Is this my Gallipoli?

Re: Is this my Gallipoli?

Hannah Wynne Richards — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 10:08:48 GMT

Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrr Clients

My sympathy

Wynne

Re: Is this my Gallipoli?

Kate Richardson — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 10:06:33 GMT

You have my sympathy. As others have said, you did the right thing, the owner misled you. If he had been honest up front about funds, may have been a different story. But he wasn't.

Re: Is this my Gallipoli?

Martin Atkinson — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 09:54:51 GMT

[quote user="Gerry Henry"]

What happened to your 'client radar' Martin; didn't you get a can't-pay-won't-pay-tosser blip on the screen. Tsk Tsk.

[/quote]

Well they are the ones who slipped through the net but just to rub salt in the wound, also have a GSD bitch which had a litter of 8 pups in the summer, I did the vaccines at cut price for them, they sold them all - how much did they get for that lot? - £2K at a conservative estimate, then went and bought another pug but now can't afford their vets fees. This is turning into a 'tosser of the week' thread which it wasn't meant to be I was just having a very large dose of deja vu over an unusual pyo presentation and regretting not going by my gut feelings again. In retrospect, maybe delaying was the correct option as we have a clotting profile back from Axiom that shows prolonged aPTT which along with a low platelet count suggests DIC. Maybe the uterus is the focus of the DIC and whipping it out would solve that too, maybe it would just bleed to death if I spayed it??!!. Still not an option now they've cooked their goose.

Re: Is this my Gallipoli?

Bob Russell — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 09:21:50 GMT

If I think it is a pyo but have that niggling doubt I will use sometimes Alizin as a diagnostic tool. I have not had a single closed pyo become an open one after Alizin. They feel 1000x better and can be electively spayed later.

Not always the answer but I advise the owner of the risks of operating and not operating, the cost of the drug and as I understand it only has therapeutic effects on the uterus that the biggest risk is the cost.

A very unwell pyo will get all the supportive extras and may be operated on immediately.

Re: Is this my Gallipoli?

Gerry Henry — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 09:10:59 GMT

What happened to your 'client radar' Martin; didn't you get a can't-pay-won't-pay-tosser blip on the screen. Tsk Tsk.

Re: Is this my Gallipoli?

Judith Joyce — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 08:53:43 GMT

[quote user="Michael Woodhouse"]Not sure you needs bloods, rads etc for a pyo..............[/quote]

.........obviously not if you KNOW its a pyo, but in my clinic, the cases don't arrive with a ready made diagnosis.

Re Gallipoli..............the Turks remember it differently.

Malcolm N

Re: Is this my Gallipoli?

plantagenet — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 08:22:50 GMT

I saw my first pyo weeks into practice and thought I should do as advised and drip first, operate later - she died, and I will never forget the owner saying goodbye to that dog in the consulting room. Since then I have always operated there and then and (touch wood) never lost one since.

About a year ago I was faced with an enormously fat rotti with a typical pyo. No money for an op. I used Alizin with a small mark up - she needed a fair whack, she snarled throughout the massive injection. Much to my surprise, she did fine and continues to do so, the owner knows the risk and is trying to slim her down and save up for a spay. With a bit of time we may be able to find some financial help. The owners not nasty or stupid, just ignorant.

So fingers crossed yours will be ok.

Re: Is this my Gallipoli?

Dagmar Steele — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 07:55:53 GMT

I do love this kind of owner. First they get themselves a dog and when things go wrong someone else is supposed to pick up the bits! Worst thing about it - it always leaves me sleepless and with a bad conscience pondering about the question if all my principles are right, I could have spayed it anyway, couldn't I? Just because I don't want to support this kind of behaviour, because I will not agree to work for free? In the end I still don't work for free as I know next week all his friends and cousins would turn up and I'd be bust in no time.... We all know the bitch would have profited from a spay. One word of caution re the Alizin though: I do use it in pyos and it clears the pus, but I'll never use it in a bleeding bitch again. Many moons ago I watched a Rottie bitch bleed to death (owner could not afford surgery but went for a shot of Alizin instead, no proper diagnostics before due to lack of money). I had to put her down in the end and always felt bad about not operating.

Re: Is this my Gallipoli?

Anthony Todd — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 07:38:42 GMT

[quote user="Martin Atkinson"]2 weeks post season bleeding profusely from vagina[/quote]

Probably something abnormal with the uterus.

Surely a spay, pyo or not, was the way to go.

He says with immaculate hindsight.

Re: Is this my Gallipoli?

Niall Taylor — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 07:21:17 GMT

[quote user="Michael Woodhouse"]Not sure you needs bloods, rads etc for a pyo..............[/quote]

In 'normal' circumstances I might agree, but in an 8 month old bitch you need to do it by the book surely?

This is just a 'sh1t happens' scenario; the owner is obviously one of those naive/stupid people who don't expect anything to go wrong when they buy the cute puppy (and often expect someone else to pick up the tab when it does).

The problem lies with the owner - it's all his decision right down the line from buyng the pup, to failing to find out the likely costs of ownership, to mis-allocation of his resources and then, finally, to deciding on euthanasia. We can't carry all our clients' failings on our shoulders, people have to take responsibility for their own actions.

Niall

Re: Is this my Gallipoli?

David Mills — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 23:23:41 GMT

What a tiresome situation. He's broken his contract, thinking that because there's something fluffy involved this somehow makes it OK. Wouldn't happen in private hospitals, with, say children.

You should have OK'd the £180 only if he'd agreed to be castrated at the same time.

Don't think the above criticism is fair. If this was inner city, staffie population, then yes, drip and spay, but I suspect it isn't. It's still an unusual presentation whether it's possible or not (our record is 6 month old 5 days post-season).

Re: Is this my Gallipoli?

Utlendigur — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 22:38:58 GMT

The owner said he would pay up to £600, waited until the bill got to half that, then only paid a quarter of what he agreed (or approx 50% of costs he had incurred)? - had he gone into a restaurant eaten half an expensive meal but paid only for the starter the police would have been called. If he had been upfront and said he could only pay £180 it may have been reasonable/feasible to simply drip and spay the bitch without all the diagnostics accepting the potentially increased risks and uncertain diagnosis. He's put his dog in this position, by being dishonest, not you - after all you are perfectly willing to treat the dog if he honours his side by paying.

Re: Is this my Gallipoli?

Julian Earl — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 22:23:39 GMT

The third pyometra that I saw in my first few weeks after starting practice a few years ago(!) was in a nine month old cat...

Re: Is this my Gallipoli?

Vet2Vet — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 21:40:45 GMT

Hindsight is 20/20 . If he signed consent for investigation it seems reasonable to get some evidence for diagnosis .......... you could not have known that the total budget was £180.00 from your description .

Re: Is this my Gallipoli?

Michael Woodhouse — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 20:42:12 GMT

I'd have just spayed it for the £180! Other than a quick look with the scanner and maybe a BMBT I would have gone in for a look. Not sure you needs bloods, rads etc for a pyo..............

Re: Is this my Gallipoli?

James Laidlaw — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 20:15:53 GMT

Sometimes this job just likes to kick you where it hurts. Often when you're down.