Liz Buchanan BVSc MRCVS
Keymaster
First, here is a huge hug; I am so sorry to read about your dog. That's a horrible thing to happen and so fast, it's no surprise that you have come away with your mind reeling and still with questions pinging into your head. I would go so far as to say that it is normal to want more confirmation as to what happened; it must have been an emotional time to be taking in large swathes of information. I am not sure myself what happened to your loved one; it is fairly unusual for V & D patients to present lame and may be a coincidence (the lameness exacerbated by belly-ache or dehydration or even electrolyte changes) . However, if my experience of losing patients is anything to go by, your vets will probably also have been reviewing the case over and over in their heads, hoping they did did the best they could for your pet and to see if there is anything they can learn.
Many vomiting and diarrhoea patients do go straight on to fluids and because I wasn't there, I cannot explain why this didn't happen in this case. However, your vet should be able to explain what their thinking was and it is absolutely okay to make an appointment and ask them. It may help to have a list of questions ready - perhaps you could even e-mail it to them in advance.
Should my dog have been put on fluids sooner? Why didn't this happen?
And: What are the remaining differentials that this could have been? Which were they able to rule out?
And even: is there anything they felt that they or yourself could have done differently with hindsight?
It is important that any external vet who reviews the case does so with a copy of the clinical notes and / or radiographs in their hand, because only then would they be in any position to comment. If you are still not satisfied, then the people to review the case for you would be the RCVS - information available on their website - whose job this is in an official capacity. Wishing you decent closure and please do let us know how you get on.
Report