The vets keep charging me

I remember one dog I put on the lead even in the house. He would have jumped up otherwise. Cones only stop licking

Exactly.

The vet is the expert here - the one who is being paid to provide appropriate care to OP's animal. It's not on her to do the research, figure out what the solution is and present that to the vet

The vet should have looked over the notes, realised her dog has had multiple issues with sutures rupturing, figured out some alternatives and given them to the OP as different options - that's quite literally their job.

If a vet told me my dog needed X, I wouldn't think to question it, I would just assume they knew what they were doing.

But how can a person with no veterinary knowledge advocate for their pet. Surely the very act of them repeatedly taking their pet to the vet is them ‘advocating’ for it. Also, it would never strike me to ask the vet ‘could you try something different?’ as if vet said like what? I wouldn’t have a clue?!

It’s a v odd comment for you to make. The OP ‘advocated’ already for her pet by presenting him and speaking up about the issue. Thereafter it’s all on the paid expert veterinarian to offer up appropriate/different solutions based on their several years of specialist academic training 🤦🏻‍♀️

You don't need to sign a contract for one to exist.

A contract is implicit when a service is carried out. The provider owes the client a duty of care.

Breach of contract? I don’t recall ever signing contracts with vets. Consent forms that I accept the treatment may not be successful perhaps. You do realise you need money to sue and usually lots of it? Yes the vet needs to put this right but let’s not make out it’s so easy to sue left right and centre because it’s not. If you aren’t happy with the vet in general then yes, you do go to another one.

I don't think you're being fair here.

The vets are the professionals - it's on them to recognise when a solution isn't working and to offer alternatives - it shouldn't be the OP who has to come to them with a different "fix" for whatever is happening.

When you have a professional with 7 years of training telling you that your dog needs stitches, it's not exactly easy to say "well actually, Google says this and you're wrong".

Staples, and ask them to look at why it keeps bursting open, as the wound should be knitting together after just a few days so bursting open two weeks after stitching suggests the wound is not healing as expected - why?

I would also get a body suit, so that the area with the stitches has some supportive pressure - it may be that gravity is causing fluid to build up, and it's this that is stopping the healing/bursting stitches.

That doesn't mean it's her fault, though. You can do everything right in terms of aftercare and still end up with complications. Animals aren't robots - they move, lick, stretch, itch themselves - you can't always prevent them from irritating their wounds or rupturing their stitches.

Imo they shouldn't be charging the full amount every time as obviously this is related to surgery that they have done, perhaps they should charge a consultation fee, but not £200 for something that the OP has already paid for.

@faerietales I usually agree with you, but on this I disagree completely.

OP could have googled. A quick google would have told her this wasn't normal. Even without google, surely common sense would dictate something needed to change? All she had to do, after the second incident (and not the fourth...) was say, 'this isn't working is there anything else we can try.'

This is on her as much as it is the vets. We can only blame vets so much for everything that goes wrong - as pet owners, the buck does stop with us.

Depending on the suture material used and the suture pattern, this can happen. The body can react to the material and reject it so the wound breaks down.
I would ask for a second opinion on what is going on and see if it needs a full debride and resuture with alternative material and suture pattern.

Exactly.

This is the point people aren't getting. OP and the vet are just as responsible. But, as always, we pile on the vets (who I have little time for in general but always seem to find myself defending...).

@AhhFreakOut any responsible pet owner would know something was wrong after the second time. But OP didn't act. This is on her just as it is the vet. Not everything can be blamed on vets, and nor should it be.

I think it's safe to assume that the OP isn't a vet, so it's on her vet to provide suitable options and not repeat a procedure that clearly isn't working.

@ledla - good luck with getting this resolved.

It's not necessarily a shoddy service though, Infections and underlying illness can cause severely delayed wound healing. Complications post operatively are always a risk and the follow up treatment can end up costing more than the initial procedure in some cases, not the vets fault though. Agree with trying staples at this point and swabbing the wound to check your dog is on the correct antibiotics. That will all cost money though. Assume you don't have your pet insured OP?

Of course, advocating about a vulnerable person (human/pet) against authoritative experts is always easy...

The vets are the professionals here - they should be the ones saying "it's clear stitches aren't working for Fluffy, how about we try some sutures, or a body suit, or XYZ instead?"

OP shouldn't be expected to know all the different options out there.

But it is partially her fault, its her dog and its happened 4 times while in her care.

That's right. Make it the OP's fault. 🙄

And sticking a cone on a dog doesn't mean it won't be able to rip it's stitches open.

This is on OP as much as the vets. After the second time she should have requested something else. The vets haven't been great, no, but it's also on OP to advocate for her pet.

Vets may be a business, but they have a duty of care towards the animals they look after. If an animal is rupturing stitches multiple times, they shouldn't just keep stitching - they should be finding another solution or offering different care - not just charging the owners £200 for the same solution.

We had this exact same issue with our cat - she was stitched three times until we finally saw a vet who stapled her instead. He refused to charge us (even though it was a Sunday morning and an OOH visit) and even refunded the last stitches we'd had as they hadn't even lasted 24 hours before bursting.

If a business makes a mistake, they have a duty to rectify it IMO. Yes, it's hard with animals as you can't just tell them not to move, but stitches bursting four times should tell the vets that they need to find a different solution.

I was just going to say this. This is outrageous. And the poor doggo. 😢 She must be really stressed. It's possible her wound may be infected, and she may be in some degree of pain/quite sore.

@ledla Please go to another vet. This is not right. This vet should be replacing the stitches (or finding an alternative like staples,) and treating the wound free of charge. As the pp said ^ if something that any given business has done goes 'wrong,' they are obliged to fix it. (Free of charge.) This vet is taking the piss.

Try another vet.

@LandSharksAnonymous WTF?? If a business is providing a shoddy service then you complain to them and ask them to fix it for free and if it’s still shit, you sue them for breach of contract - just like you would with any other incompetent service provider.

Being a Vet isn’t a free pass to provide poor service. 🤷🏻‍♀️

Definitely ask them to try something else. I wouldn't say you should complain exactly, if they burst then they needed to be fixed. But do say it's clearly not working and we need to do something different.
Poor doggo. It must be horrible for her wearing the cone and not being allowed to free reign the garden.