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Cat Forum / General Topics / October 2006Needless Surgery?
I not sure what to do... My husband and I adopted a stray cat, Red, 3 months ago. It is estimated she could be as old as 2 years. Our local vet told us to get her spayed as soon as possible, which we did. After the surgery the vet called to say, "The strangest thing happened," when they opened her up they discovered she had already been spayed. She said it wasn't until after they closed her up that they noticed the very small scar. We were charged 1/2 price ($82.00) since they did do some surgery... There have also been miscommunications with this office (and several comments were made, I felt, to imply that I should have known about Red's previous spaying.) I am ready to change to a different vet, but I wonder if I should file a grievance or something, or am I just over reacting? Is this a common surgery "mistake" in strays? > I not sure what to do... > My husband and I adopted a stray cat, Red, 3 months ago. It is [quoted text clipped - 11 lines] > but I wonder if I should file a grievance or something, or am I just > over reacting? Is this a common surgery "mistake" in strays? A lot, but *not* all, surgeries use steel sutures for the internal stitches, that way they will show up on x-rays. Also, when spaying feral cats they will 'tip' one of the ears - that is they snip off the tip of one ear, while the cat is still under anethesia so that said feral (wild, unapproachable by humans) will not have to undergo the surgery twoce, as yours did. We took in a stray that appeared at our house - a long haired tortie - and our vet, on the first appointment, shved her belly to actually *look* for a spay scar! They found one, and so an unnessecary surgery was not done. Don't know why your vet didn't do any of the above, or maybe they did, but didn't tell you (or thought they told you, but didn't?) - seems strange to me. > A lot, but *not* all, surgeries use steel sutures for the internal stitches, > that way they will show up on x-rays. Also, when spaying feral cats they > will 'tip' one of the ears - that is they snip off the tip of one ear, while > the cat is still under anethesia so that said feral (wild, unapproachable by > humans) will not have to undergo the surgery twoce, as yours did. Most of my family still lives on an island in Greece and once a month 2 vounteer vets come to spay/neuter any feral cats that you can catch, and they always notch an ear. The added aggravation is that when I took her in this morning-- because she pulled a stich and the site was all red--the vet took her back, then returned and said "I can't take any of the stiches out, it hasn't healed and there is an infection." Of course it wasn't healed!!! Red only had surgery 4 days ago! Yes there is an infection, that's why I brought her in! I thought if she wasn't listening to me, right in front of her, then maybe she didn't pay close attention to look for a scar before doing the surgery either. She's just such a sweet cat and I feel so guilty for that she's all cut up for no reason. >> A lot, but *not* all, surgeries use steel sutures for the internal stitches, >> that way they will show up on x-rays. Also, when spaying feral cats they [quoted text clipped - 19 lines] >She's just such a sweet cat and I feel so guilty for that she's all cut >up for no reason. It's definitely time to find a new vet and mention you are considering filing a complaint unless you get a better explanation from her office. Vets can get bad reputations, too. >I not sure what to do... > My husband and I adopted a stray cat, Red, 3 months ago. It is [quoted text clipped - 10 lines] > I wonder if I should file a grievance or something, or am I just over > reacting? Is this a common surgery "mistake" in strays? Around here (New England USA) the shelters do pediatric neutering, meaning they are done as 8-12 week old kittens, and the incision is extremely small. They also use glue instead of sutures, so that most of the time they heal up with out a scar at all. The shelter, when it gets strays in, will shave the belly to look for a spay scar (males are so much easier to tell). Sometimes they are obvious, sometimes they are not. It has happened many times that the cats were already spayed when they were thought to be intact. The $82 was most likely for the cost of anesthetizing the cat. Only you will know if you are comfortable with the vet. I read your follow up, and I would have been annoyed at that as well. We also had a cat, a stray, that we took in for a spay. The vet operated and could not find a uterus -- so apparently the cat had already been spayed. The vet never did see a scar from a previous operation. Our vet was a very good one and I did not blame her for not seeing a scar. I think some cats heal very well and it is hard or impossible to see. Don't feel guilty about having the operation, you are doing your best for her. If only cats could speak our language they could let us know their history and all would be fine! Rhonda > I not sure what to do... > My husband and I adopted a stray cat, Red, 3 months ago. It is [quoted text clipped - 10 lines] > I wonder if I should file a grievance or something, or am I just over > reacting? Is this a common surgery "mistake" in strays? I've read a number of the responses to this and i'd leave the situation alone.......not file a greivance. One of the big problems with cat law as opposed to dog law is where a dog will have one owners often a cat will have several owners, none of whom are even aware of the others. Add to that a cat where the history is sometimes not known, a pateint who can provide no information/history, i'd let this pass and not press the issue. Every cat i've had I got when they were about seven weeks old. Before that i've often wondered what happened to the cats but you never really know what happened in those intervening weeks. Thanks for all the feedback. I won't file a greivance (I think that was an overreaction on my part) But I think I will start looking for a new vet once the post-op appt. is done. Red is purring again, I think she'll forgive me for making her go through a 2nd spaying. thank you > Thanks for all the feedback. > [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > through a 2nd spaying. > thank you Please keep in mind that she doesn't hurt as much as the first (real) spaying. In the second operation, they only opened her abdomen and then closed it, there was no manipulation or cutting of internal organs as in the first. --tension > Thanks for all the feedback. > [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > through a 2nd spaying. > thank you That's what I would do. It's possible that the incision was so small that it was "missed" even if the vet checked. However, the *follow-up* visit is another matter -- that vet did not listen to you and apparently did not even check her own records if she failed to realize that the surgery was only 4 days ago. MaryL > I not sure what to do... > My husband and I adopted a stray cat, Red, 3 months ago. It is [quoted text clipped - 10 lines] > I wonder if I should file a grievance or something, or am I just over > reacting? Is this a common surgery "mistake" in strays? if you are prepared to pay the fee for the inconvenience i can't see what the problem is. why would someone put their cat in to be charged $82? it doesn't make sense. if the cat is a stray how would you know what treatment he has received in the past. i wouldn't bother making a grievance - i would just change vets. > There have also been miscommunications with this office (and several > comments were made, I felt, to imply that I should have known about > Red's previous spaying.) Change vets. If they knew this was a stray you had adopted then they shouldn't be trying to imply that you would have known- what do they think is going on? Munchausen's syndrome by proxy with a cat? Red was obviously at some point living with slaves who cared enough to have her spayed but as for what happened next no one can tell apart from Red and she's not telling. If she's not come from a TNR colony her ear wouldn't be tipped. And you can't tell if a cat has been spayed without surgery BTW I hope you appreciate what wonderful people you are for giving her a home Lesley Slave of the Fabulous Furballs |
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