Vet Negligence to dying puppies

[doris's mummy]

Hi All

 

Was just wondering if anyone had any advice. I have a dogue de bordeaux bitch who was mated via pedigree stud and had her litter on 10/04. She had 7 healthy pups but in the next two days went on to have a further 3 puppies - all sadly still born. I was in constant contact with my vet whom advised this was normal?

I wasnt happy so therefore contacted another vet whom also stated it was normal.

To cut a long story short. On day 3 of the pups life, one began to move away etc etc and sadly died in my arms that night. I again contacted both vets and they both said this was normal as she was the 'runt' of the litter. The next day another puppy began to show signs that they were following the same path as our poor little minnie the runt. I therefore called the vets and he advised that I get some Puppy Stim as this would help.

Unfortunately he didnt have any in stock, so I called round some vets and found a vet that had some. On going to collect the meds the vet spoke to me and advised that I should immediately bring in the puppies as if 2 had died they should definetely be checked over.

I therefore went home and got the 6 puppies and took them straight to the new vets. The vet examined each pup and as she did sadly another puppy died (leaving 5) she didnt seem overly concerned gave no explanation. She checked the remaining pups and advised that I 100% had 5 remaining healthy DDB puppies. Feeling grateful for some form of positive outcome I left the vets. Within 3 hours another 2 puppies died!

Then two days later a further puppy died.

As I am sure you can understand, this has been an awful time for me, I have contacted the vets and if om honest gone a bit mad. They assured me the pups were healthy. The owner of the practice has called me and offered a free herpes vaccine as this is theie vaccine offer of the month. He openly admitted his vet had been negligent and should have recognised that the puppies were dying, as she had witnessed one die and i had told her about the others, and she should have offered exploratory tests to see if the rest were ok, rathjer than the bog standard clinical check.

 

I really want some advice in what to do.

 

I dont want to call them again guns blazing but I do feel strongly that they have been negligent.

 

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

Thanks

[freakyleaky]

A sad tale indeed but I am not sure what recourse you have.

To loose puppies is quite normal especially in a litter of that size.

Maybe the new vet should have carried out further in depth tests after so many had died.

if the vet has admitted negligence on the part of one of his vets then maybe you could let him know you're not happy and bring up the subject of compensation.

Let us know how you get on.

[hightail]

Was this your first foray into breeding? I breed cats not dogs but it does strike me as unusual for a breeder not to have puppy stim/nutri drops/rescue remedy to hand as part of essential kit. I also always have Synulox drops in my kit, my vet has no problem with me having one lot ready to make up. A stillbirth always indicates the possibility of infection and I'd react accordingly. Were the pups gaining weight nicely and then died suddenly or were there indications they were fading when you weighed them? I weigh twice a day for the first week as it's the best indication you may need to step in and you need to do so very quickly to have any chance of saving a fading newborn.