Percynality

Actually the vet only mentioned a 24 hour hospital after I said I would take Percy home, and she frankly made it sound like not a necessary thing. You insist on critising my every action and I am quite capable of blaming myself. The Lethabarb injection was painful, and you are incapable of understanding that. You are exactly the kind of vet I do NOT want to have to deal with.

Hi, it’s the OP again. I have been reading everything and I do thank you all for the heartfelt messages even if I’m not in agreement. I can’t reply to every point so I would like to put down some thoughts which may apply to some posted responses. I’m amazed this has become a thread about my grief and inability to understand things. That is an invention of several posters. My first post is about having no trust in the veterinary profession. The facts laid out are the facts, and explain why I do not trust vets. I don’t need counselling; the events were terrible and needed to be said. So please, it’s not about grief. The replies seem to heavily urge vaccinations. I see the merits, but I also see so much over servicing in all health care: Pap test, bowel screening, prostrate check. There are the essentials and then there’s an entire industry based on new threats and tests. My point is that Percy did all the regular vacs and also needed as many other visits yet my new dog has never needed a visit – I do worry that frequent visits set up a cycle of health needs. Was Percy getting problems precisely because he was in an environment of sick animals and diseases transmitted in the clinic itself? Maybe. BTW my new Maltese was a pet rescue and he was over 1 year old when we adopted him. All the first year vacs were done. Most of the replies whitewash the facts that I directly witnessed. My lack of trust in vets is due to the terrible circumstances of the lethal injection. To claim that euthanasia is peaceful is evidently not always true. I have heard that no pain is possible if there is already an IV drip – that is a well-intentioned myth at best and an outright lie at worst. If only I have known to demand a pre anaesthetic, so many things would be different now. Any vet should know better and shame on the entire profession for having such a common misconception. I plead to everyone to pass the message on, demand a pre-anaesthetic. Finally, pets are the new children. And I avoided using the word earlier because this is my most important point. My new child is smarter, happier and more fulfilled than the average pet because he is given every opportunity to be human. He is also completely calm and not anxious because he has been brought up so well. No insecurities at all. Laugh all you want, this subject renews my view that breeders and vets treat animals as stupid lower life forms because they are easier to manage that way. Breeds like Maltese cannot live without people (just the hair trimming alone!). It is our duty to give them the best possible life. Our new child has a very large vocabulary (no, not tone of voice and behavioural habit, but instant memory of the sounds of many words), the ability to plan and play complex tricks on us, and share a joke or emotion which is much more than fitting into a pack or learned response for rewards. The new cruelty is to treat an animal as stupid and inconvenient – I think many posters fit this description without realising it. So where does that leave me? My doubts about vets are pretty much confirmed from some posts. Most vets are not suitable. I intend to arrange for consultations with recommended clinics to ensure that I find one who understands that this is a child. If you do know of such a clinic with a matching philosophy to mine, feel free to PM me. I am prepared to go anywhere in Melbourne for the right clinic. Once again I do appreciate every post. We just can’t always agree. P

Greytmate, I'm not entirely comfortable with being threatened with legal obligations. That Vet apparently has no legal obligations...

Stormie, because your post is so interesting, I am answering specfic points. Not to criticise but to be very clear. Did they offer to send Percy to one of the larger after hours hospitals for 24 hour monitoring? Yes, and I feel absolutely sick we didn’t take that option up. To be honest I got the feeling everything was about prolonging charges. I know that sounds callous where a life is concerned, but I distrusted them very much. Were any other treatment options, such as taking bloods, discussed or offered to you? Nope, no other care. Hospital patients adapt to their environment very quickly, so whilst as an owner you might be worried, in most cases, our patients are very content and comfortable. No you are wrong in our case. Percy defecated in the reception area when we returned. I didn’t listen to him and he knew better than me. Personally I think it's important that our animals can cope with being away from home, in case situations like this arise. Not an option with Maltese and small breeds. So many small dogs are yappy if they are distressed and the stupid owners don’t see it. Percy was ordinarily calm because we treated him right. I can tell you that your Percy would have felt no pain and putting the injection through the already placed drip line would have ensured this. No you are wrong. I'm sorry but that comment confirms my distrust of vets. We later found out that the lethabarb injection can sting, but his reaction was not even that - I *know* what he experienced. In fact we had to hold him very firmly to stop him struggling. I am surpised is that he had that strength in him, also not a great thing to live with now. Regards, P

Thanks for your replies. I am only concerned about my friend's welfare. I am not at all suggesting that he be in any discomfort, in fact I am too concerned about it. But I do know more about my pet's needs than a vet and I won't let anyone treat him in manner he wouldn't like. Percy got all the injections and yet seemed to need to go to the vet for several things. I am not entirely sure the injections didn't cause something, for the same reasons I never get flu injections for myself either. I just can't see how I can go to a new vet and demand the most compassionate treatment - surely vets just get rid of problem clients? I feel anyone coming near my friend needs to be interviewed for suitability! P

It is nearly a year to the day we asked our vet to euthanize our beloved Percy who was only over a year old and we don’t know what was wrong. The handling of our child’s illness and the final injection has left us scarred and concerned for our new child, also a 1 year old Maltese. Percy was suddenly ill at the start of Good Friday 2011, and we took him to the nearest available vet a few suburbs away considering the long weekend is the time that everything is closed. Over 3 days the vet basically did nothing but put him on a drip. I now think the vet simply was covering for the long weekend and didn’t care much at all. What I would like to discuss is how uncaring vets are. Firstly, we should never have left Percy overnight. The back of a clinic has no comfort, nothing is familiar in fact it’s downright creepy and a highly bonded pet like a Maltese is going to be in such distress that overnight stays cannot possibly be good. Secondly, we asked for euthanasia because Percy was not even drinking, did not really recognise us and we did not know what to do. But we attended the injection and were horrified – we held him while the vet flushed the drip and then our child screamed in terror with the green injection. I can never remove from my mind the honest truth that our Percy’s last moment was terror. The vet didn’t even seem to notice. In my view, Percy knew what the injection was for and I feel I did not give him the most compassionate treatment even though I had intended a calm gentle passing away. I can’t overstate that I am sickened about the veterinary profession. Our new adopted child will never go to a vet. Far better to pass away in my arms than days of distress with strangers. We have moved on without erasing Percy from memory, and our new one is all that Percy was and more. I have much more to say if anyone is willing to discuss their experiences. Kind regards, especially to those who have loved and lost. P