this is the story of my bulldog so far.. my 12 week old bulldog pup went in for entropian eyelash surgery after a refferal from my own vet as we wanted someone he trusted to undertake this operation for us... he came out 5 hours later and went through the most agonising death over the following 48 hours i have ever seen a poor animal suffer.,,, rushed back into my own vet who tried to save him twice over the last 12 hours of his life but he was struggling to breath and tyson fought so hard to stay with us. .im still upset writing this four weeks later. .i was refferred to the eye vets by my own vet to see an eye specialist whom he recommended highly, but the whole lot was done by a vet at the park my own vet had never ever heard of so very disappointed as we were referred here by someone we trusted and respected highly......... £1347 bill from the park later and i lost my beautiful dog tyson who was so energetic and full of life .. he was such a powerful dog the morning of his operation he pulled me up a steep hill he was so so strong and just loved life. R.I.P TYSON 18 march 2018 i paid my vet to refer me to an eye specialist as he had recommended that my bulldog have entropian eyelash surgery to correct in-growing eyelashes. .we discussed the matter on whom he would recommend to undertake the operation as we wanted the best for our dog and a speedy recovery.. we agreed that he should go to a particular vet at a particular surgery and he recommended him fully he took us to his receptionist and instructed her to make an appointment with this particular specialist , which was arranged for 48 hrs later and the receptionist said she would forward an email of his eye condition straight through to them so they could see what diagnosis had been made.. we took our wonderful dog tyson in for his eye op friday morning and we went in to see a vet who we presumed was part of the vets team who we were refferred to, as we had never been in this vets before. ..he said the dog needed this entropian surgery under both eyes and they make too small cuts under the eyelids and take a small melon shape out and sewed up again and he will be right as rain in about two weeks. he said the cost will be around 1350 pounds and they can do it now and get it over with if we agree and we can pick our tyson up this afternoon.. we did. .fatal... .we picked him up and his was happy to see us but a bit drowsy and sounded very hoarse which we were told was due to the anisthetic pipe and would clear.. we paid the bill in full on credit card and took him home to rest... he didnt seem to improve and started coughing a lot and kept holding his head up as though his throat was blocked and breathing hard. .i called our own emergency vets at 8pm and they said keep an eye on him, if he gets worse call back. .i put him in the car at 12 pm and rushed down to our vets and telephoned on the way to make sure the vet got there. .it was snowing bad that night we got to the vets and had to wait as he was stuck in snow in the meantime we tried to give him oxygen with the veterinary nurse. .the vet arrived and as it was weekend he took over from us and told us to go home and get some rest while they xray him and treat him.. he said he had fluid on his lungs and they kept him in an oxygen tent and gave him medication to expel water they said his breathing was not good and didnt know why.. the next day they had to recusitate him as he worsened and they inserted a tube down his airway to open up his windpipe. .he pulled through when they removed the pipe the vet said a 5cm piece of scar tissue was stuck to the outside of the the tube and when that came out he breathed a lot better, a vast improvement so we thought he was going to pull through.. ..sadly at 9 pm that evening he went into cardiac and they could not revive him.. as you can imagine we were extremely upset and still looking for answers they were proving very difficult to comeby as no one would say anything other than apologise for his death. we then asked for reports the following day from the emergency vet so we could at least begin to see what had happened...this has not yet been forthcoming despite the practice owner promising them to us. now my first question is this... .as i was refferred by my vet to the specialist, do i have a case of malpractice against either of them for not undertaking the operation with the specialist we had discussed , if so which vet has alleged malpractice? i have checked on the rcvs website and it appears that this could be malpractice. i must point out here that the vet who did this operation was not the vet we had discussed in the referral ..it was undertaken by a vet whom our vet did not even know of or heard of and was not the vet we had dsicussed being refferred too, hence why i feel it may allegedly be malpractice... please forgive me as it is difficult to explain all this as it is still very emotional and i really do appreciate any help that is forth coming.. all help appreciated with thanks to you all

'LET DOWN BY MY COUNTRY' Hero war vet, 50, who was Prince Charles and Diana’s driver left homeless sleeping in bushes and feeding off scraps READ MORE HERE: https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/5551197/hero-war-vet-50-who-was-prince-charles-and-dianas-driver-left-homeless-sleeping-in-bushes-and-feeding-off-scraps/

Hi All I hope that you can give me some advice as I am not sure what has happened to me today is legal. I had to have the vet out to my horse last year and had to pay 500 in advance for his treament and then the rest on account. I had every intention of paying. The debt was in my married name (I have since reverted back to my maiden name) at an old address. My horse was treated however the vet made several mistakes (such as not adminstering him antibiotics which resulted in cellulitus) I disputed the amount at the time. The vet said they would reduce the bill if I could pay in full. At the time I couldn't so they recommended a loan company which would then help me out with a loan (and even sent me the link) to which I declined. A debt collector went to my old address (I know the new tenant) and was told I was no longer there. Today I went into work to find out the soliciors now instructed have written to me at work threatening me with a CCJ and saying I won't be able to find another job if they enforce it. Are they allowed to harrass people at work? How will they enforce the debt they surely cannot register it against the company that I work for? Obviously this will be really embarrassing for me at work as I am apart from the Director the most senior member of staff. Thanks

Hi I had to have my animal treated back in 2008 - 2009 for mites (it was a horse) shortly after that my husband and I suffered serious financial difficulties and ended up on an IVA. I never had a bill from the vets, but I did advise them of our situation. I have just had an email from them saying the bill is outstanding and they want paying for it. they said they had not been able to contact us, but we have not moved and not changed any telephone numbers - bearing in mind this is now 8 to 9 years ago, where do I stand?

Hi All, A friend of ours is in a huge amount of debt from her marriage, where her husband built up this debt, cheated on her and was also very abusive. Our friend had no choice but to go into a refuge with their 2yr old son. Whilst in the refuge, her husband didn't give her dog the medication that it needed and it became ill. the husband took the dog to the vets in the morning, but the vet put the dog to sleep in the afternoon. The dog belonged solely to our friend, not the husband. The vet did not call our friend on her mobile phone to speak with, as the dog's owner), they were happy to speak with her estranged husband. The vets have sent our friend the bill and asked her to solely pay it as the sole vet account holder and dog owner. She wants to know if they can do that? Someone takes the dog in ( who the vet knows) and destroy it without t=contacting the owner and also without checking that the vet account holder is happy to accept the charge for this treatment? many thanks in advance E5D

Hi all Can anyone recommend a good solicitor who specialises in vet negligence claims? Thanks Foxy

Last week we took our cat Oscar to the vet after he came in limping and in serious pain we think he may have been hit by a vehicle. The vet which we have been before with our other cat said he would have to stay in and have Xrays buit there would be no one there out of office hours and he would be on his own, but it wasnt reccomended to transport him anywhere. The day after the Xrays were done the vet called my partner and said his leg was broken in 7 places and would cost £1000's to repair after a discussion with my partner we decided the only fair thing to do was to put him to sleep. My partner called the vet back who then persuaded her that for a reduced price of around £200 they could amputate the leg and that he would not suffer from loosing a leg and many cats are like this, also that he is a young cat and why wouldnt you give him a chance (A bit pushy to be fair as my partner described it). We agreed to go for the surgery, on the day we were going to bring him home I was told you need to speak with the vet about him. She called back after 2 hours and said that Oscar had had to go on a drip that morning as he was dehydrated and was not eating any food and that he could have internal bleeding from the accident. Also she said that she suspected there could be internal bleeding and possible kidney failure due to shock, but her plan was to send him home anyway unless i heard anything different. We went to pick Oscar up that evening and was told that his bladder was showing signs of damage as there was gloucose and blood in his urine and that he had eaten a little bit of food. I don't know why alarm bells didnt ring because the nurse took us to another building to get him and she said he hadnt eaten anything not even tuna that they tried to give him. After he got home the vets was closed, no 24 hour cover and was told any problems to take him in the day after and that he would be quite sorry for himself for a few days. We couldnt get him to eat anything and all he was doing was drinking lots. In the morning he was still only drinking. We were working that day so we left him plenty of food and water down. My partner came home to check on him at lunch time and he had passed away:???:. I feel that the VET should not have let him out in this state saying that she thought he could have internal bleeding, and I am feel really guilty for the pain that we put him through, where should we go from here as I feel that the vet in question has caused unncesary suffering to Oscar and that our original conclusion of putting him to sleep would have saved alot of pain for the poor lad. Any Ideas on what to do from here as I don't want anyone elses pet to go through what Oscar had to, its not the money it is more the principle of this.

Trusty Paws Clinic Glasgow Simon Community has announced a new partnership with 4th year Veterinary students to provide a free monthly clinic for dogs belonging to homeless people at their RSVP Advice and Information Hub. This is a fully equipped/professional “pop up” clinic overseen by a qualified vet and the clinic will take place on the first Wednesday of each month from 2-5pm. RSVP Advice and Information, 72 London Road,G1 5NP. People who are homeless can contact the RSVP service on Freephone 0800 027 7466 This service only deals with Dogs not other pets. http://www.ghn.org.uk/node/168 http://www.facebook.com/trustypaws

My cat died at the hands of a vet . The vet refuses to give me copies of the x rays even though I offered to pay for the copies. Does anyone know what to do to get these?

I am looking for clarification on Law regarding Vet referrals. As I am sure a lot of us have learned over the years, Vets can be rip off merchants, incompetent, abusive, use rough handling of our furry family members etc. These days, I find I no longer have a main Vet but try to use the best of each Vets speciality. For example I follow the nutrition advice of one Vet. If I needed neutering surgery I would go to another, in an emergency I woukd be forced to another and so on. Sometimes though, for diplomacy, I think its better to just go to a new Vet with a fresh start. If for example I disagreed with one Vets diagnoses and/or trt plan - rather than offend his ego, I would prefer to simply find a new Vet. Also this helps me know that the new Vet is not swayed by any other medical misdiagnoses of other Vet. I believe the professional etiquette is to get a referral for a second opinion and have the Vets communicate with one another, but I dont believe this is la A new Vet surely cannot force me to disclose past Vets, if I dont think its in my animals best medical interests?

Hi I have a 11 month old female beagle puppy, I noticed her front legs bowed slightly and asked my vet about it, who just said she might be a beagle cross which could explain the front legs looking odd. She then starting limping about a month ago and I noticed her right foot was twisting when she walked!! My vet said she must have sprained her leg, I questioned the bowed legs again and was dismissed with pain relief and told to come back in a week or so if she's still limping!! He noted that her leg was deformed but didn't seem bothered! I went back after a week and saw my normal vet who NOW seemed very concerned and said she wants to refer me to Davies hospital (Who charge a fortune and demand payment immediately or they wont help!) I wasn't happy with this, as my vet still hadn't done any tests or xrays and just seemed to pass the buck! I went to another vet for a second opinion, one who came very highly recommended! He examined her, and said it was worse than I first thought and would probably need surgery to correct. they did blood test and xrays of all her bones as it could be a bone disease, they came back that both front legs are deformed and need immediate surgery, she also has advanced hip dysplacia!! He has had a online conference with the UK leading vet's who all criticised him for not picking it up earlier, he then explained it wasn't his mistake! Basically this should have been picked up months ago, and if it had it would have saved her surgery and pain!! Plus it would have saved me £1000's Can I complain or get some financial help from my previous vet?? Thanks for reading, I will keep you updated as we go Niki & Bailey (Beagle Pup)

Hi all We are in the middle of an outstanding account wrangle with our vets... The injury(s) in question was fully covered by our PetPlan cover and dates back some time BUT... One of the excess payments I made in cash - that never made it onto their system - they are saying I still owe it and they won't even entertain the notion that it wasn't entered, or worse someone pocketed the cash. One of the Lab Fees was processed 2 months after the last appointment for that particular illness, which meant the subsequent claim for this was in a new policy year, and was subject to a new excess which meant the entire lab fee was not paid by PetPlan......when questioned why it was processed 2 months after the op, they said that's just the way it is. I had been having email conversations with one of their senior vets early this year about what was claimed, and what wasn't.....before the emailed matter was resolved, they stopped replying.....they are saying they had asked for claim forms and payments in one of the emails which i didn't supply.....it is now too late to claim for these items, and they are saying I need to pay instead. For all of these claims, they had originally been supplied claim forms for, but they failed to submit them.....when questioned about this, they said they don't lose claim forms, I never supplied them. I have offered to meet them half way on the outstanding £315.24, but they have outright refused and say I am responsible for the total amount. They will not accept that they have made any mistakes AT ALL. So, what can I do? Fight it and take the dogs elsewhere....or....swallow the cost, pay it so they continue to care for my dogs. Obviously, this is all my word against theirs, but I was astounded when they wouldn't even meet me part of the way on the cost, given that most of this outstanding amount is due to them. Any advice gratefully received!

Hi I'm looking for some advice regarding our vets. A few weeks ago we took Toby our black Labrador to the vets as he was having trouble peeing. He was then booked in for sedation and X-rays. The bladder X-Ray came back clear but upon xraying his stomach 2 golf balls were located in his stomach. We were referred to another vet for the surgery. We were told that we were looking at a cost of around £1300 for them to be removed. My husband took him to the vets and he spoke to the vet who said they were going to do an endoscopy to remove them but if they couldn't they would have to operate. He said the bill would likely be around £1300. My husband who was at the hospital received a call saying they couldn't remove the golf balls via the endoscopy and did they have permission to operate. They said Toby was already under sedation and the needed an instant decision to operate. My husband said he had already given permission to do this. They then said right we'll do the operation but it's an extra £800. My husband was very shocked as the vet said that they may have to cut him open but he assumed £1300 was the maximum price we'd have to pay but the vet said that price was just to try via endoscopy. My husband just had to agree to the surgery as the vet kept saying we need a decision now. Please don't get me wrong we have insurance for Toby but the way the vet has gone about this I feel is very poor. My husband was pushed to make an immediate decision when the vet should have discussed this at the consultation which we have paid for. Toby is making a good recovery which is the main thing but do I have a right to complain? Any advice would be great.

Hi, any advice on this would be greatly appreciated, bit of a long story but here we go.. My girlfriends dog had a bad leg so we took him to the vets, suspected cruciate ligament damage so booked him in for an x-ray, we were advised if it was cruciate then costs could be £2k ish, only verbally by a lady who worked in the vets. She has insurance so we checked and insurance covered first £1500 of a cruciate so were expecting £500ish bill. The dog went in for his xray, they operated there and then he stayed overnight and came home the next day with a buster collar on and leg stitched up. We caged him as advised so he couldn't move around too much on it. Next morning came down to find he had chewed all stitched out because the buster collar the vets had provided was too small (he's a big dog) so we called the vets, they said bring him back in, they put him under and re did the stitches and he came home later the same day. No mention of costs, not asked to sign anything, this time they heavily bandaged the leg and put a shoe on so he couldn't get at it. He went back for numerous check ups to check the scar was healing, stitch removal etc, and during none of these visits were any costs discussed with us or were we advised of how much the whole thing was costing (at any point). He is now nearly fully recovered a couple of months down the line and this morning she received a letter from the vets giving he a warning of overdue payment saying that she owes them £2060 so we called the vets (couldnt speak to accounts as its a saturday) receptionist pulled the flle up and said yes that it was owed after insurance, range the insurance who have confirmed they have paid £1,500. There wasn't even a breakdown of costs. I expect to find on Monday that they have charged for the second part of the operation under the assumption that the insurance will just pay it when in fact it was due to their own error of not giving him a correct buster collar or bandaging over the stitches in my opinion. It is a company called pet medics we have used who are part of a large group of vets. I'm not sure where we stand on this, my girlfriend has no income and doesn't own her own house, has no credit etc, so if they chase her for it the won't get anywhere but that is only a last resort we would much rather sort it fairly, I was going to pay the bill for her expecting £500 ish. I can't imagine any other industry where you could not advise somebody of costs and just send a letter owing £x so how can a vets get away with it? Any advice greatly appreciated before I call the vets on Monday to sort (when I have calmed down ) Thanks

My dog has been taking tablets for 5 years now and the vet still insists on me taking her to the surgery every 3 months for a checkup. Surely if the tablets were going to cause any problems this would have shown up ages ago. Can the vet refuse to give me another 3 months supply if we do not attend the surgery? (My dog is now getting old, she is 17, and cannot walk that far, although she is generally well and enjoys her food, potters around the garden etc. I have no transport to take her so, after 5 years, is it still essential that I have to find a way to get her down to the vets again just to get her next lot of tablets?

Here goes: I bought a cavachon puppy off a registered breeder online a week ago, the breeder seemed very genuine, we had lots of phone conversations etc.. anyway, i picked up the pup from the breeders house along with some other bits for the pup including paperwork. When i got the pup it had already had its first vaccination and been checked over by a vet, when i took the pup to have its 2nd vaccination 2 days ago my vet told me my pup has a grade 5 and close to grade 6 heart murmur now grade 6 is the worst it gets! and my puppy unfortunately wont live very long my vet also advised it should of been picked up by the vet when giving the first vaccination. I have been referred to a cardiologist for tests/scans to determine the exact cause which can cost me around £800 and to operate will cost in the thousands, but i am very attached to the puppy already! having spoken to the insurance they are reluctant to pay out as they claim it must have been spotted at the first vaccination and its classed as a pr existing condition!. Is there anything i can do about being sold this puppy? i have been in touch with the breeder who refused to give us her vets details and now she has disconnected her phone and her neighbors have said they haven't seen her in a few days, its really frustrating and i really don't know what to do!!

I have a 13 year old crossbread who I love dearly. on the outer ankle area of his left front leg he has what looks to me like an injury which has become infected. We took him to the vets yesterday, not had to bother taking him to the vets much as he is a really healthy dog so dont really have a relationship with a vet as such and I am quite upset and concerned by her diagnosis. Upon looking at the wound, which to be fair is quite grotesque, she immediately said that it is a huge mass and a tumour and needs to be surgically removed and that is what the foul smell coming from him was. This last point made my husband cross as the fould smell was his breath due to him licking this infection/abscess and annoyed him that she couldnt tell the difference. She cleaned the wound, gave him a lampshade to stop him licking it as this is making it worse, and some antibiotics and pain relief. She also quoted surgery at £650-£700. I told her that due to his age and cost I was unsure if this is something we would want to do and she just told me that we had to hope that it would heal then. Also that it could take weeks or months to fully heal. I feel in limbo as we have no idea what not operating would mean, it seems to us that she has implied we put him to sleep, but he is not in pain and apart from this is very health. We are following the treatment, cleaning 2 x daily and his meds, but after already paying £77 to her am a bit wary about taking him back on Monday as tbh I dont have much faith in her. Does anyone know if a person not on benefits could get help with a vets bill or would I be screwed???

Leaving my mums 5 month old puppy, Millie, a Maltese Terrier, at the vets to be spade, the nurse went through the permissions list, asking if I wanted to allow them to cut her toe nails, to which I said 'no' and did I want her returned with a neck collar, to which I said 'no'. When my mum collected Millie, she was 'horrified' to see that her female parts were not the only thing the vet had removed! The vet had cut off all her facial hair up to her forehead including her eyelashes and also cutting off her under chin beard hair! My mother immediately complained to the nurse and 2 days later when I took Millie back for her after surgery check, I complained to the vet who had actually performed the surgery. Showing her a photo of Millies face before surgery, I asked 'why has she been returned to us looking like a totally different dog' and 'why on earth was her facial hair cut when she only went to be spade?' I was told that the nurse had thought she was just doing her job as Millie was drooling. What was wrong with wiping any drool with a towel or cloth and then washing her face? I told her that I was horrified that they assumed it would okay for them to cut off her hair when I would not give permission for them to cut her nails. I stated it would of taken a 5 minute telephone call from the vets to ask either my mother or myself for our permission to cut her hair and that surely the permission question should be included in the pre-surgery questionnaire. The vet called my mother and said that she would be elevating the complaint with the practices senior partner and the nurse in question. I told my mother that she should request a full refund of the cost for Millie to be spade as I felt the vet should refund either all or some of the operations cost as a sign of goodwill after unauthorised cutting of Millies face hair. My mother requested a refund and was told 'no'. Is there anything that we can do? Is there a governing board that we can report the vet to?

Just after some advice please. My vet bill was issued in late Sept and there was a discrepancy over the amount. It was amended and a new bill sent out whilst i was on holiday. When I got back it was lost in all the holiday post. Eventually (mid-Nov) my wife found it and sent a cheque (£71) from work via business post - usually arrives next working day. Now, my dog fell ill yesterday and I need a vet to see her so I called and they claim that my account has been passed to a DCA and there is nothing they can do! I called my bank and they said the cheque has not been processed and 'stopped' it for me. I called the vet back and offered immediate payment over the phone to be told they can't accept it as it is in the hands of their DCA as was passed to them on 28th Nov. It is now 28th Dec and I haven't had ANY comms from them whatsoever. I have checked the bill from the vet and it says nothing about accounts being passed to DCA's or anything like that. It merely states that overdue accounts will attract a 3% monthly charge. My question is this - are they able to pass over an account without any formal notification? I am in business myself and I send an invoice, first payment reminder, second payment reminder with statement and then a letter advising legal recourse if payment not received within 14 days. Surely they will be no different?