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Originally Posted by Weneebug  I'm sorry this is so long...
I recently posted about the loss of my little Harley. I am having such a hard time accepting his death and whether anything else could have been done to save his life. I plan to get another Yorkie soon but don't know if I need to use the same vet or try another one. His death has me wondering if this vet is the right one. This may be a crazy question but how do you know if you have a good vet? I just can't help but wonder if the vet could have done more for Harley or maybe if he had went to a different vet the outcome would have been different... Is it normal to think this way after a loss or am I loosing it? I am still to this day doing research on the internet of symptoms and diagnosis to see if my vet did everything he could. I just need some closure and also want to make sure I make the right decision for my next pup.
I actually chose this vet because one of the vet techs use to live next door to me so I felt comfortable with her. His office has a very laid back (and somewhat unprofessional atmosphere) but after I met the vet I really liked him. His fees seem real reasonable and he is always concerned about running your bill up. He never wants to perform tests or anything unless he thinks it is absolutely necessary. Harley was actually hospitalized with this vet 3 times over a 3 week period for his illness. He had ingested a large amount of NSAIDS and had drug toxicity (terrible accident). My vet said that the drugs had caused stomach ulcers and that's what he was treating him for. His bloodwork showed his liver and kidneys had not been affected. Harley had been throwing up blood and as soon as that ceased the vet thought we were out of the woods and he was going to be fine. However, Harley developed some other symptoms when he came home from the hospital and I called the vet and they told me to take him off all of the meds that had given him immediately. They thought he was having a reaction to the meds. He was pacing back and forth, restless, tremers, curling up in a ball like he was in pain and even had some whining.They wanted to see how he done off of the meds and recheck him that Monday. At this point he was still vomitting but with no appearance of blood. He got worse and I had to take him to an emergency vet that Friday night and the emergency vet gave me a different diagnosis of Gastritis. The emergency vets treatment didn't work either after paying $950 and Harley's health kept declining. By Sunday I had to call the emergency vet again and he wanted to charge me more outrageous fees. My husband is not working right now due to an injury so I couldn't come up with that kind of money again. My regular vet doesn't take emergency calls but I didn't know what else to do so I called the vet tech I knew. She was able to get in touch with my vet and he surprisely came in for me. I was really appreciative of that because he really went out of his way. He ended up doing a blood transfusion on Harley due to anemia but he passed away Monday during the night. Both vets had told me that they were sure he was going to recover so I was shocked to see his health keep declining. I guess I'm torn because of the 2 different diagnosis. I don't know if more test needed to be performed or what. I really don't have a cause of death besides my vet thinks that an ulcer ruptured and he was having more internal bleeding (he was still vomitting but with no appearence of blood). It's hard to get closure and know that EVERYTHING possible was done. My dogs life was in his hands so how do I know all the right decisions were made??? |
THIS IS EXACTLY WHY I AM NOT A BIG FAN OF NSAIDS - nsaids can perforate a human bowel and if given with steroids or given on empty stomach it can cause alot of intestinal damage - ulcers, ruptures etc. I only use this if absolutely necessary.
what nsaid was given and was it prescribed by vet or did he get into some meds at home. I am so sorry this happened
I always go to specialists when it gets serious as they have further education and training
here is some info on nsaids
Advice to Dog Owners Whose Pets Take NSAIDs
I constantly educate myself and work with vets and specialists as a team effort as I feel no one person knows everything about everything.