From:
katharine@nettally.com
Date: 2002-10-17 13:40:29 UTC
Subject: RE: Just lost another ferret
To: ferrethealth@smartgroups.com
Message-ID: <32550630.1034862029542.JavaMail.root@scandium>
Debbie wrote:
>I can't help but expect to be reimbursed for today's procedure since Templeton never recovered from surgery. >
I am sorry for your loss.
Do you know what caused his death? Was he necropsied? Surgeons do not guarantee successful surgery. They can only do their best. My only concern would be why they let you take him home if he was not yet awake and alert.
I had a similar experience just a couple of months ago. Dillon died several hours after surgery. He was at home with me. He went downhill over the evening and I was on the phone with my vet's office a couple of times. He died before I could get out the door with him. Even if he had stayed at the vet's office, it still would have happened. Believe me, I asked. I had been pretty insistent that I take him home and was afraid it was my fault. My vet came in to his office at 11:00 that night to necropsy him, as he was as shocked as I was. It turned out that Dillon had DIC. Nothing the vet did caused his death. It was just "one of those things". I would never have dreamed of asking for my money back.
I would insist that he be necropsied to find out why he died. My vet didn't charge me for it. He wanted to know what happened for himself as much as for me/Dillon. I suspect that if he had found out he was negligent in any way, he would have offered some sort of compensation. He even told me he wanted to open him back up to see if he had done anything wrong.
Katharine