takes alot to really p me off..but tonight.. i am

[wolfdogs]

takes alot to really make me mad... and "alot" happend .......as of this evening.

remember a few weeks ago... me posting about our 4 year old golden retriever, Reno (we raised him from a pup) acting like something hurt him? so here's a summary of what we went thru...some of which i even posted about here...being thankful it was not bone cancer ...yada yadda...

now, this a is large Vet facility...primary owner and vet, and 5 other vets work here... tons of vet techs..tons of customers... overwhelmed in fact...we have been using this one vet that works there (request her all the time) for years, and she became a good friend as well...

maybe somebody will benefit from this..cause i tell yall the truth... ive lost faith in most doctors along time ago...well...that loss has just extended to the vetenary group.......and its not just this incident either...

*started a few weeks ago...he got an ear infection...goldens do that.. we started treating it at home, we know how, we have the meds...

*he started acting "weird.."... like something hurt him... he wouldnt jump up on the bed... he avoided contact with the other dogs and the wolfdog...shying away from them.. and he's the most powerfull golden we have.. sometimes he would out when he jumped up on me out of excitement...or up on the bed.... only cried out with his head high in the air...

*i asked mary to ask our vet "could the ear be doing this"? "i got a strong suspision its his inner ear...".......... "no way" was the answer... "has he taken a fall or something?" she said..

*i told her about him and Keona the wolfdog (she knows Keona...Keona likes her and she's treated her since 5 weeks old..understand the "wolf part" ...playing rough all the time..and its possible he had a soft tissue bruise someplace....

*"bring him in for exam"

*so we did. she felt him up...all over...he never cried out except oncen when she pushed on his left side near the top of his back... so she gave us muscle meds..."put him on these and see if he doesnt get better, they should take affect in 3 days". we did. meanwhile..we are still treating the ear infection that has not cleared up.

*my wife called..."the ear infection has still not cleared up".. "bring him in". the vet determined it was yeast, there was a small trace of bacteria in the ear the culture showed...but yeast was the culprit...we had been treating the ear for bacteria infection...so she puts us on another ear med thats aimed at yeast ...to clear that up instead..... so we do it.

*now we are up to 250.00 bucks....(the money is not important....the getting better of the dog is...and still is...im making a point with this).

*he's stil acting weird now.... its well over a week and a half... "bring him in, we need to check his bone structure.... more pressing down...moving stuff... she even came by the house one night to catch him in our enviroment cause he stresses out at the vet.. after that .."we need to x ray him...i dont want to alarm you..but ....we need to check for bone cancer (i posted that here).... now we freaked.... next day....complete x rays.... no sleep..diagonisis?........cancer free! hooooooray!

*now we are up to 750.00 dollars...

*still treating ear... he's still acting weird...

*now they put him on an antibiotic for a possible infection/imflamitory condition....

*he start acting better at the end of now..the second week of all this..

*third week...."taper off the antibiotic...it has a steriod affect.."...ok.. we do.
he starts acting weird after 2 days again...

*ear is still not clearing up.... more meds... now we are up to 840.00 dollar..

*when i take him out to play...(which now they said i could after they had me not play with him or anything alll this time....) he goes nuts and he's his old self. i kept saying "there is no muscle hurting this dog.....no bone hurting this dog.......are you sure it cant be his ear?" "nope..not his ear" she said... its almost better now...... i said...."not really..he still shakes his head alot"..."its the medicine" she said......

*last night..when i got home from work...they all came running like always... just as i reached down to pet him he jumped up at the same time and my hand hit his left ear at the base... he screemed out like a wounded eagle!!!!!!!!! i called my wife in the living room and said "damn it mary..this dogs ear is hurting...you get him to vet and have somebody else check him out and find out whats going on"

*this eve was the vet appt. 3.5 weeks later...another vet....... i went to the vet and met mary and reno there after my commute...the exam had been done already and mary was in the exam room with reno for the vet to return from the lab........ing. "he's got a ruptured ear drum"......

*GET MY DRIFT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! SEE MY POINT!!!!!!!!!!!!!

*now he's being treated for the ear drum and excessive bacteria infection due to it......the bacteria grew outta control cause it was not being treated, only the yeast was! its been the problem since day 1!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! the weird acting, the shying away from the other dogs...he is avoiding getting hit in the head... it hurst...for Christ sake.....bad.

*now..we are up to $1,033.00..........................

*Reno was stressed...so i left mary to pay tonights visit an took him home.. when she got home..i left and went back.

*ive known all these folks for years..they had a puzzled look on thier faces when i walked back in....one of them looked hard at me and said "ill get the manager'........

*He came out.."Ken..hows it going"....... I told him the whole story.. in front of a room of 14 people....even though he coaxed me to come in his office........he kept making excuses.....thats when i clicked "look.......damn it...... i want you to stop trying to think up the next excuse while im talking and just GD listen to what im saying.......this is not some automobile that you repaired the wrong mechanical device and now needed more work.......you people miss-diaganosed my dog.......you people cost us alot of money......alot of grief....alot of time.....but you know what im really mad about......? my dog has been in pain...........all this time.... and im not new to the vet field..ive learned alot over my 22 years of rescue, assisted the surgery rooms, been there for all kinds of stuff... and i get shrugged off like im full of crap...when GDamnit..ive been right all along..and nobody bothered to even look into this animals inner ear until tonight......

*he said "im sorry". I said "so am I...and its not your personal fault..but i tell you something........ive lost faith.....nobody knows thier animals better than the owners.... they are not like people....they cant be poked and proded and "does that hurt? does this hurt"?........they dont give the same signals at the vet......they are scared........ listen to the owner, damnit!!!!!!!!!!! at least follow thru on thier intuitions......if they are wrong..so be it....

*i turned and walked out..he said "are we ok... you'll be back..?" i turned and said......"i dont know right now..........i really dont.......but between us.. im more p!$$ed off right now than i have been in years.......you can take that to the bank......."

*i left......im home....i vented...and Reno is laying here with me right now.......

[MarkFL]

wOw!

you have every right to be pissed!! it would've been so easy for them to have listened to and investigated what you said and avoided all these weeks of pain for Reno and worry/stress and medical bills for you and Mary.

I would see what the vet who failed to listen has to say, whether she will own up to messing up or tries to play the infallible doctor routine before deciding whether to go back or not.

just glad you found out the real cause and have treatment underway. hope Reno gets better quick!!

[Trans Am]

I think it was the right thing to do, who wouldnt be upset after something like that. Hopefully all of the people who were there have learnt something...
I m glad Reno has finally been diagnosed properly and the correct treatment is under way, i hope he gets well soon

[Jeff_in_Atl]

Doctors and auto mechanics have one thing in common. They hate it when you walk in their place and tell them what is wrong. Their arrogance turns off their hearing and they'll say don't worry about it, we'll figure it out. They will spend hours or days trying to diagnosis something that you already know but they won't listen to you.

[LarryMow]

Sorry to hear that your dog had to go through all that, but at least hes doing better now. With a ruptured ear drum, is that something thatll just heal on its own, or will that need to be repaired surgically? or can it even be repaired? Either way, give the doggie a hug for me and make sure he gets extra play time and attention to cheer him up.

[wolfdogs]

Sorry to hear that your dog had to go through all that, but at least hes doing better now. With a ruptured ear drum, is that something thatll just heal on its own, or will that need to be repaired surgically? or can it even be repaired? Either way, give the doggie a hug for me and make sure he gets extra play time and attention to cheer him up.

for a dog, surgery.

and could it have been stopped from the begining....yes.

im p###D

[Y2KHAWK]

damn it!! How is Mary? Reno my buddy I may be there in a 2 weeks so you can hug and drool on me. Give the big gold guy a hug from auntie Jen and you all are very lucky.

[Joe 1320]

that's a bummer. Not only is the animal suffering, the vet is padding his bank account.

[Steel2686]

I wish I could say I'm surprised, but as you've said , Ken... This kind of thing has gone on for years with Doctors. It's just unfortunate a good, trusted vet had to be so in the wrong.

[Black97]

It really hits you hard when you see your "babies" suffer. We had several instances with two of our dogs and we ended up switching vets.

One of our Lhaso's hurt his leg and he wouldn't even stand on, so he was hobbling along on 3 legs. We called the vets and they told us they could see us TWO days later??!! So we went to a new vet which could see us right away. I mean I don't epect them to see the dog right that minute but they surely can fit you in the same day especially when you call first thing in the morning.

Another experience we had with the Shihtsu. She had two strokes within a week and went downhill fast after that. We brought her to the vets and they kept her overnight. When we picked her up the next day she was like "new" again. Later that evening she went downhill again fast. All the vet did was pump her full of Prednisone. She could hardly breathe and towards the morning my wife was almost doing mouth to mouth to keep her going.

We knew it was time to say goodbye. The vet was like well we could do more test and maybe we keep her alive. They were like don't love your animal? That was the last time we went there. It wasn't about the money but we knew it was time to let go and do what's best for the animal not us.

[ryan34]

Another experience we had with the Shihtsu. She had two strokes within a week and went downhill fast after that. We brought her to the vets and they kept her overnight. When we picked her up the next day she was like "new" again. Later that evening she went downhill again fast. All the vet did was pump her full of Prednisone. She could hardly breathe and towards the morning my wife was almost doing mouth to mouth to keep her going.s.

I see perscriptions for prednisone for dogs ALL the time....i wonder if its a very common problem.

[Black97]

When we live in Richmond, our dogs used to get real itchy and started scratching like crazy. The vet gave them Prednisone and it worked well.

We didn't really think much about that medication. Once back in Canada the same happen so we went to the vets there and they gave them the same medication. At one point we needed more and since I was going to see my doctor and I figure I might as well see if he would write a prescription for our pooches.

Well he didn't but he also told me that it was a powerfull drug that makes people (animals) feel better even if they are really sick.

Now a couple of years later my mother in law is getting really sick and they are basically pumping her full of Prednisone to make her feel "better".