hi everyone firstly id like to thank you all for your help and advice. and tilly and the puppies are doing really well i wish i could post pics of them to show you. anyway what iam posting for is i really dont know what to do about the vet and what happened to tilly i thing is i know he was wrong i dont believe all this would have happened if he had seen tilly when i first tried to ring him but also i know hes very sorry about everything and he has knocked a bit off my bill but iam still left with a bill for about 4 hundred pounds from him and about 90 from the other vet that did see tilly. please can you tell me what you think and what you would do
thanks sam

As the amount is under £500 have you considered using the small claims court to recover some of the cost? I'm sure he must have a case to answer for the "duty of care" he failed to carry out. The Citizens Advice Bureau should be able to advise you, or point you in the right direction. It's all well and good him being sorry, but it doesn't mean he isn't responsible for your girl's terrible ordeal and most of the costs involved!
Good luck.
LynnT

Tilly, if you will email the 'diary' of events that you put together, as well as the medical records that I suggested that you get from the vet when we talked on the telephone, I'll be happy to help you compose a letter to him. I think that the best way to approach it is first through the vet by giving him the details and asking him what he believes is the appropriate resolution. Courts are much more amiable to finding for the plaintiff in small claims matters if they have tried to first resolve it on their own. I believe that a meeting with the vet after being sent the letter is appropriate. If there is no resolution that is acceptable to you after that meeting, I would request the name of his insurer and would definitely file a complaint and claim. If none of that is forthcoming, I would file in small claims court.

I've followed Tilly's owner's story and I know that she knows her vet was at fault, but she's a great big softie and wonders if life is too short to make a huge fuss over this, as her vet is really gutted about what has happened and after all nothing she can claim is going to change the result of her dog's pregnancy. I'm not saying don't do anything Tilly, but just that I understand your dilemna. Glad your doggies are doing well
Love Jane

hello,
Iv'e been following your ordeal with interest. I had a similar experience with a Vet were following a pre-booked c-section the Vet left a puppy insde our bitch. Luckily for us she managed to pass it herself a few days later and is now almost as good as new and back to her old self.
I made enquiries with a solicitor and found that I should approach my Vet as they MUSt carry insurance. I was able to claim for the price of the puppy and all treatment caused by his negligence. I wasnt able to claim damages through stress caused by his actions either for myself or my poor bitch. Apparantly animals dont cause humans stress!!
Anyway, the Vet didnt want any adverse publicity and so paid the money owning to us.
Personally I would rather have given him twice the amount back and had a lovely puppy and no stress.
Speak to your Vet, even if they are sorry they should give you a discount on your bill, they were the ones at fault not you.
Good Luck

Hi, so glad Tilly and babies are coming along well. I like most others think that you should persue this, not pay the bill and take him/them to the small claims court. Considering she has also been spayed you could also claim for puppies that she cannot have, if say you were planning to have 2 or 3 litters from her. I am not sure what the ceiling for the SCC is, I thought it was £2000, but sierra will know for sure.
Maybe if you put yourself in the vets shoes? How would you have handled it if you were the vet having make such a huge mistake as this? It was bad enough, but could have been worse, you could easily have lost Tilly and ALL the puppies. If you had been the vet responsible I dont think you would have had the gall to send a bill and expect it to be paid without a quibble, they are just trying it on with you. I suppose it comes down partly to your personal finances in the end, if you can easily afford to pay this bill and get the matter over and done with then its your perogative, but if the practise isn't penalised in some way, will they continue this sloppy service to others, and put other people's animals at risk? Doctors and vets get away with this sort of thing all the time, they close ranks, make YOU feel guilty. Its easier for us to sit in judgement because we dont know the individual vet/s, and they are probably very nice people. But to leave the phone off the hook when they are on call is unforgiveable and you really shouldn't let them get away with it. They almost certainly have insurance for this and it wont touch them financially, except perhaps through slightly higher insurance premiums next year. They should be very grateful that you haven't reported them to their governing body- or have you?

You can claim upto £5000 in the SCC, there is a government website that has lots of information on the court system as a whole and you can print of the relevant forms for the small claims court.

HTH

Chris

http://www.courtservice.gov.uk also http://www.small-claims.co.uk

Tilly you cant claim for any litters she might have had in the future. I said this about my bitch when the Vet left a puppy in and my solicitor explained that the amount of puppies in the future in hyperthetical as she might never have got pregnant again anyway.
Every one agrees that the Vet should be punished for this.
Yes Vets get away with murder.
Someone in my breed took there young champion stud dog to the Vets to have his teeth cleaned, when they went to pick him up the nurse said to them' make sure you come back to have his stitches taken out'. When they asked what stitches they found out the Vet had castrated the dog. !!!!!
I find the more you talk about Vetinary malpractice the more incidents come to light. At the moment through all the Vet programs on the TV most people seem to think their Vet is God but they make mistakes like anyone else.
Good Luck Tilly.

You can claim for future possible litters

A lady who left her Champion bitch at the vets for a minor operation & got her back spayed did & was successful Not really to get money but to ensure the vet never did it again

Saying sorry is easy & there's nothing that could replace the bitch or any puppies she could have had BUT losing money to most vets gives them a hefty kick in the pocket which could prevent someone else losing out

A friend of mine was refused a c section as the vet thought the bitch could wait until the monday She did & died with all her puppies on the monday in the operating theatre

He is no longer her vet & gave her the cost of the bitch(a show harlie so was not cheap) & an out of court settlement for the rest

I notice that Vets are never 'gutted' enough to waive their charges though

Mattie
I agree that in Tilly's case the vet shouldn't have sent her a bill. But a few years ago I took my kitten to be vaccinated and within 24hrs she was at death's door. I felt sure there was a connection, but thought the vet would disagree, and after all even if it was a bad reaction it wasn't the vet's fault. However he agreed with me and we nursed her back to health, he never charged me for all the treatment he gave Treacle and said that he would report the matter to the relevant'adverse reactions' people. Treacle is now a healthy 6 year old moggy, but I've never had any more cats vaccinated. However I've had my puppy done 'cos I've had no experience with dogs.

We have have just lost our 2 and half year bitch during a c section as some of you will know, we also lost 5 of her puppies, I was present during the operation and afterwards felt that a) she had been over aneasthatised ( excuse spelling ) they topped it up to stop bite reflex when intubating her and b) they should have had cardiac shocker machine thingy switched on. However having no means or expert knowledge of persuing it and it is mostly gut feeling I have not said anything to the vet. A consent form was not signed or even mentioned until after she died and maybe I am a cynic but I also felt the Vet was too helpful afterwards. I have just received a bill for £560.00 which includes all the treatment the pups have had to have as well as section - the accompanying letter expressed their sympathy at our loss and that the £560.00 included a 30% discount as a good will gesture whilst not accepting any liability . Makes you wonder !!! Tilly I agree that your vet should not expect you to pay and wish you good luck with it.

Lorraine

>>A consent form was not signed or even mentioned until after she died

and they realised that they could be sued !!! I'm not sure, but is signing a consent form after the event watertight? Surely, you could argue that you were in no fit state to sign anything at that point? Then again, I suppose that they could now say you signed it before the operation!

Leigh