I
can't begin to express how badly
I wanted to avoid this. I needed
space from this to get past it and
constantly having to revisit it is
absolutely like ripping open a healing
wound. Some of you had asked how
I was doing with it, and although
less often, when it hits me - it still
wipes me out. I am instantly in
tears, I feel like my chest is going to
cave-in. I miss Shizzle so much
I literally have to ignore it. It's
too much to take to even look his eyes in
those pictures. And his video?
Can't make it out of the first scene
without tears.
Anyway -
I had a horrible nightmare last month where
Shizzle was in every scene and I would hug him and say
"I'm sorry" over and over and over. Then things would
move on, I'd see him again and hug him and repeat "I'm
sorry" while I cried. Woke me up at 4:30 AM and I
couldn't get back to sleep. I knew it was time to
finally write the letter to the vet.
Amazingly, after
Shizzle died, the vet sent me a $236 bill for
medication I never picked up. It was a mistake
that all but forced me to contact them again as I
don't need my credit screwed up to boot. It was the
universe's way of making me deal with the bigger
problem of what they did to Shizzle. So I wrote to
them on December 29th, 2006:
To Whom It May
Concern:
I received your
updated statement earlier this month for
my dog, Shizzle, which included an
outstanding balance of $236.24 (ID 89702)
for medicine that was never received. I
came in that day, and when I was told the
price, I asked to speak to a veterinarian
and he helped me realize that our biggest
immediate concern was Shizzle's bleeding
and I decided to wait one day to see if it
improved before I started in on extra
medicine for another issue. I made sure
the lady at the front desk understood this
and did not take the medicine.
Unfortunately, however, I'm not only
writing because of poor
bookkeeping:
When I brought
Shizzle in on Friday, the 24th , he had a
nose bleed and a blood vessel had popped
in his left eye causing his eye to fill up
with blood. The doctor wanted to
immediately put him in the hospital
overnight, and I asked if we could just do
the steroids and blood tests for the
moment as I could not afford an extended
stay unless I knew what was wrong. They
took him back to get blood drawn and a
urine sample. This took over 20 minutes
and the vet came out again to ask if we'd
consider a hospital stay. I was confused
and couldn't understand why it was taking
so long, but I reiterated I just wanted to
see the blood results. She left again, and
then another 20 minutes later we were
asked to go back into the room and talk to
her. She then said she'd watch Shizzle
until closing and we could make a choice
then. I appreciated her concern and went
home.
When I came to
pick Shizzle up a few hours later my
girlfriend noticed his stomach was bloated
and hard. I was in shock. I asked the lady
at the front desk what was wrong and she
had no idea. No one said anything to me on
the phone other than he looked fine and we
could pick him up. Again, he was taken
into the back for the vet to look at him.
We waited 15 minutes and again went into a
room where the original female vet and now
a second female vet admitted that when
they tried to get a urine sample he began
bleeding internally and that he was now
bloated and filled with blood in his
abdomen. I asked if they should try and
extract it somehow and I was told that it
would be bad to poke him again and that
the blood would be absorbed by his body
over time. That seemed reasonable to me,
so I took Shizzle home. I awaited the
blood results.
The next
morning, and this is what has eaten away
at me for a month, his nose bleed had
stopped, his eye was clearing up…but
now he was bleeding out of his penis. The
blood results showed he had a low platelet
count and some inconclusive problems with
his liver which the vet recommended some
antibiotics for. I said that I'd be in to
get those immediately. As I described
above, when I was told of the price I
asked to speak to a vet because I was more
concerned about the bleeding and if that
couldn't be stopped I was going to put him
down. The vet agreed that this was the
most pressing issue, so I decided to give
it one more day, as the steroids had
actually fixed his initial
problems.
Unfortunately
that night he began vomiting blood, and
the following morning, couldn't even keep
water down to take his steroid medication.
I called immediately to have him put down
as he was in a tremendous amount of
distress and I was told there were no
openings. I begged and again I was told
there was no way, so I booked an
appointment the following morning and I
asked if I could please be contacted if
there were any openings that day. I sat
with Shizzle all day as he was dying and
called again around 3 PM asking for help
and was again told there was no opening.
That night around 11 PM I finally called
the emergency number but it was too late.
He died within the hour, and it was as
painful, bloody, and unnecessary a death
as I've ever witnessed.
I understand
that what caused his internal bleeding was
most likely a routine procedure of getting
a urine sample. However, why that
procedure would be done on a dog who
obviously had a bleeding issue is a
concern. Also, why was I not informed,
immediately when it was known that
something went wrong with the proceedure?
I left him in your care for hours. Why did
I have to pick him up 3 hours later to
notice a huge, swollen abdomen that I had
to point out? Why when it was finally
admitted what had happened 3-4 hours
before, was I made to believe that the
blood would just be absorbed into his
body? He bled to death internally for 2
days because of this. Lastly, how could
there be no time to help put down a dog
who was suffering? How could there not be
5 minutes to help someone's pet? I
understand procedural mistakes happen, I
even understand that everything could have
been done by the book and because he had a
low platelet count, this caused his
internally bleeding… but to not tell
me, to hide it from me until I finally
demanded an answer, and then try to sell
me $236 worth of medicine to fight a
different problem? I'm beside myself.
Ineptness is one thing, but lack of
accountability is a far greater issue.
At the very,
very least I expect an apology and feel I
should be refunded the $358.20 I've
already paid for the egregious way this
was handled. I also want to know exactly
what sort of procedure was used to extract
urine from his bladder and believe that
procedure should be reviewed to say the
least as I was able to get a urine sample
that night the old fashioned way - which
considering his condition seemed a
preferred method.
It would be
greatly appreciated if you could respond
to my queries as soon as possible as this
is a matter I wish to find closure for in
my heart and mind.
Sincerely,
Adam
Kontras
I hand
delivered it to them that morning (a Saturday) and
have yet to hear a word. After 3 weeks I finally
contacted the person I originally got Shizzle
from, Shannon Keith. Shannon is an animal lawyer and I
thought long and hard about contacting her. I was just
so amazed I was being ignored. How do you read
that letter and not reply? I assume any response
would indict them and open them up legally but tough
shit people. There's right and wrong, and this
situation is pretty clear. By hiding and trying to
cover up your mistakes you took someone who was the
least likely to sue you and forced his hand. I
will now not only hold you accountable for what
happened to my dog, I will shut you down. Shannon
actually had an issue with this same clinic several
years ago and the bottom line is: no one should
take their pet there. Ever.
I'm meeting with
Shannon this week to go over the chain of events that
will take place and I'll keep you all updated as we go
along. It really rips me apart that it's come to this,
but it seems wildly irresponsible to let this slide.
They're chosing to ignore me, hoping I go away.
They could just as easily avoid this by sitting down
with me and explaining the proceedure, how they're
going to change what they do from this point on, and
treat the situation with the respect it deserves.
They've chosen to ignore me. And I've chosen to not
accept that.
