questionable vet visit

[Guest Anonymous]

I'm really hoping you can help me with this, as I am really concerned about my 6 year old pomeranian. She is a nervous little dog who is not comfortable with new people or vet visits. We just recently moved so we had to schedule a teeth cleaning/grooming with a new vet. (she gets a lion's cut every summer) She was her normal nervous self during the exam and they chose to muzzle her because she was snippy with the vet. We picked her up later that day to find a lot of bruising on her neck and a very scared dog. That was 4 days ago and she still hasn't recovered. She won't come out of her dog house except to eat or go to the bathroom, and she won't even go outside to do that. She has nipped at my husband a few times when he has made attempts to physically interact with her. I don't want to be bitten, so I just talk to her alot. I called the vet and they don't seem concerned. What do you think?

[Horsefeathers!]

I would hope that the vet would at least be willing to take a look to see what's wrong. THAT part disturbs me. However, on the other hand...

Last year, I had a lady whose white Poodle I'd been grooming for 4 years call me a week after a groom and asked me to explain some bruising on her dog's abdomen. She also said the dog had been acting funny and wouldn't come out from under the bed. That dog always had a fuller clip, but on that particular visit, the dog had to be clipped down very short because of matting (the owner was aware). I know from experience that buzzing down a dog that is used to having a lot of hair feels funny to some of them and they often will "go into hiding" just because of all that air hitting their skin and they just don't feel "right." My own dogs have done it here at home when I've taken a very full coat down short. I guess it would be similar to us if we were used to walking around very heavily clothed, but now all of a sudden we were naked.

Anyway, I was quite concerned and indeed wanted to see any "injuries" I was being blamed for. It turned out that the dog just had some color change on her belly that was made more apparent after having the hair clipped away. You know those age related spots that appear as we all grow older, dogs included? The dog still has them a year later and then some and I still groom her. Fortunately, I had been grooming this dog long enough to have some credibility.

All I'm saying is that perhaps there is another explanation other than bruising or trauma. It is disturbing that the vet or groomer won't even talk about it, though. Did you actually talk to the vet, or did you talk to a receptionist or tech? Most times, they won't put a vet straight on the phone, so perhaps you could arrange to talk to the vet personally. I think I would either insist on having them take a look, or find another vet who will check it out and give you an answer. If you look for another vet for a second opinion, it's often wise to find one that doesn't have a groomer, or isn't competing for business. I have seen it happen in some practices that another vet will automatically lay blame on another clinic just as bad business practice. Vets are people, too. Some great and caring and honest, and some conniving and apathetic and not so honest (we have one of those here in my town). Receptionists and techs are the same... some are wonderful and some we could do without. Heck, the same is true for groomers, or any industry. Some are better than others. I know in our own clinic, important things have come up that the vet was totally unaware of because the person answering the phone just blew it off in "handling" it. To be honest, it's exactly why I handle ALL of my own phonecalls and appointments and client comments/concerns/whatever... because some of my own clients were being blown off by the receptionist answering the phone.

I'm certainly not offering excuses. Just food for thought and hope that it is something much less serious than abuse. It pains me greatly to know that abuse is sometimes a part of this industry. Sadly, I've had to personally fire another groomer I found to be abusive toward dogs, so I know it does happen. :(

[odnarb]

traumapom napisał(a):

I'm really hoping you can help me with this, as I am really concerned about my 6 year old pomeranian. She is a nervous little dog who is not comfortable with new people or vet visits. We just recently moved so we had to schedule a teeth cleaning/grooming with a new vet. (she gets a lion's cut every summer) She was her normal nervous self during the exam and they chose to muzzle her because she was snippy with the vet. We picked her up later that day to find a lot of bruising on her neck and a very scared dog. That was 4 days ago and she still hasn't recovered. She won't come out of her dog house except to eat or go to the bathroom, and she won't even go outside to do that. She has nipped at my husband a few times when he has made attempts to physically interact with her. I don't want to be bitten, so I just talk to her alot. I called the vet and they don't seem concerned. What do you think?

This was after the dentistry and lion cut? Did she have any teeth pulled? Is she on any medication? If so, what kind?

[Horsefeathers!]

Good freakin' point!! :o

Boy, is my face red. We don't typically do things like that all at one time where I work and I didn't even think about it. :oops:

[imported_Kat]

Dogs can withstand physical interference to a higher extent than they can emotional interference. You know that your pets behaviour has changed and coupled with the bruising you should be speaking to a lawyer and su that place for negligence. :evil:

[Horsefeathers!]

Kat, that kind of surprises me coming from you. You usually seem to react with more reason than emotion and it just surprises me to see you just assume the worst. I'm just going on the assumption that many things can make a dog not act its usual self and is not necessarily indicative of anything "wrong" happening. Not saying it COULDN'T have happened (again, I'm not here to defend), but it's really hard for me to lay blame when I don't know what happened.

I guess that kind of thinking just scares the crap out of me because if the lady I mentioned above had sued me just because her dog was acting different and because it APPEARED bruised, I would be out of work and probably bankrupt just because someone reacted so quickly without finding out what really happened which was nothing like what she initially thought.

I honestly mean no offense. I'm just surprised is all. :oops:

[odnarb]

Kat napisał(a):

Dogs can withstand physical interference to a higher extent than they can emotional interference. You know that your pets behaviour has changed and coupled with the bruising you should be speaking to a lawyer and su that place for negligence. :evil:

Not necessarily. The OP cliamed that the dog had a dentistry. Blood is drawn and often drugs are injected via the jugular. That can explain bruising around the neck.

The dog being freaked out when being picked up could have been the fact that it takes time for anesthesia to metabolize, she could have still been wacked out from the drugs.

If the dog had teeth pulled or something painful done, it might be on a narcotic, which could explain strange behavior several days later. Or she could be painful.

Nothing that the OP posted is out of the realm of possibility for a dog that just had a teeth cleaning. Why are you so rush to recommend calling a lawyer and sue without knowing the facts? :roll:

[imported_Kat]

HF no offense taken at all :wink: There could well be another underlying cause which may never be determined but the events may be linked, with respect to the bruising only in one area of the dog. If it were say an allergic reaction or a blood disorder in connection or possibly not in connection with the dental treatment then really I would have expected that the bruising would appear all over the wee dogs body. Then again it may be a different type of shaver that was used on the dog's neck in comparison to the rest of her body and this may be the sole cause for the bruising? Again another possibility. It may also be that the vet/groomer really has upset the dog and that some form of harsh handling was involved. This would be a concern for future vet/grooming visits, and also the fact that the vet doesn't seem to be very helpful in forwarding advice to a concerned owner isn't impressive.

Consequences and connections are wonderful things when they work, but the main thing is to get this wee pet back on track, which only her owner can do by giving her lots of confident interactions.

Keep us posted on how she is traumapom :wink:

[pLaurent]

It's very difficult to know what really happened. I had an old dog go in for tooth cleaning, and he came home barely able to walk. He had arthritis and the position he was in while anesthetized aggravated it.

I had a cat at the vet for a couple days and HE came home with swollen, irritated eyes with hair missing under them and his nose scraped. He had been so freaked out at being kept in a cage, he did the damage himself while rubbing against the cage bars.

The little Pom sounds like she already had a lot of issues with fear and nervousness and I'm sure the vet visit and procedures didn't help.

I would talk to the vet anyway, just to put your mind at ease. I did that in both cases I mentioned.

[courtnek]

just for safeties sake, take her to another vet and have her checked over. Groomers make mistakes, one "overdried" my dog and burned him, by mistake. She did NOT admit it, but when I called they agreed to look at him. he was a lot skittish for a while after that. they found the burn, and then she finally admitted she had done it. he got over it, it just took a while, and I wouldnt let her groom him anymore after that. sometimes it happens. I've been "burned" in beauty salons too. people make mistakes.
If they admit them and move on. I'm ok with it usually. Coulda been the drugs too, as was mentioned. some dogs dont react well to them.