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Juju for Ernie's liver tests, WWND about old vet
Ernie looks SIGNIFICANTLY better this morning. He got a bag of kitty plasma (yes, there are such things as donor cats apparently, and it was "only" $200... not bad.)
His albumin is still very low... so he's getting a transfusion of only albumin tomorrow am (or whenever fedex delivers it)....
Still waiting on bile salts blood tests to determine the if there is any and the amount of liver damage. But the vet seems pretty optimistic that if there is damage, there can still be a good outcome because he is so young and livers have regenerative capabilities.
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Now, for the tricky part. The case is continuing to mount that this (the death or near death of my kitty) was caused by bad veterinary decisions. He was given the antiparasitic which explicity says on the package insert, "DO NOT GIVE TO SICK CATS." My cat had been battling a URI for 2 months, and was on a potent antibiotic (Azithromycin) at the time. From what I've read about Zithromax, it can be pretty hard on livers, and have a big impact/effect on drugs that are metabolized in the liver (which the anti-parasitic is). On top of giving this apparent bad combination with horrible timing, my kitty also got 3 vaccines. All in the same day. My new vet says she would never give that many in 3 days.
WWND?
Before going to the new vet, our bill with the old vet was probably around $700. A 3 day hospital stay is probably going to be right under 2k.
We were blessed with a tax return (and are using 6 month no interest care credit), so financially we are still rock solid. (LUCKILY, good freakin' timing there).
I've had people tell me I should sue, which I don't think would be worth it for 2k.... I've never dealt with lawyers... I don't know how strong my case is.
I'm going to break up with my old vet, but I kind of wish he would step up and take some emotional or financial responsibility for this. Face to face? but he interrupts a lot. A letter?
And for those who don't know, we lost another kitty at a very young age (5) in November... We went through surgeries chasing foreign bodies that weren't there, all kinds of meds, and racked up a several thousand dollar bill before we had to put him down. I'm really wondering now if this guy has any Fing clue what he is doing..... and I don't want what happened to Obi to cloud my judgement with what is happening now.
Re: Juju for Ernie's liver tests, WWND about old vet
I am so glad things are looking up for Ernie, I hope he continues to improve and is back to being healthy in no time!!
I don't really have any advice on the billing issue, I would definitely consider trying to refuse payment to the old vet at least for bad care that caused many more issues.
Holy cow, we're going to have a little sister!!
We can't refuse it because it's already paid in full... We just opened up Care Credit at the new vet anticipating a gigantic bill- since it's interest free for 6 months and we're still waiting on our tax return.
So it'll have to be more of a "gimme my money back!" scenario that I don't know how to approach... especially with the kind of feelings I have swirling around in me right now.
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Continued juju and prayers for your little guy!
Can you report/file a complaint with the BBB or a veterinary equivalent? I don't know if you can get your money back, but you can at least get it on record what happened. I'm so sorry, it sounds sucky
Bazinga!
Liz's Yarn
I never think it "hurts" to talk to a lawyer. Make sure you get all of your documents together and a lawyer should be able to tell you what it would cost to take on a case like that. Sounds like it might work in small claims court. You don't know if you don't ask.
Maybe WonderRed would have some suggestions?
Bile acids were through the roof.
So he definitely has acute liver failure/damage. But the vet is still optimistic and what I've read is somewhat comforting... If we keep giving supportive care, the liver has amazing regenerative abilities.
Grow liver, grow!
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I have no idea about the other vet, sadly. I had a crappy dentist that, according to my new dentist, did much more harm than good to my teeth, and I am still working through all that. I debated trying to do something like what you are with the vet, but decided not to, just due to it taking time I don't have.
I'm 99% percent sure I'm going to take the old vet to small claims court over this, regardless of the outcome. If my new vet would support me, that would be great, but at a minimum I *know* I can get the money I spent with him because the drug clearly states, "DO NOT GIVE TO SICK CATS"... And I'm sorry, but a cat on an antibiotic = SICK. Not to mention throwing on 3 injections on top of that.
I thought it only went to $2500, but apparently small claims can be up to $7500. Who knows, I might scare him into settling before it even gets to court.
Tomorrow when I talk to him I'm going to bring up that the cause has been determined, and whether or not he will accept any financial responsibility for it. He is a nice guy, so we'll see... if not, I'm just going to state, "well, I'm going to explore other avenues for reimbursement" and leave it to his imagination until he either settles or gets served.
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Harley (our 4.5 year old dog) has been very ill lately and is suffering, in part, due to our vet making some poor choices and not reading his file before making medical decisions (oh, and not listening to me when I say I know something is wrong with him, please look at his history and consider that). We've invested too much $ in his diagnosis and treatment at this point (since we get free "rechecks" until the issues are resolved) but we're using our old vet (we only changed because we moved) as a phone consult before doing ANYTHING our new vet says AND we're terminating our relationship with her (with an e-mail to the medical director) as soon as we're through with this.
I'm only sharing because I want you to know you're not alone and that I can empathize with you like crazy right now. I watched my dog go from a happy, vibrant, patient boy to a stiff, grumpy, old man in a matter of days. He's lost over 6 pounds in less than 6 weeks and his quality of life has suffered greatly since this all started in November. I cannot believe the negligence from our vet and I'll be happy when we no longer have to see her (with the advice of our old vet, he should be better in a month or so).
I'm proud of you for pursuing some time of financial compensation for the damages done to your poor baby. I'll send all the TPJ and I can muster up!!!