Died during surgery, what are her rights? Need advice..

[Baha Angel]

Hi everyone..I'm really in need of advice. January 16th my baby girl, Holly, passed away during her first surgery. A spay. I took her to the top vet in my country, who spays thousands of dogs a year. She was fully examined before surgery and was in tip top shape, like she always is. She had the surgery, was completely perfect. She just never woke up, so now I'm sitting here with her ashes in the urn, for no reason, no explanation. Had an autopsy done, unknown cause of death.

The only thing the vet did was send me a card saying "Sorry for your loss", and not making me pay the bill.... I need closure and I need to know if there's anything I can do, because she was a HEALTHY, almost 4 year old, dog. I haven't been able to move out of my bed from being so heartbroken, and this is bringing me to tears just writing this... Do dogs have rights when things like this happen for no reason?

Please help..

[rubymoon2072]

i am very sorry for your loss. i hope that someone can help you answer the ?'s you have and may your baby girl rip. keeping you in my thoughts and prayers.

[mugwee1]

So sorry for your loss. I cannot answer that question ,But hope some one can. Keeping you in my prayer's. Rest in peace Little one. will be watching over you as you heal. Another little one gone to rain bow bridge to soon. God bless you.
Anne/Luci

[Ellie May]

I'm so sorry.

Pets don't really have rights. In the US they are considered property. So any type of legal action may not get you far.

Sometimes this just happens. I know some very good vets that have lost patients. All you cam do is take precautions before surgery (preop bloodwork, maybe an ekg, use only the best anesthesias, etc.). If you were not offered bloodwork or if an IV was not placed or if a cheap anesthetic was used or if your pup was not kept warm then you may have some ground to stand on. However, I am guessing you had to sign a consent form agreeing to the procedure which would be binding unless perhaps there was clear wrongdoing.

[yorkietalkjilly]

Or a bleeder was nicked or something. Could be a surgery accident - rare but does happen.

[pookybear]

I am so sorry. What a shock...what did the vet have to say? It certainly does sound, unfortunately, like a malpractice...investigating needs to be done on your end. Did you sign anything that releases the doctor from a suit against him in that case? What did your little Yorkie weigh when she went in?

Probably the very best thing you can do is search for another Yorky who will ease the loss. It doesn't mean you loved your other any less but a distraction will help you move on.

[yorkietalkjilly]

Sorry, accidentally hit Submit before I was done.

You might ask the doc for a copy of the chart, contact any local licensing agency for the vet/clinic and see what you can do. Hopefully there will be some notation of specifically what went wrong during surgery but records don't always reflect what really happened.

I'm so very sorry that you lost your little baby this way. I am sure it was a tragic shock and you are having problems dealing with what is normally a "safe" surgical procedure going wrong. I'm guessing a necropsy at a different vet wasn't done so there may never be a way of knowing what happened and if anyone has any rights. I hope some day before long you can begin to heal and feel less pain and hurt and sense of unfair loss. You might schedule a visit with the vet and have a sit down and ask him to fully explain what happened and see if that helps you in some way. R.I.P., little one.

[jeane]

So sorry for your loss

[Yorkiemom1]

My heart breaks for you. I have taken a baby into a vet, an excellent vet, and my baby was healthy and precious and loved her vet, and I left her there for surgery.....and she died after the procedure....I never got to look into those beautiful little eyes again. The pain you are left with is absolutely gut wrenching, feeling like you are responsible for delivering your baby directly into the hands of Death. There is nothing I can say that can soften those raw edges in your broken heart....You just have to know there is a risk with any surgery you go into. All you can do is pre-op labs, know you are working with a compentent, knowledgable vet, know your pup is as healthy as possible, know they are using gas anesthesia, know they are controlling IV fluid intake before, during, and after surgery, know that your baby is getting appropriate post surgery care by never leaving them unattended, keeping them warm because cold drops blood sugar, affects heart rate, and it follows a dibilitating cascade downward....you can only take comfort in the fact that apparently all the right things were done....and it just turned out so sadly for you and your baby....I am so sorry for that. You did all you could do to make sure this would be uneventful for her....there is nothing more YOU could have done.

[MandiesMom]

Originally Posted by Yorkiemom1

My heart breaks for you. I have taken a baby into a vet, an excellent vet, and my baby was healthy and precious and loved her vet, and I left her there for surgery.....and she died after the procedure....I never got to look into those beautiful little eyes again. The pain you are left with is absolutely gut wrenching, feeling like you are responsible for delivering your baby directly into the hands of Death. There is nothing I can say that can soften those raw edges in your broken heart....You just have to know there is a risk with any surgery you go into. All you can do is pre-op labs, know you are working with a compentent, knowledgable vet, know your pup is as healthy as possible, know they are using gas anesthesia, know they are controlling IV fluid intake before, during, and after surgery, know that your baby is getting appropriate post surgery care by never leaving them unattended, keeping them warm because cold drops blood sugar, affects heart rate, and it follows a dibilitating cascade downward....you can only take comfort in the fact that apparently all the right things were done....and it just turned out so sadly for you and your baby....I am so sorry for that. You did all you could do to make sure this would be uneventful for her....there is nothing more YOU could have done.

These words are very close to what I was going to type.

No words are going to ease your grief right now. With a sudden loss of a loved one, you just need to be able to pinpoint the cause and assign blame. Sadly, sometimes...it's just not possible.

Sending you BIG HUGS thru the cyber space right now. Allow yourself to grieve. Just know that your precious girl is now watching over you and you will see her again someday (I truly believe this).

[LILBIT1]

Just wanted to say sorry

[Yorkiedaze]

Your pain will lesson with time, but will never go completely away. My Delsi (that I had for 16 years) died 8 years ago, but if I dwell too much on her it still brings me to tears. I like to remember all the wonderful and funny times we all shared together as a family.
Your baby, unfortunately, doesn't have a voice, so we have to be that voice. On my license plate it says PUPPYMILLS.COM be their voice. I pray that one day our companion animals will have all the rights as any human family member. It's getting closer all the time.
Make your baby happy by getting up and doing something that she would be happy with. Maybe put together a collage of pictures to hang on a little quilt.
Blessing to you.

[nanahas3]

So sorry for your loss. I think this is the greatest fear for us all when we take them in for spaying or any other operation. Some risk is always involved. Sending prayers your way. God bless.

[chachi]

Im sorry every time one of us puts one of ours under we take that risk unfortunately it didnt work out for you. This is what we all fear when ours are put under. Sorry again and my prayers are for you and your family at this difficult time

[Baha Angel]

I'm sorry it's taken me a while to respond. I have a lot of paperwork from the vet, everything that was done during, before, and after. She weighed 5.1 lb for the person who asked.

I'm just so angry because everyone pushed me into having her fixed, and I said repeatedly that she was fine and I didn't want to because I was worried. I listened to everyone else's advice like an idiot & now she's gone. It was completely unnecessary for her to be spayed. I'll never have another inside dog fixed as long as I live. Why would I spay my baby, my child because of peer pressure. I'll never forgive myself.

Thank you all for the kind words, I've realized sadly there's no action I can take because apparently dogs don't have any rights, and vets aren't held as accountable as doctors.