Loss

This is a question that I dont think I will ever get an answer to. My heart is broken because I just lost my dog of only 11 months of age. His name was Dakota, my two year old calls him coco. He managed to consume one of his toys and I am extremely upset about it. There are no warnings telling you that your dog can die if he accidentally eats it. I brought him to the vet who in turn sent him to an animal hospital. He had surgeory to remove the object( his toy) Each day he seemed to be a little better and perkier and we were convinced he was coming home. He was not eating yet and we knew we had to get him to start. We were told that sometimes they dont eat until they go home. On his second day after the surgeory they noticed that he had some fluid in his belly. They tested it and said that there was no bacteria and that he looks good so he is fine. The third day he looked even better but had some fluid leaking out of him. I was concerned and asked the doctor. I was told it was fine and it was normal because of all the IV they were giving him. They even told me that if he looks this good on day four he could go home with us. We were all excited. I didnt mention it before but I have 8 children, they dont all live at home but all love our Dakota. On the fourth day I got a call at 10:30am telling me that I can take Dakota home about 3pm. They told me we would have to try to get him to eat and to offer it to him several times throughout the day. My kids were thrilled and we made him some special food to eat since he couldnt have regular dog food. We went to go get Dakota, I didnt bring all of my children only a few to pick him up. I paid the 4600.00 bill and they gave me all his meds. We went to the room to wait for him which took a while. When they brought him in he looked horrible. His belly was huge and full of fluid. Now they tell me he cant go home. He needs more surgeory. They offer free surgeory and after care. I would just have to pay for meds. They asked permission to go in and see what is going on. I gave it to them. My children were not all there to say goodbye because I thought he was going home. They went into surgeory and called me. They told me that the insition (sp) in the small intestion re-opened and that there was another spot in his intestine that needs to be fixed because it opened somehow. They told me that he would need a feeding tube and a tube in his stomach to drain the fluid and to continue to drain it. They said his chances were maybe 50percent. Mind you the surgeory free and care free but medication will cost up to 400 per day. I had to make the very difficult decision to let hime go. I could not let him suffer, I could not let my kids suffer anymore. They told me he could go home, I told my kids that he was coming home. What happened in 4 and 1/2 hours that changed the course of my dog living and dying? Was that fluid a problem from day 2 like I questioned about over and over again? I had to call and tell them I wanted Dakota cremated and would like his ashes. They once again asked how I would lie to pay for this. So another $365 later or should I say $5000. I have nothing but a broken heart and children with many questions I cant answer. Thanks for listening.

[suzi-q]

I am so so very sorry.  My heart breaks for you and your family and of course for little Dakota.  It sounds like there was a mistake on the part of your vet.  That is why they were going to make everything else "free".  I feel so sorry for that baby puppy.  It is such a shame.  I am actually tearing up as I write this because I cannot find words that can help.

Just know that you did everything you could for your dog.  He definitely knew that you loved him.  May God bless his little soul.  You can be sure he is an angel in heaven.

[chelle6]

In my heart, I know I tried and I made the best decision. We all loved him and this makes no sense so its harder to deal with. He did know we loved him but it makes me so mad that they called to tell me to come get him and in such a short period of time everything changed. Its nice to be able to talk about it even though its so raw and difficult.

[suzi-q]

Yes, you have a lot to deal with right now and not having the answers makes it so much harder.  Did you get to ask what actually happened in such a few hours?  Maybe you aren't ready to talk about that yet with the doctor, but I am sure, in time you will be able to get some answers.  It is just so unfair...but then again life is never fair.  I wish you peace at this difficult time.

[Misfits4Me]

First, let me offer my condolences for your loss....When I read this earlier, I cried for all of you including Dakota.  However, hours later, I'm furious at this whole scenario!  IMO this surgery should have been routine, certainly for a Vet Hospital.  There is something very wrong here and I would not let it slide. I would go over and demand copies of all test results, bloodwork and documents kept since the beginning. I would also speak with the surgeon about what on earth went wrong. You paid your bill (Which was too much) and you are entitled to an explanation!  I don't think the $400 a day meds. were appropriate and nor do I think that they should have ask you how you would like to pay for this. You had already paid your first bill and that question should have NEVER been ask!!  This leads me to believe that this place is only in it for the money and that you (Their client) were not even given the consideration that you deserve. I know that this will not bring your baby back, but you have every right in the world to know what the He!! happened. I would also take all documents to your regular vet and ask him to explain to you what went wrong. After all, he is the one that refer you to this hospital. He owes it to you, too!  He also, may realize that this is not right and think twice before referring to them again. I'm sorry if this sounds too harsh, I just want justice for Dakota and your family and this is not fair. Please know that you and your family are in my prayers.    Karla

[chelle6]

I didnt have any anger while all this went down because all I can feel is sorrow. I do know something went wrong. I posted this to make sense out of this. I felt this surgeory is also routine after reading about how often it happens. I dont think I will ever get the answers. I dont want to replace the loss with anger. I know I need to know how or why his condition went down hill so quickly. I will put some energy into this for Dakota and for my children. Thank you for your prayers, Lori

[Misfits4Me]

I need to add something.....You went above and beyond the call of duty to save Dakota. I know the sorrow is overwhelming. (I've been there).... My intentions where not to make you feel worse ,but give insight to the fact, that you are entitled to the answers that you seek. I also believe that our furkids know when we're trying to help them. Even under extreme pressure...Please know, that it will get better with time.... I appologize if I came across too harshly. That was not what I was trying to do.  Again, your in my prayers..................Karla

[chelle6]

I did not take what you said as harsh. Its what I should do. I need to find out exactly what happened and what went wrong. I wouldnt think twice if it were my child. I am a question person and I did ask alot of questions. I feel I asked the right questions and I feel I did not get the right answers. I am convinced they missed something. They didnt care about my financial problems when they charged me 4600 for four days. I am sure they wouldnt have done anything for free if they did not feel some sort of guilt of something. I thank you for your prayers and advice, he was my baby and counted on me.

[Jaybay]

I am so sorry you, your family and your pup had to endure such an awful nightmare.  Let me give you my take on what may have happened.  Obviously the surgeon had to cut into the intestine to remove the toy.  Usually a small section is removed, and the ends stitched back together.  That site is called the anastamosis.  Did the surgeon mention if any part of the intestine had died due to lack of circulation?   In a young, otherwise healthy dog, resection surgery shouldn't be that big of a deal.  However, sometimes the ends of the intestine simply don't want to heal together properly.  The tissue falls apart and a leak develops allowing fecal matter to spill into the abdomen and peritonitis develops.  

Many times a small leak will heal on its own and IV antibiotics will take care of the infection.  It sounds like that's what the surgeon was waiting to determine, and why they tested the fluid for bacteria.  You don't want to put a dog (or a human) through any unneccessary surgery, so there's nothing wrong with adopting a couple days of a wait-and-see attitude.  If the dog presents with a high fever and huge amount of bloating, it's time to go back in.

I honestly think you made the best decision for your dog.  It's obvious he developed peritonitis (massive infection of the organs of the abdomen) and there is no way to determine if he could have survived even with IV antibiotics and other supportive care.  Since he hadn't eaten in some time, they eventually would have had to put in a central line in his neck and provided TPN nutrition direction to the bloodstream.  

Do speak to the surgeon about any questions you have regarding his care and treatment.  Truly, I don't think they did anything wrong from what you describe.  The only thing they may be accused of was erring on the side of caution about going back in a second time.  I wonder how many tests were done on that belly fluid, but suspect they looked at it every day and didn't jump on surgery again until bacteria showed up.

Dogs eat all kinds of things.  All you can do is use your best judgment as to what is available to them, but even then they'll find things you never would think could be dangerous.  This event was a tragic accident, nothing more.  You did nothing wrong, and everything right for Dakota.  While modern medicine can pull off real miracles, it just doesn't happen every time.  Please try to focus on all the good times you and your family had with Dakota - even though it was for a too-short amount of time.  The end is not as important as everything that came before.  He lived, and was obviously greatly loved.  Don't ever forget that.

[GSDgirl]

I agree, this surgery WAS common.  I am guessing here that the actual cause of death was sepsis (maybe).  They should have known that after 3 or 4 days even the second day, that something was wrong with what they did.  They will never admit that tho.  

I had a GSD torsion (stomach flip) and it took the clinic 5 hours to open her up and it was too late, her stomach was deprived of blood flow too long.  the vets know better (not always) I kept insisting to get her on the table and do the surgery but they took too long.  That was 5 years ago and I am still furious at them and furious at vets like the one you went to.  My heart goes out to you.

[chelle6]

I appreciate you perspective on this whole disaster. I know that you dont just jump back into surgery and I am sure that they were waiting and hoping for the best. I still do believe that they did not do all they could for him. I told them over and over about the fluid, I mean it was dripping out of him the night prior. They only tested the fluid once as far as I know until the last day. I asked about that too. I am a mother of 8 children and I ask alot of questions its just in my nature. My main point is that there is no way in my mind he could have been looking good at 10:45 in the morning and that he was that bad at 3pm. Its not enough time, so to me they missed something. I am angry because my children went to go pick up their dog, we paid and signed the discharge papers to then find out no only is he not coming home today but forever. Thats hard to explain to my children. I wish they could have just looked a little closer during those 4 hours. I mean they did get alot of money to do so. I know that time heals all and I Thank you all for your comments and helping to explain what happened.