The vets keep charging me

[ledla]

My 9 year old German shepherd had a large lump removed on the front of her chest a month ago. She had surgery, was stitched up and given antibiotics. She was wearing a head cone so couldn’t touch the wound, and also wasn’t allowed in the garden. A few days later the stitches burst open, so back to the vets we went. £200 later she’s stitched back up and given more antibiotics. A week later the same thing happened. Another £200. Two weeks later and the stitches have burst back open again to expose the nasty wound. I spoke to the vets and they have said she needs to come back in for the same thing again (another £200).

AIBU to think they need to find another solution? Am I in any position to complain? I don’t know where to go from here. She’s had a head cone on for a month, and only been out in the garden on a lead, so hasn’t caused the stitches to pop open. She’s obviously in pain, the stitches aren’t working and I don’t have any unlimited amount of money 🙁

Talk to them and ask for something more effective. Clearly the stitches aren’t working.

Vets are a business. Stitches rarely rupture unless there’s an outside ‘force’ at work. Perhaps once. Not twice. Definitely not four times.

Put it like this - there’s a one in a million (or less) chance that your vets have made the same error with the stitches four times. More likely you or your dog are doing something, possibly inadvertently, to cause this.

So, yes you either need to find another solution - or you ask your vets to proscribe some meds to make your dogs drousy, like they do with breaks etc, until she is healed.

But no. You have no recourse to complain. They are a business - they’re not going to give you free treatment.

You might try another vet who might spot what is going on with the stitches or suggest some kind of dressing to support them.

Maybe try a post op body suit which will protect it and possibly give it a bit of pressure to let it heal. It won't heal if there's an infection though so I'd ask them to do a wound swab and culture to make sure if there is an infection, she's on the correct antibiotics. I think this might be at the root of the problem.

We had this with our cat - she had stitches three times (they burst every time despite us using a cone) - eventually they stapled her and she healed fine - can you ask them to do that instead (depending on the location)?

Just a quick point - I’m not looking for free treatment from the vets. My dog has arthritis and isn’t particularly mobile so isn’t doing anything for the stitches to keep bursting open. I was looking more for opinions on whether I’d be unreasonable to tell the vets that they need to do something different to what they have been doing!

@faerietalesthank you, I’ll ask them about staples!

Good luck - I totally get how frustrating it is. The final vet we saw (who stapled her on a Sunday morning!) refused to charge us and was actually really annoyed that she'd been stitched three times without anyone suggesting staples.

She healed really quickly once the staples were in :)

My Labrador had the same issue chest lump removed. Fluid built up behind it. Spectacular rupture. The chest is a known area for this. Keep on lead don't allow to jump. Sedation perhaps to slow down.

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.

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. 🤷🏻‍♀️

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.

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.

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.

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

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

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.

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

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?

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.

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.

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.

@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.

I didn’t realise anything other than stitches were an option, as nothing else was suggested whenever I’ve taken her in. As I said previously, my dog isn’t particularly mobile so isn’t causing the stitches to rupture. Ive followed instructions - I’ve kept the cone on the whole time, have only taken her in the garden on the lead etc.

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.