Any vets/animal lovers. Advice needed

[MollyBear22]

I am crushed and do not know what to do.

Last week I took my 4lb yorkie to the vet to get checked out. Shes been having problems with her legs lately and it's hard for her to use her steps. The vet gave us joint meds for her that cost about $40 for the bottle. while we were at the vets, we mentioned that we wanted to take care of her teeth as well. She is only 4 (5 in two weeks), but we knew some of her teeth were an issue and needed to be pulled. So we set up an appointment for the following week to have her teeth done. The vet also talked us into having her spayed at the same time. Said it's better to put them under once (which I've heard before) and it keeps their risk down for certain diseases (which I've also heard). Well, her being our vet.... we trusted her and set up the appointment for this past Wednesday.

Wednesday morning: my yorkie was throwing up a little in the morning time. We thought she was just hungry, we were told no food or water after 9pm the night before. She also had a little bit of diarrhea that morning too. She is a very nervous little dog, so didnt really think anything of it.

Dropped her off at the vets in morning, vet called in afternoon and updated us. Said she pulled 12 teeth! How could 12 teeth need to be pulled on a 4yr old yorkie?! And is it safe to pull 12 at once on something that small?? Ok so anyways, she said surgery went well, spay is done. We could come in a few hours to pick her up.

We get there at around 4pm, pick her up. She was out of it! The whole way home you could tell she was uncomfortable. Luckily it was a ten min ride.

We get home and put her on the couch in her normal spot, bundle her up and make her comfy. Took off her cone because she really wasnt moving much and didnt seem like she was going to mess with the stitches. A few hours go by and shes still really out of it. Gave her some water, she somewhat took to it. At one point we moved her on her side to make her more comfortable. It seemed she couldn't move herself at all. She was limp. The vet said she'd be like this for 24 hours, so we just thought she was really drugged up still.

A few hours go by, not much activity from her... all of the sudden she let's out a painful bloody scream. I run up to her and BOOM.... shes dead.

What happened to my dog?! We rushed her to the ER vet, and they seem to think she threw a clot from the surgery. We are now out over $600 for the surgery and a few hundred for the cremation now, and no dog. I really want to hold the vet responsible, but we did sign paperwork. I dont think I can do anything about this... but I'm very hurt, angry, lost... I've been through enough in the past year... now I have to deal with death of my dog... that I had to witness 😭

I feel the vet was negligent, but of course they say everything went as planned. I cant just let this go. I feel they need to do something to make this right. "Sorry' does not make this ok. I'm sure they wont refund us, but I feel like they are thieves now.

I'm just so upset and angry. Any advice would be great. I need justice for my little girl. I cant be ok with her losing her life after surgery. I'd still have my dog if she didnt talk us into spaying her 😔

We had planned on our yorkie mix to get spayed next. NEVER! No more surgeries 💔

[Ldd199]

I am so, so sorry for your loss. My dog died last year, so I know it’s heartbreaking and there’s nothing I can say to make it better for you, but this is awful and I’m sorry you’re experiencing it.

I would definitely agree with you that 12 teeth seems like a lot for a 4yr old dog, especially if you have taken good care of her, which is my guess from your post. That sounds really suspect to me, and I would’ve thought that, if pulling all those teeth had been necessary, that the vet should have contacted you and considered putting off the spay surgery as that seems like a lot to put a dog through to me. I’m also curious if you’ve had her since she was a pup or if she’s an adoption? I looked into having my dog’s teeth done since they were in pretty bad shape, but since he was adopted and there was no way to know his medical history, I was told a thorough blood work up had to be done first to make sure it was safe to put him under.

That said, I’m not a vet, but in my opinion they should’ve known better than to send her home if she wasn’t waking up and showing some energy. Every time I’ve picked a dog up from getting neutered, they had woken up enough to be howling up a storm and excited to go home—my current pup was awake enough to leap into my arms and pee on me. I think she should have been more responsive than what you’re describing before they let her leave.

[MollyBear22 in reply to Ldd199]

Yes, we had her since a pup. She always had a mixture of soft and hard food. We brush her teeth best we can when we would bathe her once a week. She was very high maintenance.... but well worth it!

Yes I agree,she should have been more alert when we picked her up. I've also had other animals that acted a lot different when we picked them up.. more active and what not. Our pomeranian we had yrs ago actually busted a stitch he was so hyper after surgery. But most ppl do spay or neuter their animals at a much younger age.... the vet still felt it necessary to spay ours.

I'm just very regretful at the moment. A lot of guilt. Her last day was spent being miserable and we didnt know to help her. I keep smelling her around my house. I will smell the shampoo I used on her.

I just feel so guilty and i cant believe she is gone

[Ldd199 in reply to MollyBear22]

I really don’t think her teeth should have been that bad, honestly. There may have been some issues, but that seems really unlikely. And even if all of this was medically necessary, they should have handled it better.

I don’t know if there’s legally anything you can do, or if it’s even worth it to you at this point when you’re so upset, but this certainly isn’t your fault. You did the best you could to take care of her and trusted that the vet would do the same.

I know this won’t be great comfort to you, but at least her last moments were with you at home rather than at the vet.

[Needtovent]

So sorry to read this sad story. We had a situation a while back when our 4 year old pup died while in a kennel during our vacation. We had to fly home and were devastated. Without going into detail, we learned of so many things that were done wrong in terms of the accommodations that we expected. We were devastated and angry. I did some research, found some attorneys who specialized in animal cases, only to find that our loving pooch would be viewed as a piece of property if we took this to court. In other words, no wrongful death or other significant liability. We'd be lucky if we got about $400 cash. We weren't looking for money, just some acknowledgement of responsibility. Never got it. Our next pup took vacations with us for 14 years, never left her. She passed peacefully last year.

I know how you're feeling MollyBear. Hugs to you!

[MollyBear22 in reply to Needtovent]

Thank you so much for your response! I need all the support I can get right now. I'm sorry you also had a bad experience. I agree that it's not worth fighting for. No amount of money can replace her. I just dont know how to accept this and be ok with it.

[Needtovent in reply to MollyBear22]

Unfortunately you probably wont ever be OK with it. To this day, I'm not. I actually appreciated the chance to tell my story. EAch time helps a little. However you have no choice but to accept it. It's still raw, though, I know. I know I also had some level of guilt, feeling like I failed my dog because I left him there. I think time and talking has helped with that. It's a real grieving process. Our pets are family members. I bought a nice collage type picture frame and a nice little storage shelf and made a sort of honorary wall in our family room....pictures of family members with the dog, paw print, collar, and remains. That helped.

[MollyBear22 in reply to Needtovent]

I agree, talking does help. Mostly why I came here. I dont have a lot of friends, so I feel bottled up with this. I didnt go to work thurs. Needed a day to grieve since it happened thr night before. Made it through work today with a few tears. Then unleashed when I got home. These girls are my life. I have the one that's still alive tattood on my arm, that's how much they mean to me. (Her actual face). Now I feel I need my little angel tattood on me too.

That is good idea of your honorary wall. I know we will do something like that. It's amazing how much an animal can touch your heart and be a family member. I even bought her a baby stroller for xmas. I knew her lil legs hurt to walk long distance. I was so excited for summer time 😭😭😭😭😭

[Sillysausage234]

Oh no what a tragedy,sorry to hear this.

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I think you should mention your feelings on face book . As your dog had problems with her legs where was the proof she needed all those teeth out. Had she chewing difficulty which you noticed? We lost the family pet this year - we had difficulty with the animal health insurance who sent bizarre e mails, referring to our pet as alive after we had notified them the pet had died from natural causes. They were asking for a renewal of insurance - so we declined as we were so upset as the company did not appreciate our loss. You could also write to your vet standars board which checks standards of vet and complain about your vet. Our cat has a bit of trouble with her teeth, but we give her a chew which helps take off the tartar. She had broke her jaw two years ago - we were not given the right information on how long it takes for the jaw to heal. We went back and were charged £120 for an x ray. She would have to be checked in another few months.

The jaw healed on its own and the metal wiring used to fix her jaw fell out on it's own.

Expect your other pet is grieving for friend - may be you should have another companion to help your other pet get over the loss.