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If you're worried about your pet's health, please speak to a vet or qualified professional.

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If you're worried about your pet's health, please speak to a vet or qualified professional.

The doghouse

Is it usual for a vet to charge £hundreds for an op if your dog dies while with them?

32 replies

VivaLeBeaver · 29/04/2013 16:29

Dog had a dental last week and died after the op while still at the vets.

I could maybe see them charging cost for the GA and maybe for the vets time but they've billed £260. Which I've paid. Though I did let it be known I was suprised they'd had her under GA for 90mins when she had a heart murmur.

Is this normal or are they been cheeky feckers?

OP posts:

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miggy · 29/04/2013 16:51

Firstly am really sorry about yor dog, must have been horrid :(
Re charging, well When I ran a practice I wouldnt have charged as a good will gesture, even though we would have been out of pocket. They may be a more financially motivated practice, or it may be a case of not being seen to admit liability?

pigsDOfly · 29/04/2013 17:01

90 minutes seems like a hell of a long time for a dog to be under GA even without a heart murmur.

Was it just a clean, teeth removed or something bigger? Are you suspecting negligence Viva?

Have you spoken to the vet who actually did the procedure? Tbh £260 doesn't sound an awful lot to me, anything with GA is going to cost an arm and a leg, but I'd certainly want to know exactly what happened and why they kept her under so long.

It does seem strange that when they haven't returned your dog safely to you after what sounds like a routine procedure they go on to charge you for it, but I'd definitely want to know what I'm being charged for a why this happened.

VivaLeBeaver · 29/04/2013 17:15

Just a routine clean and teeth out.

She'd reacted badly to an anaesthetic before there and that time they'd stopped the operation early. I'd put off having it done again but the head vet/owner convinced me to have it done, saying they'd monitor her closely, etc.

I do suspect negligence but I can't prove it. I don't even have the emotional energy to argue it. I start crying as soon as I think about the whole situation. I'm guessing at £260 they're still making a profit - nice. The owner said they'd done nothing wrong, that her pulse and breathing had been fine throughout the op. So she's no idea why they found her dead in the recovery cage a short while after but she's sorry.

I'll be finding a different vets.

OP posts:

VivaLeBeaver · 29/04/2013 17:16

Thanks Miggy, maybe they don't want to seem to be admitting liabilty.

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pigsDOfly · 29/04/2013 17:24

Does sound as if they're covering their backs, and they don't sound like someone you'd want to deal with again.

So sorry you've had to go through this.

Lonecatwithkitten · 29/04/2013 17:26

I'm sorry to hear about your dog.
90 minutes is not uncommon for a dog dental if there are quite a lot of teeth to be removed. It can take a considerable length of time to remove a molar.
Different practices handle this situation differently and some will discount the bill, some will write it off and others charge you the whole amount.
If you are concerned that your dog was not properly cared for then you can contact the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons and they will carry out a preliminary investigation asking to see all the records.

VivaLeBeaver · 29/04/2013 17:27

Thanks Pigs. I asked the vetwho did the op what he thought had happened and he said he didn't know. One of those things, etc.

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HoneyDragon · 29/04/2013 17:55

Viva

When I took my dog in after she collapsed, they did everything they could to save her. After she passed away they decided to do a scan to ascertain what had killed her. As it was set up anyway for whilst they were trying to save her.

The scan would've cost nearly £200.

We were charged £29.00 for bringing her in. And her cremation fees. We were not chased for payment once.

It concerns me that they have no interest in establishing the cause of her death I think they count on people being to distraught to question them.

VivaLeBeaver · 29/04/2013 18:15

I'm getting angrier now the more I think about it. I'm tempted to ask them for a breakdown of costs. Though I suppose seeing as I've paid its maybe pointless. I probably just need to move on rather than dwell on it.

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HoneyDragon · 29/04/2013 18:17

What about speaking to your insurance company, might there be something in the policy that can help you?

Lilcamper · 29/04/2013 18:21

My old vet is still chasing me for £6.00 for treatment my dog received before euthanasia and cremation, 5 years later...

Sorry for your loss x

VivaLeBeaver · 29/04/2013 18:24

As it was a dental op the insurance doesn't cover dentals.

It pays £100 for accidental death but I think they'd argue it wasn't accidental. Plus my excess is £70 so not really worth it.

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iclaudius · 29/04/2013 18:24

Lilcamper why don't you pay it?

Viva so sorry for your loss

Houseinmerseyside · 29/04/2013 18:30

If I were you I'd leave terrible but factual reviews of this vet all over the Internet. They deserve it, and it would make me feel a tiny bit better to warn other pet owners about them. I'm really sorry for your loss and am seething at these horrible people.

Lilcamper · 29/04/2013 18:36

I would have, but to start with I was grieving then we moved six hours away and I forgot about it til they caught up with us! Will be paying but £6 seems a trivial amount after 5 years.

LEMisdisappointed · 29/04/2013 18:50

You should ask if the dog was fully concious before it was left in the kennels. At the vets i used to work in we have recovery kennels in the prep room so animals can be watched until they are fully recovered. If we had a dog with a heart murmer she would have had full aneasthetic monitoring with observations recorded every five minutes so that a) a worrying pattern could be picked up (apart from abrupt changes in O2 levels and heart rate) and b) if there was a problem post anaesthetic it could be referred to to see if there was any indications of a problem. Sadly, a perfectly healthy dog can be lost under anaesthesia but fortunately rare. It can often be a case of "one of those things" - that is not trivialising it, its awful, just awful but you can't always explain things. Was your dog put on a drip during the anaesthesia? Any "dodgy" pets would have a drip whilst under and the bag allowed to be used up afterwards, to maintain blood pressure. We probably wouldn't have left your dog alone to be fair. I have only ever known my bosses to loose one dog under aneasthetic apart from very sick pets but i was always when they were charged.

VivaLeBeaver · 29/04/2013 19:04

They said she'd come round from the GA, whether that means fully or not I don't know. They said she just stopped breathing in the recovery cage, not sure if someone was with her or whether they found her later. They did try CPR on her for sometime so I suppose they must have thought it had just happened.

She did have an IV during the op, don't know if it was still up or not.

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GnocchiGnocchiWhosThere · 29/04/2013 19:06

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

RedwingWinter · 29/04/2013 22:08

Viva, no advice but I just want to say I'm really sorry for your loss

NewlywedUpTheDuff · 29/04/2013 22:09

Did your dog have any bloods done before her dental? Usually in dogs over 6 years old a blood test is offered (but is up to the owner) to check the function of the liver, kidneys, etc. if bloods aren't done and the dog does have a problem - which they may not even be showing symptoms of yet- this can cause them to not be able to process the anaesthetic properly through the body and cause more problems after anaesthetic.

I'm sorry for your loss, these sort of deaths are always the hardest as they are unexpected.

VivaLeBeaver · 29/04/2013 22:47

Yes, bloods were ok.

One thing that's pissing me off is the morning of the op the vet rang me after I'd dropped her off to tell me she had a heart murmur. Like he was just diagnosing it. I told him I already knew and he said I couldn't do as he'd just found it.

I told him that a year ago one of the other vets told me she had a heart murmur. He reckoned that at the appt a month previously where the head vet convinced me to let her have the op that head vet hadn't heard a heart murmur and there was nothing on her records. He was saying she would need to start tablets.

So firstly I'm annoyed that their records were crap and would the head vet have recommened it if she'd remembered about the heart murmur. That vet had seen my dog prior to the recommending appt and had spoken to me about the heart murmur then. So she had heard it at some point.

Secondly when I saw my dog after she'd died the vet who had rung me that morning said to me something like "well I rang you and told you about the heart murmur and that the op would me more of a risk". Well actually he didn't say that at all. He just said she would need to start tablets. But I was far too upset to argue with him and he was obviously going to lie about it anyway.

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TheChaoGoesMu · 29/04/2013 22:54

I'm sorry about your dog op. Thats hard. It sounds like they are covering up some crap practice. I dont think they should be charging you.

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Merrylegs · 29/04/2013 23:00

Sorry about your dog. How upsetting. My vet just quoted me £145 today for the same procedure. He says they charge by how much anaesthetic they have to use to put the dog under. (My dog weighs 17kg). Was your dog much heavier?

VivaLeBeaver · 29/04/2013 23:06

Merrylegs, 27kg. They wouldn't quote me a price before as it depends how many teeth are extracted.

Shed had two denials before and each one was about £300.

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Merrylegs · 29/04/2013 23:11

Ah so actually not wildly off the mark re cost then? God, I was dithering about booking dog in for this anyway as I didn't want to put him through a GA (wimpy whippet) but your v sad story has made me even more unsure. V sorry for your loss Viva.

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