Hello, I'm new here and I was wondering if anyone could help me in my little dilema.

It all started a couple of months ago when my dog (GSD bitch) started licking her underbelly and the hair started to fall out.  I took her to the vets and they treated her with flea drops that were administered to her skin.  I was told to bring her back if things didn't improve after 2 weeks.

Well, 2 weeks later, our house was broken into and as my dog chased away the intruder she broke her leg.  I rushed her to the vets and she was xrayed and then the leg was casted.

Whilst she was under, the vet did a thorough examination on her and found a lump in her abdomen.  The vet said that this would have to be dealt with once her leg was mended.  Also, skin scrapings were done which told us that she had a yeast infection in her skin.  Unfortunately this could not be treated until her leg was better.

All sorts of problems occured whilst her leg was mending.  The cast rubbed against her bad skin so she had to wear one of those lampshade things to stop her licking the wound caused by the cast.  The lampshade rubbed her neck area which caused her hair to fall out.

Last Wednesday I took her back to the vets for a checkup on her leg.  The vet said that it has now healed enough for her to not wear a cast anymore.  She was then booked in for Friday to check out the suspicious lump.

It turns out that when she had an emergency hysterectomy back in 2004 (she got pyometra), they had left a piece of ovary inside her.  This ovary, over the past 5 years, has been producing eggs which led to a golf ball sized lump.  This lump has now been removed via surgery and the vet seems to think that it was this lump that caused her skin complaint.

I'm sorry that this is such a long post, but I am a bit concerened that I spent over £500 back in 2004 for my dog to have a hysterectomy and I now have a bill for over £600 to basically cure a problem that was caused by something that wasn't done properly in the first place.

Is this thing a common thing to happen?

Do I have grounds for challenging the new bill and getting a reduction?

Hi,

Sorry you and your poor dog have gone through so much lately.  The vet that is treating her now is that the same vet that originally did the spay op?  If it is certainly under normal circumstances then I would expect that they would be taking care of the bill entirely and appologising for their mistake.  However given that it was an emergency op when she had pyo I don't know how much this will change things, I don't know that if things were incredibly swollen with a very bad infection that it may make it more difficult to see/get rid of everything or if there were risks with time under anaesthetic, what was sad at the time when she had the orignal op done, was it straight forward or were there any complications?  Maybe someone else with veterinary experience will be able to give more specific advise. 

It's not a common thing geneally but it does happen but again that is under normal circumstances, I'm pretty sure I would completley have lost trust in my vet if that was the case but then I don't know the specifics.  Hope your girl recovers quickly.

It is the same vet practice but it was a different vet that did the original hysterectomy back in 2004.  There were no complications at all, until now.

>Do I have grounds for challenging the new bill and getting a reduction?

I wouldn't think so. Even with non-emergency spaying sometimes the ovaries aren't completely normal (especially if the bitch is overweight making the surgery more complicated) and some tissue can get left behind, sometimes requiring an investigative operation to trace it. Usually the owner notices that this has happened because the bitch still becomes attractive to male dogs at the time when she would have been in season were she still entire - the fragment (and it can be all but invisible to the naked eye) still produces hormones just as before. Some owners just live with it and the bitch comes to no harm. It seems that the ovarian tissue in your bitch's case has formed a tumour (not necessarily malignant) which could have caused a massive hormone imbalance causing the hair loss.

No surgery is 100% without risks, but hopefully your bitch's problems have now been sorted out.

When she had the original operation back in 2004 she was far from overweight.  She has always been either the right weight or slightly underweight. 

There are vets, and then there are vets.  I am fortunate enough to have two amazing vets in my life that I trust 100%.  I am also unfortunate enough to have had a disasterous vet misdiagnose my bitch so many times that she got to deaths door and crawled half way through it.  Are you happy with you vet?  Going to the closest is always whats right for your girl.

But no matter how good the vet, they aren't Gods and cant perform miracles every time.  On that point my bitch was spayed a year and a half ago- I wont go into her horrific story, it would span too many pages.  Since she has recovered every male dog we meet wont leave her alone.  Would you be concerned about that?  Other health problems (Grade 5 heart murmur) means it's extremely risky for her to have more surgery.

Hope your girl gets a better run of luck, sounds like its over due

Should read 'Going to the closest isn't always right for your girl'!

I am so sorry that you and your dog have had to go through such a rotten period :(

I think I would be asking the questions - why? Why was the piece of ovary left? Is this normal practice? If not, what reasons would there be for this happening? Whilst vets are not infallible, they still have professional accountability and I would want to ensure that this had not been a case of poor practice. If I was not given satisfactory reasons for this, I would be questioning the bill which you are now presented with.

I once had an experience of poor practice and, without going into details, I did not take my case further but made my concerns known to the practice and changed vet. I have been with my current vet for 10 years and, despite moving house, now make a 70 mile round trip to stay with a vet I trust and value.

I do hope your dog is now fully recovered and I hope she now enjoys a long respite from vet visits :)

xx

Here is some information about Ovarian Remnant Syndrome; it's not common but it's not incredibly rare either.

What a horrible experience for you both. Given that there may be cause for a complaint and that not only have you just paid money out for this new op and they think that that is what may have been causing the skin complaint and therefore the treatment for that has cost you, I certainly think you should make an appointment to speak to the senior partner and ask why you have been charged for this op. He may well come to some agreement with you and cut the cost of the bill if nothing else. If you don't ask then you won't know, give it a try.