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Vet Malpractice?

I'm looking to get some second opinions, or words of advice for those who have been in a similar situation.

I recently lost my year and a half old Jagd Terrier, Bullet. Here's the story:

Saturday, May 27th we went for a walk in the woods (SW Ohio). Bullet got into a hole in a rock wall, and was fighting two raccoons. It took me two hours to get him out, and by that time he had a lot of bite wounds on his face, and was exhausted.
I took him home, cleaned up his wounds with gauze, and alcohol. I let him rest. The next day (Sunday, May 28th) he wouldn't eat or drink on his own. I figured his mouth hurt pretty bad. I took him to the only vet that was open (NW Ohio). It was a 24 hour emergency vet. The vet said that he was basically fine just sore. His mouth is swollen, a small fever, and he still has a few leaky wounds. The vet shoots him up with fluids, and prescribes Rilexine, and Metacam. $330 later, and he sends me on my way.

https://www.valleyvet.com/ct_detail...adsMaArrj8P8HAQ
Metacam Oral Suspension 1.5mg/ml for Dogs is used for control of pain and inflammation associated with osteoarthritis in dogs. Metacam Oral Suspension contains 1.5 mg/ml meloxicam, a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID). Metacam Oral Suspension should be administered initially at 0.09 mg/lb (0.2 mg/kg) body weight only on the first day of treatment. For all treatments after day 1, Metacam Oral Suspension should be administered once daily at a dose of 0.045 mg/lb (0.1 mg/kg). Meloxicam

https://www.pet360.com/product/5306...e-tabs-for-dogs
What is Rilexine? This is a medication that is given orally(by mouth). It is an antibiotic that treats pyoderma (bacterial infection of the skin) and urinary tract infections. Tablets make it more convenient to treat your pets infection than with capsules that contain the same active ingredient.

I give the medication as prescribed. I buy soft (canned) dog foods, so that he will eat on his own. I spray water into his mouth using a water bottle with a hole in the cap. He seems to lay around all day, but I just assumed he was tired from the pain meds. Friday, my roommate calls me at work, and says I should come home, because he seems to have gotten worse. I come home at lunch, take him to a vet. They don't know what is wrong with him, but say that the symptoms point to rabies (lethargy, fever, not drinking) they give me three options. The most expensive, and the best option is to go to the 24/hour emergency vet down the road (Monroeville, PA). I take him. They state as well that it looks like the "dumb" form of rabies. I insist that the dog does not have rabies. They say the only other option is to do a blood test. I give them the okay to run the test. Two hours later, the vet comes running in to the waiting room. They ran the test, Bullet has a sepsis(blood) infection, and he actually just stopped breathing. They are doing CPR as we speak, but she suggests we stop, because CPR can get expensive. I have them stop. They insist I still get him tested for rabies. So I did. I got the call Tuesday that he didn't have rabies. Another $630 later, and no dog.
I have already paid the bills, so I'm not extremely worried about it. However, it sucks that I lost my best friend from something as normal as some raccoon bites.

My main question is:
Is the first vet wrong for prescribing him a specific skin infection antibiotic. He did no tests that said the dog had a skin infection. He just assumed that was all he had. The rilexine wasn't fighting the correct infection, because he did no test to find out what the infection was. Couldn't/Shouldn't he have prescribed a more general antibiotic?
I'm not looking for thousands of dollars, I would just like for them to reimburse me for these bills. I really feel like if he would have been given the right antibiotic on the 28th of May, the day after the incident, that my dog would still be alive.

Any thoughts?
Thanks

Rilexine

Rilexine also known as Cephalexin is an antibiotic that covers most bacteria found on the surface of a dog's skin. When a tooth enters the skin it introduces this bacteria into the deeper tissues, so while yes the label says skin infection it is used to treat similar bacteria that would be found after a bite wound. There is also bacteria from the raccoon's teeth that were introduced to your dog which is a wide variety. Your vet picked the antibiotic that he/she felt would cover the most likely bacteria, streps, staphs, and some E.coli and pasteurellas- so somewhat of a broader spectrum antibiotic covering the most common bacteria found in wounds. Unfortunately looks like it did not cover enough for your dog. Once a dog gets sepsis its very difficult to treat regardless of the antibiotic, you are looking at IV fluids and antibiotics and hospitalization for a while. Sepsis can occur very quickly. Unfortunately I think that this was just a bad set of circumstances that led to the loss of your dog but I don't think anyone is to blame here. We have used cephalexin a lot in our dogs that get bit by bears and it works very well in most cases. I'm very sorry to hear about your dog.

Sorry to hear about your dog.
The best thing you can do is bury your dog and move on because your odds of winning a lawsuit against any of these vets is less than zero.
See if you can find a lawyer that will take your case on contigengency. You wont find one but if you do, then there yah go.

__________________
UKC Nite Champion Stylish Harry's Trixie - 2017 World Hunt Qualified - Owners - Sizemore/Martin
PKC CH/UKC GrNtCh Stylish Kate - 9/12/08 to 9/23/2016 R.I.P - Owners Sizemore/Martin
AKC/UKC NtCh Sizemore's Timber Jam Jeff 5/2/2000 to 1/22/2012 R.I.P.
AKC/UKC GrNtCh Sizemore's Timber Jam Jessi 12/21/04 to 1/21/2011 R.I.P.

Thats the trouble with vets. They want to charge and doctor as if they are working on a human. Yes i know school costs a lot and takes a lot of years. Then when something goes wrong there is no responsibility on their part to right a wrong. Jmho

I'm not sure what grounds you could sue him on.

Broad spectrum antibiotic, and a pain killer is what pretty much every vet in the world would prescribe I think.

__________________
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Fueled by Joy Podcast

Who knows how much blood he lost in the 2 hours he was in the hole fighting the coons, or the extent of his injuries. Some injuries arent easily diagnosed- I know people who have terrible pain and have been to loads of different doctors who all tell them there is nothing wrong.... I surely wouldn't be blaming the vet- they did what they could. Sorry you lost your dog though- that is always rough....

__________________
Dave Miller
5634994055
NtCh Miller's Alone Again Hannah

Thank you everyone for your replies.

This is what I was looking for. Normally, I wouldn't even think of something like this, but a friend told me I might have a shot.
I was thinking small claims if anything.

To Josh:

When you look up the the uses if Rilexine, it states that it is for skin infections and urinary tract infections.
That is where I was going.
However, when you look up cephalexin (which emcgee stated is the same thing and I'm not saying they are wrong) it seems that it covers a more broad spectrum of infections.

If it is the same drug, you get different results on uses depending which word you use.

bacteria

to find the right bacteria they would have to do a culture and let it grow and then look at it and that takes about a week to get answer so the vet gave you the basic medicine to help or you bill would of been triple to get the culture and get the info back and that would of been a week

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smile and the world will smile too if not dont worry about those other people and coon hunt all night pkc # 80045

In order to have a medical mal- practice .You have to prove gross negligence. A very high standard to prove in court.
That the vet did or did not do something that under those circumstances was grossly wrong and incompetent.
You would need another vet willing to testify that the vet in question was pretty much totally wrong in the way he treated your dog.
I am not a lawyer .Just know basically the test in a suit.

__________________
IT SEEMS THAT EVERYTIME A BREED OR LINE OF DOGS GET POPULAR IT EVENTUALLY LEADS TO ITS RUINATION BY UNINFORMED PEOPLE BREEDING WITHOUT DOING THEIR RESEARCH FIRST.

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NtChGrCh Dryfork Little Blue Baby Doll
2009 Pa Show Dog Of The Year
GrCh Dryfork Little Black Book
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Gone too soon RIP my baby girl
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One of kind and would make a believer out of you when you thought there were no coon left
Home of:
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In memory of my best friend "Jay"

Unfortunate

A very unfortunate situation. Sorry for your loss. I'd look for a good solid vet, somewhere in your area. Use that vet for everything you need. Build a good relationship with that vet, so they are willing to help you after hours and on weekends if needed. Using multiple vets gets very expensive.
This may be hard to find, but it's worth a lot.

__________________
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Home of
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GRNTCH PR' Daugherty's Red BUBBA
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NTCH PR' Lickcreek Backwoods Lil Red Annie

Re: Unfortunate

quote:

---

Originally posted by jdgher
A very unfortunate situation. Sorry for your loss. I'd look for a good solid vet, somewhere in your area. Use that vet for everything you need. Build a good relationship with that vet, so they are willing to help you after hours and on weekends if needed. Using multiple vets gets very expensive.

---

I'm sorry about the loss of your dog here. It's always hard when we lose a good one and it feels like we lost our best friend (because they are).

This is a really unfortunate situation here. I don't see anything the first veterinarian did that was wrong. We try to save our clients money by doing best medicine for what our patients need in the moment and saving our clients money when we think they need that. He prescribed a good antibiotic and a good anti inflammatory. He gave your dog fluids under the skin to help with dehydration. I would say 99% of dogs that get into fights with raccoon like this will respond to this type of conservative treatment. I personally would have run a small blood panel if the dog was severely depressed and given a combination antibiotic of Baytril and Convenia ( or Cephalexin) and offered you hospitalization with IV fluids. The problem we run into is that most hound owners tend to be really conservative when it comes to spending money on their dogs so the conservative route is commonly taken by veterinarians. It's kind of a **** if we do, and **** if we don't scenario. I'd say if this veterinarian didn't offer a lower end treatment plan and a higher end option then I'd be asking him why he didn't. He may have known you were a student and assumed you were like most starving students, needing to save money. I usually make an estimate up that has a high end and low end and let the owners decide which way they want to proceed.

I'd say this dogs wounds were worse than you thought initially and he should have been seen that night instead of waiting the next day. It doesn't take long for wounds to become infected and septicemia to set in, especially with coon bite wounds. They contain pasteurella bacteria just as cats and rattlesnakes do. The necrotoxins it releases can lead to serious disease fast. I think this dog should have been taken in right away and started on IV fluid support and broad spectrum antibiotics.

As far as veterinarians charging as much as human medicine, it's not even close. I only wish we did. I'll give you some comparisons. For an abscess repair on my shoulder it cost me $2500 and took the doctor 15 minutes to perform. That didn't even include the antibiotics to go home or pain meds. If I treated a dog for the same thing, it would be about $250 -$300. Another common thing we perform is Ovariohysterectomies on female dogs. We charge between $250-$400 depending on the stage and age and size of the dog. The human field charges a minimum of $15,000 and the last one I saw was over $20,000. So no we aren't even close to charging what the human field charges. The big difference is the insurance picks up most of the human expense so you don't see the total bill most of the time.

Doc

__________________
Dr. Allen Hallada (Doc Halladay)

Current:

PKC Ch. Gr.Nt.Ch. Cat Scratch Fever
(Gr.Nt.Ch. PKC Ch. Moonlight Aftershock x Gr.Nt.Ch. PKC Ch. Moonlight Outlaw Breanna)
2016 Finished to PKC Ch. in one week!

Dual Grand Champion CHKC Ch., PKC Gold Ch. All Grand Outlaw G-Man
(Gr.Nt.Ch.Glissens JJ Jr. x Gr.Nt.Ch. Outlaw Billy Jean)
4 Generations of All Grand Nite Champions!
Timber Jack 3X and Timber Chopper over 30X
2019 Southern National Redbone Days Champion
2016 National Grand Nite Champion Redbone
2016 CHKC Redbone Days Champion
2016 PKC Super Stakes Reserve Champion
2016 CHKC Elite Shootout Winner - Texas
CHKC All Time Money Winning Redbone

Bodacious
(Gr.Nt.Ch. Gr.Ch.PKC. Gold Ch.CHKC CH. Outlaw G-Man x Gr.Nt.Ch.Gr.Ch. CHKC Ch., PKC Gold Ch. Classy Cali)


Past:
Gr.Nt.Ch.Ch. Dawns Timber Jack
1988 American Redbone Days All Red Hunt Winner
1989 UKC World Champion Redbone
1989 Purina Outstanding Redbone Coonhound
#2 Historic Redbone Sire/ Top 20 All Breeds
American Redbone Coonhound Assoc. Hall of Fame

Gr.Nt.Ch. Bussrow Bottom Brandy II
1991 American Redbone Days Champion
1992 AKC World Champion Redbone
1992 ACHA World Champion Redbone
1992 Wisconsin State Champion
1994 US Redbone Days Opposite Sex
Produced 2 Nt. Ch. , 1 Gr.Nt.Ch. out of 2 litters and two Redbone Days Winners

Gr.Nt.Ch.Gr.Ch. PKC Gold Ch. Layton's Classy Cali
2012 UKC World Champion Redbone and 7th Place Overall
2012, 2013, 2014, 2015 UKC World Champion Redbone Female
2015 PKC Blue Ribbon Pro Hunt Winner - Goodsprings, AL
2015 PKC Blue Ribbon Pro Series Race - 3rd Place Overall
2016 PKC Blue Ribbon Pro Hunt Winner - New Albany, MS
2016 PKC Texas State Race Winner
2016 PKC Redbone Breed Race Winner
PKC All Time Money Winning Redbone

PKC Ch. Gr.Nt.Ch. Coffman's Smokin Red Buck
2016 UKC World Hunt 5th Place and World Champion Redbone
2016 National Redbone Days Overall Winner

Gr.Nt.Ch. Reinhart's Central Page
(Gr.Nt.Ch. Timber Jack x Gr.Nt.Ch. Brandy II)

Gr.Nt.Ch. Too the Maxx
(Gr.Nt.Ch. Timber Jack x Gr.Nt.Ch. Jenkins Crying Katie)
1992 National Redbone Days Champion

Gr.Ch.Nt.Ch. Ambraw River Rock
(Gr.Nt.Ch. Timber Jack x Gr.Ch.Nt.Ch. Hersh's Huntin Red Kate)
1992 US Redbone Days Opposite Sex

Nt.Ch. Tree Bustin Annabelle
1986 American Redbone Days All Red Hunt Winner

Nt.Ch. Timber Mace
(Gr.Nt.Ch. Timber Jack X Nt.Ch. Tree Bustin Annabelle)
Mother of Gr.Nt.Ch. Babb's Hazel

Nt. Ch. Timber Shock
(Gr.Nt.Ch.Timber Jack x Gr.Nt.Ch. Outlaw Jessie)

Gr. Ch. Nt. Ch. Squaw Mountain Goldie
(Direct Daughter of Gr.Nt.Ch.Smokey Mountain Brandy)
1990 Autumn Oaks Best of Show Winner
1988 Indiana State Champion

well said doc !!

__________________
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quote:

---

Originally posted by ahallada
I'm sorry about the loss of your dog here. It's always hard when we lose a good one and it feels like we lost our best friend (because they are).

This is a really unfortunate situation here. I don't see anything the first veterinarian did that was wrong. We try to save our clients money by doing best medicine for what our patients need in the moment and saving our clients money when we think they need that. He prescribed a good antibiotic and a good anti inflammatory. He gave your dog fluids under the skin to help with dehydration. I would say 99% of dogs that get into fights with raccoon like this will respond to this type of conservative treatment. I personally would have run a small blood panel if the dog was severely depressed and given a combination antibiotic of Baytril and Convenia ( or Cephalexin) and offered you hospitalization with IV fluids. The problem we run into is that most hound owners tend to be really conservative when it comes to spending money on their dogs so the conservative route is commonly taken by veterinarians. It's kind of a **** if we do, and **** if we don't scenario. I'd say if this veterinarian didn't offer a lower end treatment plan and a higher end option then I'd be asking him why he didn't. He may have known you were a student and assumed you were like most starving students, needing to save money. I usually make an estimate up that has a high end and low end and let the owners decide which way they want to proceed.

I'd say this dogs wounds were worse than you thought initially and he should have been seen that night instead of waiting the next day. It doesn't take long for wounds to become infected and septicemia to set in, especially with coon bite wounds. They contain pasteurella bacteria just as cats and rattlesnakes do. The necrotoxins it releases can lead to serious disease fast. I think this dog should have been taken in right away and started on IV fluid support and broad spectrum antibiotics.

As far as veterinarians charging as much as human medicine, it's not even close. I only wish we did. I'll give you some comparisons. For an abscess repair on my shoulder it cost me $2500 and took the doctor 15 minutes to perform. That didn't even include the antibiotics to go home or pain meds. If I treated a dog for the same thing, it would be about $250 -$300. Another common thing we perform is Ovariohysterectomies on female dogs. We charge between $250-$400 depending on the stage and age and size of the dog. The human field charges a minimum of $15,000 and the last one I saw was over $20,000. So no we aren't even close to charging what the human field charges. The big difference is the insurance picks up most of the human expense so you don't see the total bill most of the time.

Doc

---

__________________
Let's go huntin

quote:

---

Originally posted by Rip
You are wrong on some things Doc. You get MORE than the human doctors GET. Not CHARGE but GET.

I know I am a surgeon. I know what you get for a gallbladder and what I get for a gallbladder. I know what you get for an abscess and what I get for an abscess.

Here is the Medicare fee schedule for a COMPLEX abscess, not simple.

Physician Fee Schedule Procedures
These amounts apply when service is performed in a facility setting.
Code Modifier Locality Effective Date Par Facility Non Par Facility Limiting Charge Facility EHR Limiting Charge Facility PQRS Limiting Charge Facility EHR + PQRS Limiting Charge Facility
Par Non Facility Non Par Non Facility Limiting Charge Non Facility EHR Limiting Charge Non Facility PQRS Limiting Charge Non Facility EHR + PQRS Limiting Charge Non Facility
10061 35 01/01/2017 170.45 161.93 186.22 180.63 182.49 177.02
194.03 184.33 211.98 205.62 207.74 201.51

So basically I get 170 bucks in the hospital to do it and 190 bucks in the office to do it. I may charge 600 to get that 170 due to Medicare regulations but that is what I actually GET when the check comes.

That's one difference in vet and people, I have to bill X amount to get 100 bucks and hospital and physician charges are different etc. So I basically get 190 bucks to do it in my office and you just said you got 250 to 300 ( I don't sell the meds, you do so that is likely some of the difference).

Just pointing out the ONLY mistake you made in the above post LOL.

---

__________________
Dr. Allen Hallada (Doc Halladay)

Current:

PKC Ch. Gr.Nt.Ch. Cat Scratch Fever
(Gr.Nt.Ch. PKC Ch. Moonlight Aftershock x Gr.Nt.Ch. PKC Ch. Moonlight Outlaw Breanna)
2016 Finished to PKC Ch. in one week!

Dual Grand Champion CHKC Ch., PKC Gold Ch. All Grand Outlaw G-Man
(Gr.Nt.Ch.Glissens JJ Jr. x Gr.Nt.Ch. Outlaw Billy Jean)
4 Generations of All Grand Nite Champions!
Timber Jack 3X and Timber Chopper over 30X
2019 Southern National Redbone Days Champion
2016 National Grand Nite Champion Redbone
2016 CHKC Redbone Days Champion
2016 PKC Super Stakes Reserve Champion
2016 CHKC Elite Shootout Winner - Texas
CHKC All Time Money Winning Redbone

Bodacious
(Gr.Nt.Ch. Gr.Ch.PKC. Gold Ch.CHKC CH. Outlaw G-Man x Gr.Nt.Ch.Gr.Ch. CHKC Ch., PKC Gold Ch. Classy Cali)


Past:
Gr.Nt.Ch.Ch. Dawns Timber Jack
1988 American Redbone Days All Red Hunt Winner
1989 UKC World Champion Redbone
1989 Purina Outstanding Redbone Coonhound
#2 Historic Redbone Sire/ Top 20 All Breeds
American Redbone Coonhound Assoc. Hall of Fame

Gr.Nt.Ch. Bussrow Bottom Brandy II
1991 American Redbone Days Champion
1992 AKC World Champion Redbone
1992 ACHA World Champion Redbone
1992 Wisconsin State Champion
1994 US Redbone Days Opposite Sex
Produced 2 Nt. Ch. , 1 Gr.Nt.Ch. out of 2 litters and two Redbone Days Winners

Gr.Nt.Ch.Gr.Ch. PKC Gold Ch. Layton's Classy Cali
2012 UKC World Champion Redbone and 7th Place Overall
2012, 2013, 2014, 2015 UKC World Champion Redbone Female
2015 PKC Blue Ribbon Pro Hunt Winner - Goodsprings, AL
2015 PKC Blue Ribbon Pro Series Race - 3rd Place Overall
2016 PKC Blue Ribbon Pro Hunt Winner - New Albany, MS
2016 PKC Texas State Race Winner
2016 PKC Redbone Breed Race Winner
PKC All Time Money Winning Redbone

PKC Ch. Gr.Nt.Ch. Coffman's Smokin Red Buck
2016 UKC World Hunt 5th Place and World Champion Redbone
2016 National Redbone Days Overall Winner

Gr.Nt.Ch. Reinhart's Central Page
(Gr.Nt.Ch. Timber Jack x Gr.Nt.Ch. Brandy II)

Gr.Nt.Ch. Too the Maxx
(Gr.Nt.Ch. Timber Jack x Gr.Nt.Ch. Jenkins Crying Katie)
1992 National Redbone Days Champion

Gr.Ch.Nt.Ch. Ambraw River Rock
(Gr.Nt.Ch. Timber Jack x Gr.Ch.Nt.Ch. Hersh's Huntin Red Kate)
1992 US Redbone Days Opposite Sex

Nt.Ch. Tree Bustin Annabelle
1986 American Redbone Days All Red Hunt Winner

Nt.Ch. Timber Mace
(Gr.Nt.Ch. Timber Jack X Nt.Ch. Tree Bustin Annabelle)
Mother of Gr.Nt.Ch. Babb's Hazel

Nt. Ch. Timber Shock
(Gr.Nt.Ch.Timber Jack x Gr.Nt.Ch. Outlaw Jessie)

Gr. Ch. Nt. Ch. Squaw Mountain Goldie
(Direct Daughter of Gr.Nt.Ch.Smokey Mountain Brandy)
1990 Autumn Oaks Best of Show Winner
1988 Indiana State Champion

hey joey, sorry to hear about your dog. sucks but part of the game even though mans best friend if your gonna pursue wild game crap happens. vet was doing everything to help you, they wouldnt be in business otherwise. all the old timers always say pet your dog when hit woods, may never see it again. lotta potential hazzards with hunting dogs.
later, matt.

__________________
i will finish the game.

Very sorry to hear about your dog. I have a question....did this dog not have a rabies vaccine???? I have always read and been told by vets that the rabies vaccine is very effective. Why was the possibility of rabies even mentioned if the dog had the shot??? and/or what are you doing running a dog in the wild where he could possibly come in contact with a rabid animal without it???? This not only places the dog in a dangerous situation, it also puts you and possibly others in danger too...rabies is deadly.
It sounds like you put this dog in harms way with no vaccine, he got in a scuffle with raccoons and died and you want to sue the vet that tried to save him?????
That will never pass summary judgement, even if you find a lawyer to take this case the judge will throw it out.

Edit: I didn't know there was a "blood test" for rabies virus....doesn't that require the animals head {he's obviously got to be dead} so they can expose the brain and look at it under some kind of light that glows if the virus is present??????

quote:

---

Originally posted by ahallada
Well I said what I charge vs what human medicine charges for the same procedure, not what we actually make off the procedure. Heck if you want to talk what we make off that abscess repair, well I'd take home about $30-$50 of that and then after taxes $20- $30. lol
It's not cheap running a hospital anymore. Staff costs, rent, inventory, business loans eat up about 75-80% of the profit now. That doesn't include the $150-$250k student loans these kids are coming out of school with today and are paying back. The only ones getting rich in our profession are the ones who own multiple well run hospitals that are paid for or corporate hospitals that are paid for and profitable. The 1 -2 vet owner hospitals are getting to be a thing of the past. If you think it is expensive now, give it another 10 years. Corporations like VCA and Banfield are going to own 80% of them.

---

__________________
Let's go huntin

quote:

---

Originally posted by ahallada
I'm sorry about the loss of your dog here. It's always hard when we lose a good one and it feels like we lost our best friend (because they are).

This is a really unfortunate situation here. I don't see anything the first veterinarian did that was wrong. We try to save our clients money by doing best medicine for what our patients need in the moment and saving our clients money when we think they need that. He prescribed a good antibiotic and a good anti inflammatory. He gave your dog fluids under the skin to help with dehydration. I would say 99% of dogs that get into fights with raccoon like this will respond to this type of conservative treatment. I personally would have run a small blood panel if the dog was severely depressed and given a combination antibiotic of Baytril and Convenia ( or Cephalexin) and offered you hospitalization with IV fluids. The problem we run into is that most hound owners tend to be really conservative when it comes to spending money on their dogs so the conservative route is commonly taken by veterinarians. It's kind of a **** if we do, and **** if we don't scenario. I'd say if this veterinarian didn't offer a lower end treatment plan and a higher end option then I'd be asking him why he didn't. He may have known you were a student and assumed you were like most starving students, needing to save money. I usually make an estimate up that has a high end and low end and let the owners decide which way they want to proceed.

I'd say this dogs wounds were worse than you thought initially and he should have been seen that night instead of waiting the next day. It doesn't take long for wounds to become infected and septicemia to set in, especially with coon bite wounds. They contain pasteurella bacteria just as cats and rattlesnakes do. The necrotoxins it releases can lead to serious disease fast. I think this dog should have been taken in right away and started on IV fluid support and broad spectrum antibiotics.

As far as veterinarians charging as much as human medicine, it's not even close. I only wish we did. I'll give you some comparisons. For an abscess repair on my shoulder it cost me $2500 and took the doctor 15 minutes to perform. That didn't even include the antibiotics to go home or pain meds. If I treated a dog for the same thing, it would be about $250 -$300. Another common thing we perform is Ovariohysterectomies on female dogs. We charge between $250-$400 depending on the stage and age and size of the dog. The human field charges a minimum of $15,000 and the last one I saw was over $20,000. So no we aren't even close to charging what the human field charges. The big difference is the insurance picks up most of the human expense so you don't see the total bill most of the time.

Doc

---

__________________
Autumn Clements

'PR'LEAD'S MIDNITE SASSY
CFC CH Canadian GCH Multi Group Placing MBPIG BBPIG LEGACYK STANNYFIELD PRIME TIME (AKC & UKC Pointed)
BPIG MBBPIG WINDAMIRS RED LIGHT DISTRICT V AMBERLANE
LEGACYK DARE TO DREAM V CBLUES
LEGACYK WHITE AS A GHOST V CBLUES

Gone but not forgotten
GRNITECH GRCH PKC CH'PR'CLEMENTS' BLUE PRANCER
GRNITECH GRCH'PR'SPIKE'S TWILITE HOOKER
'PR'PRANCER'S GETTIN DOWN N DIRTY (PrancerxHooker)
NITECH CH’PR’BUELL’S BLUE ROCKY(Whitey x Spice)
CKC BBPIG MARIES BABY BREEZE

A vet and a surgeon arguing about who has it the roughest lol

__________________
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www.joydogfood.com
Fueled by Joy Podcast

Thank you everyone for your comments.

The main reason I asked the question was because the answer that comes up when searching what rilexine is used for.

I now understand that rilexine, and cephalexin are the same drug. The reason for my confusion is because when you search rilexine you get this answer everytime:

Effectively treats pyoderma in dogs
Treats urinary tracts infections and bacterial infections "of the skin"

When you search cephalexin you get this:

An oral cephalosporin antibiotic used to treat many common bacterial infections in dogs and cats

This was my main concern, because the dog did not have pyoderma, or a UTI. The second vet that I talked to also said that he would not have prescribed that antibiotic. To each his own.

To msinc, he had his shots, they just thought he might've been too young when he got them.
They said because of the situation (coon bites and his symptoms) that it was a good possibility. There is no blood test for rabies. The blood test was done to check for other possible infections.


Once again, thank you everyone for your thoughts.
I will leave it to the Dr.'s to discuss further.

quote:

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Originally posted by Josh Michaelis
A vet and a surgeon arguing about who has it the roughest lol

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Let's go huntin