Thought he was neutered, but he's not?!?!
 

Hi everyone,

As some of you may or may not know I adopted Trooper the begining of January from a rescue group. I was aware of his LS issues and was told that he was neutered and up to date on all shots except rabies due to the fact he just had surgery and they didn't want to give it to him until a year after surgery.

So I made an app't and took him to the vet to discuss BAT and other test to see if his liver was functioning properly and to talk about vaccines/heartworm since spring is approaching. To make a long story short the vet informed me that he isn't neutered. I was told by the rescue group that he was neutered and chipped by the humane society that picked him up. I called the humane society and they said that they did not have any records of them neutering him, only being chipped. The vet thinks that they assumed he was already neutered because his testis did not decend (and still haven't). They are up in his lower abdominal area.

So now I have to pay for a testosterone test to see if he is or not, which is $85. And if he's not I have to pay $450 +tx for the neuter. The neuter is more expensive than normal because the testis are in the abdonimal area. I paid $650 for Trooper thinking that I wouldn't have to incur any other bills of this type, and now I have to pay for all this and it doesn't even cover the regular stuff that we have to do in the spring (for either of my dogs).

I wrote the head of the rescue group an email explaining & asking for reimbursement or help with paying the bill. I was very nice about it, but just wanted to know if you think they should help me out with it, or am I wrong for asking. I don't think I am. I'm just surprised that the surgeon at Oakland that performed his liver shunt surgery didn't notice or check during an exam and the vet in our town for his after care didn't check/notice either??

I hope the rescue lady is nice about it and agrees to help me out. I'd be satisfied with $200...
But also I'm scared to put in under with his liver issues? They'll be doing blood work first BAT, etc to make sure everything is good beforehand, which is gonna be an additional $260, but I'll cover that - I was going to anyways.. Is there anything I should be aware of if does does get the neuter surgery?

What do you think?

Good luck sweetie! I hope they help you!

Yes, they should pay for the whole thing because you rescued him believing that he was neutered. It's funny that Oakland didn't say something but then again, they weren't told to neuter him. Sad though because his abdomen was already opened and will have to be again.

You would think somebody would've checked somewhere because cryptorchism can be related to LS.

If you are worried about him going under (shouldn't be a huge problem if his numbers are normal now and the right protocol is followed), maybe it would be best to go back to Oakland (ugggh) or a large specialty-type hospital, especially if your vet has any doubts about being able to do it safely.

I think they should pay for the whole thing too, but they probably won't think that way. This is going to be very costly for me, but I'll manage somehow. My vet wants to do blood work first to see if everything is in order with him before doing the neuter. Then we will go from there. But that is a thought going back to Oakland, I'll keep it in mind. Thanks.

What rescue did you get him from? Poor little guy has already been through so much :(

I got him from Res-Q-Me in Windsor, ON Canada. I'm in the process for being approved to be a volunteer/member with them but I don't know how this is going to affect it if they don't want to help me out with this cost of this. But it all makes sense now - him marking everywhere, his little red rocket popping out (only once) & the fact that he still has a baby tooth overgrowing his adult one too.

I agree! :thumbup:

We went thru the same thing when we adopted Taffy, I called the Humane Society back when we found out she was in heat, and had tied with my Harry boy and they basically apologized for their error and told me it was MY fault for having an intact male at home..:eek: . I hope your humane society is better than the one we adopted Taffy from.. she will be spayed in a couple of weeks free of charge by the clinic my son works for, they could not beleive what happen.
Best of luck with your baby..
hugs,
Carmen in nj

Been there....
 

I agree with the posting that they should pay for his testing and procedure.

Barley's rescue group made me promises that didn't happen (like the chipping) Barley was very sick when I got him and they just said all they do is get the dogs their shots and get them neutered. They said they'd take him back, but didn't offer to assist with any of his medical treatments. As for the chipping, they simply said his contact person was only a "volunteer" and mis-spoke. What a piece of work. :thumbdown

Good luck to you with getting anything from them. Please, let us know what they say.

I also think that you should get full reimbursement for the neuter. They told you that he was neutered when you adopted him. Is it in your paperworK?

It doesn't describe him as being a "neutered" male in the contract, but it does in the advertisement. So I don't know how that would work on a legal level. I'm just afraid that if the rescue lady doesn't want to reimburse me that she'll find a legal way of not having to since she works for a law office. I'd like to give her the benefit of the doubt that she'll do the right thing though. Only time will tell. I sent her an email describing the situation and politely asking for reimbursment. I wanted to call, but I figured that by me emailing I could get all the details out without being interupted and forget something. I told her that if I don't hear from her within the next few days that I will call her. I'm keeping my fingers crosses. I wanted to start volunteering for this rescue and now I'm afraid this has the potential to create animosity between us. Keeping my fingers crossed.

I hope they do the right thing. I'm sorry you are going through this.

Omg! They should do the right thing... after all it IS a rescue. That wouldn't be right at all for you to have to pay for everything on your own when you thought otherwise and when the ad clearly stated otherwise!

Good luck and keep us updated!!!

I think it was a good idea to email them about it. Then you will have the correspondence in writing. I hope they do the right thing too. Please keep us updated.

I agree that it was the rescues fault that they provided false circumstances and that they should reimburse you either his adoption fee or the neuter. It's not your fault that they messed up and it's really unfortunate that you may end up having to spend so much money.

However, you must keep in mind that rescues are non-profit organizations that run solely off donations. Every cent they get in goes right back into neutering/spaying, vaccinating, dentals, heartworm/flea and tick preventative, and other various health related costs. This being said, they very well not be able to reimburse you. Whether or not they want to, they simply may not have the funds.

Although I must say that $650 is an extremely high adoption donation, so who knows! Maybe this rescue is better off than most.