2 Vets Contradicting each other

[tnopebile]

Hi all.

 

Last Friday we became aware of our kitten having an abscess located above his anus. When we took him to our regular vet he drained the abscess and flushed it before leaving it open / supplying a cone. The vet told us not to let the cat lick the abscess and gave us painkillers to give with food once a day.

 

Last night we observed blood on the floor where our kitten was sitting. On inspection it looked like the abscess had torn down to/ onto the anus. Concerned, we called the emergency vet for advice and were told to bring him in. We did so despite the quoted call-out fee of £170.00.

 

Upon arrival and examination the emergency Vet offered to stitch up the abscess there and then or for us to wait a few hours until the next day then have the same surgery performed.

 

We asked what the emergency vet what she would recommend and was told it would be best to leave him with them overnight so they could go forwards with stitching up Kalli's anus/ abscess plus issuing stronger painkillers.

 

My mother paid a deposit of £250.00 up front as requested then paid a further amount to bring the total to just over £500.00.

 

This morning we contacted our regular vet who expressed dissatisfaction with the treatment given by the emergency vet, stating they shouldn't have stitched up the wound.

 

They said this, explaining, that there is a high chance they will need to undo the work done to Kalli by the emergency vet as this had a good chance of making his injury worse with time and expressing the opinion that over-phone advice was the only thing that should have been provided with the reason being that it would only be a cause for concern had the cat been female.

 

Kalli is a male sphynx.

 

Our kitten is not insured, which means whatever costs are incurred are our own faults for not being prepared - I am aware. I am willing to pay the consultation fee that was required by bringing the cat in and even for the extra painkillers - however, being charged for a surgery/ treatment that was entirely unnecessary feels wrong.

 

We plan to ask our regular vet to put the professional opinion he gave us in writing however I'm really lost about how we can proceed after that. Does anyone have any experience in this? Please help!

[hightail]

As far as I'm aware it's normal to leave an abscess open as your own vet advised. I've never heard of a vet suggesting it's better to close with stitching. If there was a further tear that may have affected the emergency vet's decision, or at least they could claim it was the reason for stitching.

 

That said, this does have all the signs of maximising costs. Your cat was not in any danger or ill. It wasn't an emergency or they'd have carried out the procedure immediately. It didn't need a drip or stabilising in any way. The only reason I can think of for keeping it overnight was to ensure you didn't go back to your own vet.

 

You've learned a lesson the hard way, as many do. Find yourself a vet who does their own out of hours work. Don't rely on a notice in any surgery saying '24 hour cover'. All vets have to have provision for it in place but many (as you found out) simply refer clients to central emergency vets or rent their premises out at night.

[tnopebile]

As far as I'm aware it's normal to leave an abscess open as your own vet advised. I've never heard of a vet suggesting it's better to close with stitching. If there was a further tear that may have affected the emergency vet's decision, or at least they could claim it was the reason for stitching.

 

That said, this does have all the signs of maximising costs. Your cat was not in any danger or ill. It wasn't an emergency or they'd have carried out the procedure immediately. It didn't need a drip or stabilising in any way. The only reason I can think of for keeping it overnight was to ensure you didn't go back to your own vet.

 

You've learned a lesson the hard way, as many do. Find yourself a vet who does their own out of hours work. Don't rely on a notice in any surgery saying '24 hour cover'. All vets have to have provision for it in place but many (as you found out) simply refer clients to central emergency vets or rent their premises out at night.

 

Yes I've 'learnt my lesson', but what I was asking for was advice on how to proceed not to be told off about what already happened and cannot be undone. I don't see any of that in your post

[hightail]

I wasn't telling you off. You seemed pretty clued up in knowing that you first need to persuade your usual vet to put their opinion in writing. That's probably going to be your biggest hurdle. Beyond that and going forward I was offering advice on how to make sure it can't happen again. Bowing out now.