

Hypoxia during or after surgery is a risk and cats are known to be spacy anyway at times, so you are probably right about brain damage, but proving neglect would not be possible, animals are considered property so at most you might get the value of the cat and/or cost of sugery refunded but not the additional care without clear evidence of the vet's care being substandard. If you take them to court, they will say you should not have waited to bring the cat in until Monday, most Vets have emergency care available on weekends. If the cat doesn't have the will to live or for some neurological reason doesn't feel hunger or thirst they could linger for some time, there are records of healthy cats being without food and drink for 2 months and surviving. What is the value of your cat? Most likely less than the cost of the vet's care. While it might have been pneumonia it could have been asthma, what you described sounded like asthma, both can be caused by anesthesia, and a cat or person predisposed to it might react to anesthesia when another might not.

Unfortunately, pets seldom live as long as people and children at some point must deal with the loss of a pet. Your question is how long do your wait and what is the quality of the cat's life and any hope for recovery? Choices no one wants to make.
 

Happy Trails

Senior Member
kate930 said:
We live in Missouri.

On Friday, March 4th, we took our cat to the vet for a scheduled appointment to have her spayed. Our cat is about 18 months old, of which we've had her 10 of those months.

We were referred to this particular vet by P.A.W.S., and so we had not had any previous experience with him.

We followed the pre-op directions to a "T". No food or fluids after dinner, and had her at the vet's office by 8AM friday morning. We picked our cat up at 3PM, friday afternoon.

When we picked up the cat, we were told she was still "out of it" from the anesthesia. By that night, she still had not returned to a normal state of consciouness.

On Saturday (day 1 post-op), she was still incredibly lethargic. She would not move her head or respond to any kind of stimuli (calls, jingling of her bell-toy, etc). She also refused to eat or drink anything.

By Sunday (day 2 post-op) she still had not eaten or drank anything, but her breathing had become very labored, and her stomach and chest began to move in a see-saw like pattern. Because the office was closed that day, we had no choice but to wait until Monday morning to take her back to the Vet.

At 8:30am Monday morning, my husband took the cat back to the vet. They decided they needed to keep her and would be back in touch with us.

Monday evening we were told she did not look good. The vet thought she might have asthma, and that she had fluid on her lungs. When I told him that fluid on the lungs (of a perfectly healthy cat) post-operatively, did not sound suggestive of asthma, but seemed more pneumonia (common complication from anesthesia), he agreed that it could be. When I informed him I was a nurse, he stopped trying to convince me he was it was asthma, and conceded that it could be pneumonia. He also said that Ketamine (which was one of the two drugs used for the anesthesia) is known to cause fluid to accumulate post-op.

He told us that her temp was floating between 97 and 99. He was only treatin gher with Salix (loop diuretic) and a steroid.

My husband and I went to check on the cat at the vet on Wedenday (day 5 post-op) and she was completely lethargic and totally unresponsive. She had not even attempted to groom herself and looked a complete mess.

Finally, on Friday (day 7 post-op) the vet suggested that she wasn't getting better, but she wasn't getting worse. He said that she might respond to coming home with us for the weekend. I agreed and brought her home.

I am so upset. The cat refuses to eat (she has not eaten now in 10 days) and only took a few sips of water as soon as I got her home, and only that one time. She will nto try to eat or drink. She just lays on the heating pad we've been instructed by the vet to leave out for her (her temp is still very low). She won't eat (we've bought 12 different types of cat food hoping she'll eat one of them). She don't even acknowledge that we walk by her, won't meow, stares off with a glazed look continuously, and has absolutely NO purposeful movements or responses.

We really think there has been some serious brain damage to our cat. While the change in her personality concerns us, our main concern is her inability to to eat or drink independently, or her unwillingness to even try.

What do we do????????? We have already paid this vet for her spaying, and now he wants to charge us for the care she's received the past week post-operatively. He also expects us to pay for the meds he's given her.

I really think her condition has been brought on by his negligence and I can't help but wonder if she wasn't given too much sedation during surgery.

Our children are so upset.... and so are we. She has completely endeared herself to us and we love her completely. The thought of losing her hurts and is compounded by her inability to possibly ever recover enough for her to be able to do some basic self care (eating and drinking independently).

What can we do??? Do we have any kind of recourse??? Can he sue us to make us pay for the care she was given this past week due to the complications from surgery?
Sure he can sue.

When you authorized the surgery, you did sign a form that warned you that there could be possible complications, right?

Now I'm not saying that the vet didn't do something negligent. But how do you find out?

Have you thought about taking her to a different vet for a second opinion?
 
S

seniorjudge

Guest
Happy Trails said:
Sure he can sue.

When you authorized the surgery, you did sign a form that warned you that there could be possible complications, right?

Now I'm not saying that the vet didn't do something negligent. But how do you find out?

Have you thought about taking her to a different vet for a second opinion?
I would like to know what negligent acts the vet performed.
 

Heather2

Member
kate930 said:
We live in Missouri.

On Friday, March 4th, we took our cat to the vet for a scheduled appointment to have her spayed. Our cat is about 18 months old, of which we've had her 10 of those months.

We were referred to this particular vet by P.A.W.S., and so we had not had any previous experience with him.

We followed the pre-op directions to a "T". No food or fluids after dinner, and had her at the vet's office by 8AM friday morning. We picked our cat up at 3PM, friday afternoon.

When we picked up the cat, we were told she was still "out of it" from the anesthesia. By that night, she still had not returned to a normal state of consciouness.

On Saturday (day 1 post-op), she was still incredibly lethargic. She would not move her head or respond to any kind of stimuli (calls, jingling of her bell-toy, etc). She also refused to eat or drink anything.

By Sunday (day 2 post-op) she still had not eaten or drank anything, but her breathing had become very labored, and her stomach and chest began to move in a see-saw like pattern. Because the office was closed that day, we had no choice but to wait until Monday morning to take her back to the Vet.

At 8:30am Monday morning, my husband took the cat back to the vet. They decided they needed to keep her and would be back in touch with us.

Monday evening we were told she did not look good. The vet thought she might have asthma, and that she had fluid on her lungs. When I told him that fluid on the lungs (of a perfectly healthy cat) post-operatively, did not sound suggestive of asthma, but seemed more pneumonia (common complication from anesthesia), he agreed that it could be. When I informed him I was a nurse, he stopped trying to convince me he was it was asthma, and conceded that it could be pneumonia. He also said that Ketamine (which was one of the two drugs used for the anesthesia) is known to cause fluid to accumulate post-op.

He told us that her temp was floating between 97 and 99. He was only treatin gher with Salix (loop diuretic) and a steroid.

My husband and I went to check on the cat at the vet on Wedenday (day 5 post-op) and she was completely lethargic and totally unresponsive. She had not even attempted to groom herself and looked a complete mess.

Finally, on Friday (day 7 post-op) the vet suggested that she wasn't getting better, but she wasn't getting worse. He said that she might respond to coming home with us for the weekend. I agreed and brought her home.

I am so upset. The cat refuses to eat (she has not eaten now in 10 days) and only took a few sips of water as soon as I got her home, and only that one time. She will nto try to eat or drink. She just lays on the heating pad we've been instructed by the vet to leave out for her (her temp is still very low). She won't eat (we've bought 12 different types of cat food hoping she'll eat one of them). She don't even acknowledge that we walk by her, won't meow, stares off with a glazed look continuously, and has absolutely NO purposeful movements or responses.

We really think there has been some serious brain damage to our cat. While the change in her personality concerns us, our main concern is her inability to to eat or drink independently, or her unwillingness to even try.

What do we do????????? We have already paid this vet for her spaying, and now he wants to charge us for the care she's received the past week post-operatively. He also expects us to pay for the meds he's given her.

I really think her condition has been brought on by his negligence and I can't help but wonder if she wasn't given too much sedation during surgery.

Our children are so upset.... and so are we. She has completely endeared herself to us and we love her completely. The thought of losing her hurts and is compounded by her inability to possibly ever recover enough for her to be able to do some basic self care (eating and drinking independently).

What can we do??? Do we have any kind of recourse??? Can he sue us to make us pay for the care she was given this past week due to the complications from surgery?
That is so sad. I am so glad my baby was spayed before I got her. I've never trusted Vets. They always want to do a bunch of uneccesary crap that she doesn't need. I hope she gets better but don't let her suffer to long. Maybe you should check with another vet (if you feel it is worth it).
 

kate930

Junior Member
Well, I'm not sure of what EXACT negligent acts the vet commited, but it was enough that it killed her. As of 3pm this afternoon, she finally died. It was a HORRIBLE death. She was gasping and struggling for the last 30 minutes. She would occasionally let out a a horrible sounding cry.

I am so angry at the loss of this wonderful animal and at the unbelieveable pain he has put our family through.

I know that when a healthy animal goes in for a routine elective surgery like a spaying, there is a more than reasonable expectation for the animal to be just fine.

Obviously that's not the case. :(
 
S

seniorjudge

Guest
kate930 said:
Well, I'm not sure of what EXACT negligent acts the vet commited, but it was enough that it killed her. As of 3pm this afternoon, she finally died. It was a HORRIBLE death. She was gasping and struggling for the last 30 minutes. She would occasionally let out a a horrible sounding cry.

I am so angry at the loss of this wonderful animal and at the unbelieveable pain he has put our family through.

I know that when a healthy animal goes in for a routine elective surgery like a spaying, there is a more than reasonable expectation for the animal to be just fine.

Obviously that's not the case. :(
Assuming that the vet was negligent, the maximum amount of damages you could recover would be the amount of the operation plus the value of the cat (which, I suspect, was zero).

If it were my cat, I would've had her put down last Monday.

Please don't write back and tell me I am an animal hater or I will be forced to tell you about the deaths of all my favorite horses, cats, birds, and dogs.
 

Heather2

Member
kate930 said:
Well, I'm not sure of what EXACT negligent acts the vet commited, but it was enough that it killed her. As of 3pm this afternoon, she finally died. It was a HORRIBLE death. She was gasping and struggling for the last 30 minutes. She would occasionally let out a a horrible sounding cry.

I am so angry at the loss of this wonderful animal and at the unbelieveable pain he has put our family through.

I know that when a healthy animal goes in for a routine elective surgery like a spaying, there is a more than reasonable expectation for the animal to be just fine.

Obviously that's not the case. :(
I'm sorry sweetie I know how hard it is. But the judge knows his stuff and why put yourself through a battle you won't get any benefit from? I don't know if there is some way to report him somewhere but that would be better.
 

quincy

Senior Member
Sadly, I had a vet issue as well. I took my dog in for a jelly bean sized growth on his lower leg. The vet said it was a fat deposit and nothing to worry about. A month later it was twice the size and I was starting to worry. I took him back in. The vet said this time it was a spider bite. I questioned it and asked about removing it. They said it would be a simple procedure but wasn't necessary. Another month went by and it again doubled in size. Another visit and I was told it was an arthritic fluid buildup. I demanded it be tested. They drew the fluid. I found out later that they charged me for the testing but never actually sent it. When I called for the test results they "confirmed" their most recent diagnosis. But it kept growing. I went to another vet for a second opinion. I made the mistake of filling in the line on the form asking where the pet had been previously seen. They called them for records. I found out after the fact that the new vet was told I was a crazy hypochondriac and that despite conclusive testing I didn't believe them and was seeking attention. My husband was taken aside and told that I needed psychiatric help and he should save his money and believe a trained vet over a crazy wife. A week later, the skin over the now fist-sized lump split. The vet said he had scratched it and placed a bandage on it and told us to leave it on and bring him back in a week. Two days later, the bandage was soaked and smelly. Having been an army medic I decided to apply a fresh one myself since it was 10pm. When I opened the bandage, his leg literally exploded. We rushed him to the emergency vet across town. This vet cancelled all appointments for the next day and focused solely on our dog and the surgery he needed. Our dog had to have his entire leg removed due to the aggressive cancer. He said that if they had removed the small lump when I had asked, my cost would have been $200. The surgery cost me $7000. Plus the numerous visits which cost me nearly $2000. The emergency vet investigated the dogs visits and "tests" himself and found the truth of what I have just told you. I contacted a lawyer, absolutely livid at what had been done. Because we had adopted the dog, we would only be able to get a grand total of $318 if we sued, the sum we paid for the initial visit and the bogus tests. So what are the options? I was told that I could submit a complaint to the Better Business Bureau, submit customer reviews to consumer sites, and make a formal complaint to the certifying board for veterinarians for the state. I was also warned that I must provide documentation and provide facts, that speculation would not be acceptable.

I am very sorry for your loss. At this point all you can do is provide a warning for other pet families to beware.
This thread is over ten years old. Any advice you add now is of little use to the original poster. She is no longer an active member of the forum.

FreeAdvice prefers that old threads stay in the archives. They are for reference purposes only. If you have a question or legal concern of your own, though, Wendy, you can start your own thread and we will be happy to help you.

Thank you.
 

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