Horrible vet visit - extremely frustrated!

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I don't sign anything for normal filings and x-rays using gas, as I stated, I have only had to sign when the chin was medically compromised, meaning the chin was at deaths door or had a pre-existing condition.
 
Yes its true you've only one side of the story ... and I would love to have a way for everyone to hear the vet's side's of the story, including myself - since all I got out of her was she died, her teeth were fine I did everything correctly so I don't know what to tell you and here's your bill. I never even got to see the x-rays. Ketamine is what was used and I was never informed that she was so "deathly ill" there's a chance she might not come out of it. I never said I was going to do anything, I would just like to know what caused her death. I feel horrible as it is, I just wanted to know if it was my fault she died for handing her over to an incompetent vet and I was only complaining because I felt like they handled it poorly and had absolutely no compassion. I'm sorry if it came across the wrong away - and I'd like to thank everyone for their advice and sympathy.
 
I agree with you, you just lost a kid and were treated like it was a door stop with no sympathy at all, but sadly you may never know what was the cause of the passing but I know it was not your fault, you did everything you could and my heart hurts for you this was the outcome. You shoud recieve compassion here, those of us who have lost a chin this way know what you are going through, you should not be made to feel worse than you do.
 
Cornell will do necropsy. As horrible as this is to think of, though, you'll have to try to preserve her body until they can get it. I'm not sure if you're supposed to use the refrigerator or the freezer. Can someone else chime in on this?

That said, if the vet thought she was too sick to be put under, her professional ethics should say that she wouldn't do it. I obviously wasn't there, but from here I smell a cop out. I'd definitely recommend a call to Cornell after the necropsy and also call the first vet's office once you're a little more level-headed to try to get some answers. If nothing else there are a lot of websites like Yelp and Yellow Pages.com that allow you to leave reviews of establishments like restaurants, and yes, vets too. When you feel up to it, it might be a good idea to leave a few for this practice. I'm no where near educated enough to know what would count as malpractice in that situation, but their poor treatment of you, I think, deserves public notice.

*hugs* I am so, so sorry you lost your girl. You did everything right and, really, did more than a lot of people would when faced with the possibility of malo, etc.
 
No freezing, freezing causes cellular damage. I've always been told to wrap the body in a paper towel, then place in a plastic baggie and put in the refrigerator. For best results the necropsy should be done within 24-48 hrs. If you cannot do it in that time frame, it can be frozen, tissue damage will occur, but depending on what you suspect is wrong a vet may still be able to determine what is freezer damage and what is not.
 
ticklechin said:
I don't sign anything for normal filings and x-rays using gas, as I stated, I have only had to sign when the chin was medically compromised, meaning the chin was at deaths door or had a pre-existing condition.
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That's interesting, I've always had to sign for anything involving anesthesia, healthy and not.

Yes its true you've only one side of the story ... and I would love to have a way for everyone to hear the vet's side's of the story, including myself - since all I got out of her was she died, her teeth were fine I did everything correctly so I don't know what to tell you and here's your bill. I never even got to see the x-rays. Ketamine is what was used and I was never informed that she was so "deathly ill" there's a chance she might not come out of it. I never said I was going to do anything, I would just like to know what caused her death. I feel horrible as it is, I just wanted to know if it was my fault she died for handing her over to an incompetent vet and I was only complaining because I felt like they handled it poorly and had absolutely no compassion. I'm sorry if it came across the wrong away - and I'd like to thank everyone for their advice and sympathy.
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My comment was not to make you feel bad, just to point out that none of us know exactly what happened. It's unfortunate that you especially don't know. From what you said it doesn't sound like she was so ill that she couldn't be anesthetized, but none of us saw her. There could have been something minutely wrong that no one would have ever known about until the drug was administered. I watched a healthy young dog on a surgery table for a routine neuter go into cardiac arrest and die. No one knew there was anything wrong with him until they opened him up.

If you're up to it, I would take the previous advice to talk to the vet to get some answers. If you do go back to talk to the vet, you could ask for the x-rays. They may ask you to "sign them out" but I'm pretty sure they can't withhold them from you.
 
I do hope you are able to get at least a little more info from the vet's office, they owe you that much. And as far as leaving reviews, if you do feel that they were honestly negligent, and clearly lacking basic exotic knowledge, you might look into filing a complaint with the Better Business Bureau. Then they would have that on record, and the company would have to explain its practices and extent of their knowledge to the BBB. Maybe Penelope can be the one to save the next sick chinchilla by making the vet become more knowledgeable about the treatment of these fragile creatures.
 
I'm so sorry that you lost Penelope. I've had bad experiences and good experiences with chins going under gas (I've only had two need to go under for something, one never came out of it, the other is just fine)... and I'd be even more concerned with an injection. Unfortunately, anesthesia is risky no matter what.

You did everything that you could, please don't blame yourself.
 
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