Dog Losing an Eye - Kennels

[DrLouiseJMoody]

Hi All,

I think I need advice, if not a better understanding of my legal position, given what's happened to my dog in kennels whilst away. To summarise:

• Matilda, my 11 year old Stafford, goes in fit and healthy.
• Kennels phone today, say her eye looked "squinty" and "gunky" last night and that it was much worse this morning.
• Goes to vet.
• Vet says her eye needs removing as an infection, stemming from an ulcer, is too far advanced.

So she's having the operation tomorrow. The vet said the ulceration would have started approx. a week ago which is shortly after I left her.

Now I'm not, at least depending upon the kennel's in person response, looking to go nuclear upon social media or threaten legals: it won't help when her care and safety is my priority. But given it took a week to develop to this point, I'm perplexed as to why they only noticed last night. My other dog, Scrabble, was also bitten after a dog attacked her for sniffing a mouse (looks like resource guarding). S is fine but the whole picture I'm getting is one of inattentiveness.

I feel bad for saying this since we've not had issues before. They are communicating and reassure me that M is being looked after (the next flight out won't get me there in time) but I don't know if there's a discussion to be had about fees: specifically, I think my starting point is that they should waive her fees given what's happened - it's one thing if she, say, ran into a branch and it was sudden but this developed over time and was not present upon drop off.

I don't want to go charging in and make anyone feel bad but it doesn't seem unreasonable that there should be some restitution. I've had no apology or mention of costs, just communication about her health which seems OK given the upset today, I guess.

I'm just a bit lost as to how to deal with it and what my position actually is.

Unless you can prove neglect then you haven't got a leg to stand on. I put my dog with a dog boarders instead of kennels and I made sure she had a vet check up before she went so she was fit and healthly.

It might be they are being truthful. I had a dog this happened to. He ulcerated his eye on a gorse bush - we took him to the vet the same day who prescribed drops. All seemed fine for a few days, then it went very bad very quickly and within a few hours he was in agony and back at the vet, who then referred us to an eye specialist. He ended up having his eye removed. The eye vet did say that any ulcers which might have resulted in the cornea being damaged should always be referred straight into specialists by the regular vets, as the chances of delayed, severe infection starting are so high. If the kennels noticed the initial injury and did nothing, that was potentially neglectful. But it might have been so small not to notice, and then a very quick deterioration.

I’m really sorry for your dog. My dog did have an artificial eye fitted by the eye specialist (it was basically a silicone ball, with his own cornea on top - it was obviously not a functioning eye, but it meant that other dogs didn’t bother him for it as he didn’t look obviously disabled). I don’t think it’s something that a general vet would do but if yours is seeing a specialist it might be worth asking for.

No, I suspect it's a case where there's a discrepancy between what's legally and morally the case, and their in person response will determine whether I use my platform to highlight events. But that's a last resort given that communication so far has been frequent.

It's not as if another dog has attacked your dog under their care. As pp said eye infections can turn very nasty very quickly. What you propose could be slanderous if you post on your media platform without any real facts

Hi Tiger,

Yes, the speed of events that you describe is what I'm trying to ascertain. They said they noticed it last night and used an eye wash since infections can resolve on their own but it had all blown up by this morning.

I'm not looking to punish anyone unnecessarily, but I'm obviously concerned by what the vet said and whether losing an eye was avoidable. I'm just thinking out loud to see how I'm going to approach this.

I do think I'll be using a sitter from now on though since this is the third incident (S was sick last year), each of which might seem one of those things, but collectively, now have me concerned.

I'll just have to see how they are in person.

Well, the facts so far are that she had an ulcer, unnoticed, for a week which has progressed to the point of losing an eye so, no, it's not slanderous to state that. Whether I actually do will depend upon my in person dealings and whether they offer an apology and some measure of restitution.

But it could be argued you didn't notice it either. I'm sorry about your dog. I get your upset but it's not necessarily the kennels fault. They will have given you a contract to sign. I'd look at liability.

No that's not the facts though
The vet said he thought it had been there a week, I'm quite surprised he was bold enough to say that as he has no way of knowing and another vet might disagree.
Staffies are one of the breeds in which ulceration can develop at a rapid rate and it might be that the kennels are telling the truth.
I think if it came to litigation, you would struggle to find a vet to categorically say how long the ulcer had been present,

There's no way they cab know the ulcer has been there a week. Having worked in ophthalmic veterinary that's absolute madness the vet said that
The kennels could well be telling the truth,

Of course I've considered whether I might have noticed it but the vet seemed confident that it started shortly after I dropped her off. I'm genuinely not looking to go legal (expensive and pointless) or leave reviews about it if they apologise and don't just go "here's the rather large bill, nothing to do with us." The vet bill is, of course, my responsibility but I'm thinking about her boarding fees.

I've spoken to a vet friend tonight who agrees that on the surface the care was not ideal but we're waiting to see what happens in person and if there's any further clarification from the vet.

I'm obviously upset and trying to think how to go about it calmly.

They can't say for sure op. It's unfortunate it's happened they alerted you when they noticed the change. I don't see why you shouldn't pay for the boarding fees? Unless you are saying it's neglect?

Yes, and it's more about how they deal with it given previous good relations and using them frequently throughout the year. Perhaps the attitude really is "just happens" which is fine, and then I'll use a sitter and leave a review. I'm just trying to think how to deal with it in a way that leaves everyone happy.

I am, quite understandably, exasperated by several incidents that just haven't happened anywhere else. Each one can seem like "just happens" so I just don't know. The positive is that they are communicating now so I can only see if I get a fuller picture once M is through the op and I speak to them in person.

@DrLouiseJMoody is it a licensed boarding kennel or a home boarder?

Licensed kennel. The reviews are mostly good but the few negative ones, mostly over the last year, are generally expressing concerns about inattentiveness and carelessness. I'm really trying to approach it calmly despite the obvious upset!

The vet should never have said the ulcer had been there for a week - they have absolutely no way of knowing that.

We had a cat with an ulcer and it went from "gunky and sore" to "he could lose his eye" in about 48 hours, and that was with veterinary care. Eyes can go downhill really, really fast unfortunately.

I totally understand you're upset and I would be too, but unless you have proof of neglect, there's likely not much you can do except leave an honest review and not use them again.

The incident with the resource guarding and the bite would upset me more as it would say they don't know what they're doing in terms of safety and body language.

A decent kennels would cover your vet bills though, I would have thought. I'm a dog walker and would cover anything that happened in my care, even if it was an accident like a cut paw or similar.

I think it's arguable that the vet bill is actually their responsibility and should be covered by their business insurance

The board bill would be up to them whether they waived it as goodwilll. She has used the service after all.

I think it's not provable either way. It could have been there just overnight or longer. My understanding is that corneal ulcers are very painful so you can tell from the dogs behaviour and that they can progress quickly. Yoy would need the vet to go on record that it's his opinion it was there for a week and the care was negligent to have any legal leg to stand on.

I am so sorry this happened. I just got my boy back from kennels last week and it's every owners worst nightmare that something happens to them whilst you are away. Wishing Matilda a speedy recovery

I'm fairly sure the contract says that I'm responsible for vet bills and thought that was standard? It's an unexpected £700 but I can deal with it. I just need my dogs safe. The flights out of here last minute are approaching £500 and I'm unsure what to do given that I'm home in three days anyway. I actually feel sick about it all.

The bite was more than a nip but not quite vet worthy. Apparently, S went to sniff a mouse another dog had found and the other dog just went for her.

Either way, I'm upset, concerned for both, and trying to balance that with what I might say once they are back in my care.

They may not be legally responsible for the bills but any reputable kennels would at least offer to pay for any injuries or accidents that happened in their care imo.

I've had dogs cut paws etc. out with me - just one of those things but I always, always offer to pay. I've never actually had an owner ask me to pay but they always appreciate the offer (and tell me not to be so daft).

It's also worth pointing out that just because something is in a contract, doesn't mean it's legal. If they've been negligent and you can prove it, you could take them to court.

Hi All,

I thought I'd update. Obviously, I posted somewhat upset but was trying to keep perspective. I collected Matilda yesterday and do think kennels were truthful, and looking at the vet notes, it seemed there was always a risk (M was found in a bucket of bleach as a puppy which caused skin issues and eye scarring - although her eyes have been trouble free since I brought her home). Kennels were very apologetic and charged me for one dog without my asking, so I think that's a reasonable outcome.

I'm not going to review because people will just see "lost an eye" and they did care for her. Will I use them again? I don't know. Nothing to do with worries about their standards but whilst on holiday in 2022 my father in law died, in 2023 Scrabble fell ill, and now M has lost an eye. I'm fearing going away invites trouble!!!

M is OK. Not 100%, but OK. She's healing quickly, off pain killers, and should be discharged next week.

Some of the advice here was blunt but one must be realistic. I was never going to go charging in and threaten to sue. I was just upset which was compounded by being abroad.

A stiff brandy and on we go x

Glad to see she is on the mend
Once fur grows back you won't even notice and she will just crack on with life.
Yes, maybe stay at home ! 🤣😝