The Garden of Eden

What happened?

I am not in the habit of blaming vets for the death of my animals as I’m aware that it may not be the vet’s fault. Our animals have died while in the care of vets whom we respect and have full confidence in, but we don’t blame them as we know they are in the best hands. If they don’t make it, it’s their fate.

This Mother Dog died last Sunday (17 April 2011) after spaying. I’m not blaming the vet but I blame myself for not having the discernment to distinguish if the vet is experienced enough or not. Would things have been different if it was someone experienced? I don't doubt at all. I blame myself for allowing myself to be so busy that I have taken the animals too lightly. I used to be very particular about vets that see my animals. We have been known to be very selective and fussy about who takes care of the health of our animals. As I’ve said, time and again, these animals may be strays but they are part of our GOE family. However, since our move to the farm, we've been so busy - Amy with the animals and myself trying to make ends meet - we have more or less surrendered the animals' welfare to a vet whom we thought was one of the better ones, and he was near and seemed to be concerned about animals. Because of being very busy and also extreme exhaustion due to problems with the cats, I did not have time to delve more deeply into the animal's problems on the internet which I would usually have done in the past should our animals have any health problems. We chose instead to place our confidence in a vet whom we thought was very knowledgeable and experienced. How easily taken in I was! Some vets refer to books and ‘google’ when they are asked questions pertaining to animals’ problems. I can do that too. Why do I need to pay someone to google for me?

When the vet came to GOE to vaccinate some puppies, we asked him to check on some other dogs with problems as well.

1. Our golden retriever has some ear problems, which was very similar to Vivienne’s dog. He confirmed that it was haematoma. Straightaway he suggested surgery and even told us how he’s going to do it. When Vivienne’s dog has this problem, she has done her own research on the internet and consulted some other vets and owners whose dogs had experienced such problems. I had also called Dr Toh for her. What Vivienne had found out and concurred by most was that surgery was not necessary. Even Dr Toh concurred with that and she said surgery is only recommended only under certain circumstances. Of course, I didn’t agree to the surgery that the vet recommended. But, I was starting to have my doubts about him. How is it that this vet doesn’t seem to know? A fleeting thought crossed my mind. Is it that the vet is truly ignorant, which poses a problem too, or is it that with surgery the charges are higher? Lest anyone thinks that such a thought would not enter a vet’s mind, let me just relate one incident that a former customer of mine told me.

She took her dog that couldn’t walk to a vet, whom we know is quite money-faced. According to the owner, one of the legs seemed to have a problem. The vet recommended surgery, not only on one leg but both. Why? Only he knows. Of course, he did not fail to mention that the cost will exceed RM1000. I’m sure that’s of the utmost importance. Fortunately, this owner is a smart one. She refused and took the dog home. She told me that after a week the dog could walk again WITHOUT any surgery. More likely, it was just a sprain. See what I mean! But, for a few measly dollars or is it that they need the money so badly that they are willing to overlook the suffering of the dog or the owner if he had gone ahead with the surgery? What did this vet get? An abnormal child that I pity. The sins of the fathers comes upon the next generation. Has he learned his lesson? I hate to say this. But, many of us when faced with a predicament will try to spiritualize things. I remember reading somewhere an evangelist who said that when things are going badly for us, we’ll earnestly plead with God and asked for His deliverance, not realizing that it was God Himself who was shaking the tree to make us come to our senses.

2. We asked the vet that came to GOE to check the Mother Dog with TVT as we wanted to spay her. Amy is the one who usually brings our animals to the vets, so she has a very clear picture of how the previous vet checked for TVT. She had been checked by another vet earlier. That vet did a very thorough job and showed Amy what a TVT looked like and that the Mother Dog was indeed having it. But, the vet that came to GOE to check on her this time, it was completely different. In Amy’s eyes, he just gave a cursory check (most likely he didn’t know how) and said he couldn’t find any signs of TVT. As this Mother Dog had 3 chemo jabs before, we thought that maybe she is cured. So, we arranged to bring her in for spaying.

We have sent many animals to different vets for neutering as we firmly believe that neutering is for the good of the animals and one of the ways to curb strays. To us or anyone, it’s just a simple and normal procedure, so, we didn’t really think much about it.

Amy sent her in on a Saturday (16 April 2011) for the surgery to be done on Sunday. He had to enlist Amy’s help. Reason: Mother Dog just as much moved her whiskers, as if she was going to bare her fangs, he got scared. I had a good laugh when Amy told me. Anyway, Amy went and she told me that the Mother Dog seemed very happy that Sunday morning. He proceeded and Amy told me, when she came back, that she wasn’t very happy with the way he did things.

Mother Dog was given 3 jabs - one was the anaesthetic (before he put in the gas), one antibiotics, one to slow down the organs and the saliva flow. Then he inserted a tube into her throat. But, she told me that he had to try many, many times. He had to keep changing the tube sizes as he couldn't get it in. Although we're not in this profession, common sense would have us wonder how one can insert and remove something that goes into the oesophagus so many times without damage being done. And the dog was already under anaesthetic. Isn't there the risk of internal damage somewhere - pulling in and out the tube? Amy asked him won’t it be very painful in the throat for the dog when she wakes. And his ridiculous reply was everyone would feel pain in their throat after surgery. Amy had been for surgery before so she told him she didn't.

My query now is would an experienced vet need to try that many times. He checked her again for TVT. But Amy was convinced that something was not right when he pointed out a catheter hole to her. He even told Amy to familiarize herself (in Cantonese) or maybe he meant to learn something. What a laugh? What on earth is a catheter hole? She asked. She told him that the Mother Dog never had urinary problems and she was a female. When Amy appeared perplexed, he realised that he had made a blunder and said that it wasn’t a catheter hole. We had quite a number of cases of urinary blockage among our male cats before, so we have seen a catheter and know how and where it is inserted. So far, we have no catheter inserted for females although there were some with urinary problems. This really made me doubt his knowledge, skills and experience. How on earth and this is the first I’m hearing – a catheter hole and in a female dog. Anyway, Amy left. He said he would call us when the surgery was over.

3. He called about 2 hours later and told us that Mother Dog cried when she woke up from the anaesthetic. We thought that it was normal. He mentioned in passing that she was bleeding a lot. That night, just as we reached home from the farm, we received his call telling us that Mother Dog had died. We were very shocked. Amy rushed to the clinic. He told Amy that Mother Dog vomited blood. Could it be the insertion of the tube so many, many times that caused some damage? He told Amy that when he cut her open, he could sense something was wrong. That’s why he did it as slowly as possible and took so long, about 2 hours. He actually went back to check on her later at night, according to what he told Amy, because he felt uneasy.

I asked Amy why did he continue if he sensed something was wrong. Would an experienced vet have done otherwise? I was really mad. This and some other incidents recently made me doubt him. Lately, a number of our cats died and I thought I was numbed to animals dying. I could accept if my animals die because of illness but not otherwise. I broke down and I blamed myself. I don’t blame him. I blamed myself for not being able to see through his lack of experience. Of course, he wouldn’t have wanted the dog to die. Someone asked me where was he working before. When she heard it was some big pet store, she asked me something that set me thinking. Would these kind of places that sell animals neuter animals? So, how much experience does he really have, especially if the animal has some accompanying problems.

Next day when Amy went to claim Mother Dog’s body, I asked her to ask him why didn’t he stop when he sensed something was wrong. He changed his story this time. He said that he was already doing halfway. I’m inclined to believe what he said the night before. What actually happened only he and God knows. He took about 2 hours to do it because he wanted to do it very carefully as he didn't know how to stop the bleeding. I can imagine the amount of blood loss. Was there something that could have been done but he didn’t know what to do due to lack of experience? He only answered what Amy asked. He was very vague, not spontaneous and not forthcoming in telling what actually happened. Was he hiding something? He admitted that he didn’t know why she died and what had happened. The only reason he could think was she had low blood platelets. And I thought spaying is a simple procedure to a vet. THIS IS THE FIRST TIME IN OUR HISTORY THAT A DOG DIED AS A RESULT OF SPAYING. What really happened? That’s what I want to know. Whatever it is, what I know is that he is not experienced enough to handle a neutering case should problems arise. Not only neutering cases, but other health problems, which I will share later in the next part.

According to him, he has 2 partners. One of them is very experienced in neutering as she has worked in Klinik Kembiri before. We firmly believe that if this partner was around, this may not have happened. We had dogs and cats neutered by her before.

..........To be continued