Advice Needed ?

[jack and dash's mum]

Well whats happened to my 10 year old chihuahua is he was awake all night Sunday coughing, a loud honking noise, and he has had this before and the vet told me he did have a heart murmur and that is had got worse and he may need to go on medication. So I didn't get an itemized account the last time I had both my dogs vaccinated last month, but at the time thought that it had just gone up and was way more expensive than I had planned, so I queered the receptionist about it when I rang to ask for an appointment and she informed me that Jack had been charged for the heart worm injection as well as Dash which was wrong as only Dash is supposed to get it. So when I saw the vet he told me he couldn't tell me if he had given Jack the injection or if he had made a mistake in telling the office what to charge so I'm worried what affect this might have on Jacks health and if I should go to my old vet for another check as well. I only started going to this vet as Dash howls in the car and it was closer to home and now I'm really upset that this vet doesn't even know what he gave Jack and he has prescribed more medication for him and I'm worried about his competence now. Jack is supposed to go back in a week for another check but I seriously doubt that I will go back there again. What do you think ? Any advice will be appreciated.

[minimax]

Shouldn't it be on his file if he injected your dog with a drug? Or shouldn't their drug count reflect how many injections they prepared? That's scary that they can give your dog something and not remember. Was the vet concerned that he couldn't remember?

I'd be worried, and definitely hesitant about going back there.

[~Anne~]

I agree the time lapse would mean the vet would not possibly remember if he did or didn't give the injection.

He would know though if the drugs he is prescribing for the heart condition would be affected by the injection and if the injection would complicate the heart problem.

I don't think the vet is incompetent and I think that is a tad harsh. Perhaps querying the bill at the time, when you first thought it seemed excessive, would have been far better.

Can you recall the vet giving more than one injection to each dog? I don't know if they combine vacs and heartworm in one injection as I don't vaccinate mine.

[jack and dash's mum]

I really can't remember if he gave him two as Dash is such a needy dog that he usually distracts me when I am holding Jack and I could have been trying to calm him at the time as well, I have never had a problem before and I really do think he only had the one injection but not sure, my concern is that the vet should have it in his records.

[Sandra777]

Is there not a blood test that could tell you if the chemical is in the dog's bloodstream?

Could be complicated by whatever other heartworm medication you have used but I would ask the vet and for me it would be up to the vet to pay for it if such a thing is possible and their records are inaccurate.

[Rosetta]

Yes I would call it incompetence if the vet does not even keep accurate records of all treatments given to all dogs - no matter what time has elapsed. And no I would not return to this vet but how you can now tell if Jack has had the injection or not I don't know. Perhaps there is a blood test that could be done but that is a further imposition on the dog. Perhaps you could try ringing the vet surgery again and simply asking how you can be sure he has had the injection. I would not have any confidence in treatment prescribed by this vet.

[jack and dash's mum]

Thanks for your advice I am going to ring some other trusted vets, from people I know and see if they can help me figure this out without stressing Jack out further he hasn't had a good day, has had some small fits, he's also epileptic and doesn't want to do anything much but sit close by the back door on the mat. Really don't like to take my eyes off him, thank you all again.

[karly101]

You may even be able to feel around the neck if he had 2 injections as sometimes a small lump forms there after? I guess proheart is difficult for the vet to tell after the fact as its not like a vaccine vial where you can account for how many vials have been taken since the proheart is drawn out from one larger bottle. Most vets I think would remember if it was fairly recently but it does depend how busy their practice is I guess as if you are giving multiple vaccinations per day one may not stand out.

It should not harm him unless he is a heartworm positive dog which you can test for. I would say the coughing you are seeing is a separate issue and most likely related to the heart murmur but probably be wise to book in with your regular vet and see if the murmur has changed/progressed since they last heard it.

[Nicked22]

Do your dogs weigh quite different amounts? You should check to see how much proheart inj was billed out as the dose is off weight.

[jack and dash's mum]

Do your dogs weigh quite different amounts? You should check to see how much proheart inj was billed out as the dose is off weight.

Thank you I will check for that as they are different weights and I remember him mixing up their weights and he thought Jack had put on a lot of weight so that worries me that he has mixed up both dogs.

[Dame Aussie]

I can understand him not recalling that day, however there should be a note on the dogs file to say if he was given any type of injection/medication. If there is no note stating he recvd the injection ask for a refund of the cost charged to you.

[~Anne~]

I would assume that is what the 'receptionist' was looking at in the opening post. That is why I thought the criticism of the vet was a little unfair. If the records say the injection was given then how is he to remember otherwise.

[Dame Aussie]

I would assume that is what the 'receptionist' was looking at in the opening post. That is why I thought the criticism of the vet was a little unfair. If the records say the injection was given then how is he to remember otherwise.

Agree, I thought the OP was saying that there was nothing on the record but that she had been charged for it, but if it says he got it and she was charged then that's different.

[Christina]

I would just go to another vet. Big stuff up somewhere.

[ktn]

I got a refund from my vet when they gave an unwanted vaccination (did one too early despite being in their records, and I was not planning for it financially). Definitely go with another more professional vet you feel comfortable with, it will make a huge difference in future.