My Vet Has Hired "Thugs"; Shakes down pet owners...

Since you all are being so helpful, am I allowed to post a coopy of my first estimate for care? Maybe you all can tell me if it's wrong like my vet says? Sorry to do this on the cheap, but I can only afford to do this right... So is that allowed?


Here is the first and only estimate that they gave me. Please tell me if I have to remove it. Couldn't see any reason why not as there is no name involved...

Notice that there is no estimate for the fecal matter test, something our own resident doc would prescribe...

THe final bill was $950, est, and I do not have a copy, as my vet asked to see it to compare treatment for my kitty.

[edit on 10-7-2008 by jasonjnelson]

reply to post by jasonjnelson


Jason I would think as long as you photoshop out the clinic name and such it would be okay. I doubt if it violates the T&C's of ATS.

Jason, I am sorry to hear about the traumatic experience you both had to go through.

Incidents like this make you really question the motives of some people.. that person is meant to be a medical professional and supposedly caring for animals, but he sounds more like a greedy a**hole.

I agree with what other posters have said, definately try to contact your state veterinary board (or maybe the ASPCA) and try to get this guy/woman de-certified.

People who run these places shouldn't be allowed near animals, to me it is blatant animal cruelty. It's like going to the emergency department of a hospital with the same symptoms and being told your kid can't be seen yet because he hasn't got medical cover... I know that when I had a dog, she was a member of our family and "not just an animal".

I don't know what it's like in America, but in Australia I'm pretty sure a doctor could be sued for malpractice or something if the child died.

We have RSPCA officers here who investigate cases of animal cruelty. They even have a TV show about it. If a person is found to have neglected a sick animal they get a hefty fine, and I really don't see how this vet's behaviour is dissimilar.

Combined with the "marine officer" he has with him, using intimidation technqiues and suggesting that your pet should be euthanised is just ridiculous. I can't believe people are so heartless as to say something (more or less) like "pay up our fee or your pet is going to be killed, oh, and by the way, we did alot of useless tests on him and found nothing and didn't even bother to try to clean him up or make him feel more comfortable, but who cares, $$$$$$"

I know vets can't be expected to treat animals for free, and I'm sure there are alot of people who would take advantage of a sympathetic vet, but threatening you and your pet is going far beyond :S

(sorry for the huge wall of text, I just really care about animals!)




[edit on 10-7-2008 by Vilyariel]

reply to post by Vilyariel


Not at all! I think that the members here are onto something. I am gathering all I can, and sticking to the facts, so as not to ruin my own case. The vet is due to call any minute to tell me what's up with my cat.

And as for the comfort issue? I thin k you are SOOOOOOO correct there, as I can't explain the anger I had when they returned him in that state.

I just looked at your bill..

I'm not a vet or involved in any sort of medical profession... but $250 for "misc" looks a bit suss... what's that cover? The cost of the hired thug?

I can guess maybe the overnight stay but It doesn't even cost that much to put your pet in a kennel overnight :/ plus he has charged you for the overnight stay as "hospitalisation".

He didn't bother to clean the feces off the cat so it's not like it was use of soaps, disinfectants etc...


Edited to add: Looking at it again there is "injection - fluid additive" that he says costs $0.00 per unit, and he has charged you $76 for it?

[edit on 10-7-2008 by Vilyariel]

reply to post by Vilyariel


Not to mention the fact that after all these tests, they told me it was a "fever of unknown origin" and that cats get it all the time.(!!!???) It was a Bug and all you had to do was check his ever present stool. Now there seems to be something else wrong, as well as the fact that having the bug that one extra day has now cost me 3 extra nights at my vets.

It was straight up mal-practice and bad customer service, as well as probably a few law violations.

Sue the clinic for harassment, extortion, and false imprisonment. Then start a civil suit against that marine for harassment, simple battery (presumption of a verbal threat), and assault (anyone touching you without your permission, regardless of whether or not it inflicted any harm).

Find a lawyer asap, notify California Veterinary Medical Association (www.cvma.net) of the matter, PETA, and the Better Business Bereau (odr.bbb.org...).

Well, technically they can charge whatever they want. No fecal cost no doubt means they did not DO a fecal, though they may claim they “forgot” to add it to the bill. If they faxed the records to your vet they should have provided all of the test results, which means more.

So did your current vet do the scope? I will say I am concerned about the cat and that is what interests me most here.

reply to post by Sonya610


Well, I just got off the phone again, and my vet said that they found, and removed, a bunch of "Fibrous material" all white, and inch long. It seems that that, coupled with the "cochcydia" (sp?) was what messed kitty up the most. Both of these were detectable, one with a simple fecal test, and the other with the plethora of x-rays they took.

I will know tomorrow the extent of the damage, but did give him my shirt to give him my scent. He's on a bunch of kitty drugs after his procedures... Wonder what he's dreaming about? (maybe about daddy suing the crap out of the emergency clinic)

Most likely birds that he can actually catch...

Hearing about all of his procedures makes my stomach turn...

reply to post by jasonjnelson


Easily found with an X-ray...

I am not one for reaction...especially on ATS...but jason, they tried to extort money out of you...and succeeded. For services that weren't rendered. At the (further) expense of a living animal.

Give them hell. They earned it.

I've been ripped off $200 by a vet before, just one of those cases where you put your trust in a professional and they rob you blind because they know you'll do anything for your kitty. I think it's an unregulated industry that's open to fraud and abuse. Vets want to be Doctors, to earn lots of money

reply to post by jasonjnelson


It sounds like you are in Califonia.

You should try and take them to small claims court. To get your money back.
You will need to have your REAL vet write out that the fecal matter test was not done and as that was the more meaningful of duties, all of the original vet's billing for other dubious treatments was bogus.

By teh way, ihve helped my feline family members many times by keeping stocked with "Devil's claw, and extract of an African tuber. Many times cats get sick by eting weird things like moths and spiders. If the thing they ate was posionous it can cost you lots of money at the vets.

Or only $ 15 for the "Devil's Claw" Availabale in the health food store for
less than twenty bucks. It also helps if the animal gets sprayed with pesticide. Use it for a few hours - if the cat is not better, then take it in. (Administer by squiriting an eyedropper full of extract into water and then eye droppering the water DC mixture into the cat. repeat until cat is better.)

The one time it didn't work, my kitty had parvo. But all the other times, the DC has done its job.

reply to post by Sonya610


I have the final bill, and my vet called over for ALL the test results. They did not do the fecal test. My vet is caught between a rock and a hard place, but I don't know how expensive putting together the evidence will cost.

I mean, I need experts and notarized documents, no?

All in all, this is going to cost me three months pay, money I still have to work for...

reply to post by jasonjnelson


Thank GOD they finally figured out what was in his throat. Coccidia is a protozoa, it is someone common and does not always show symptoms so I am wondering if the whole problem was the "stuff in the throat" and the diarrhea got worse, or was noticed as a result.

All I can say is if I had my cat was at the vet for THREE DAYS and they just NOW figured out the cat had a throat full of cotton or whatever...wow. I would be livid. Unless that cat for some reason could NOT tolerate anesthesia (bad kidneys or whatever, which is unlikely in such a young animal) I would be livid. You have already been ripped off once. Becareful.

reply to post by Sonya610



Well, he had a fever of 107, so they needed him stabilized, and didn't want to charge me for more x-rays. But when he was still not responding to all the treatment, she then went further. She is not charging me a rate for overnight stays...

She had assumed (I guess) that the objects were passing.

Plus, due to the fire here in Goleta, there are a lot of sick animals at her place. She has been there 14 ours a day for the last two weeks, with sketchy power for one of those weeks.

I cannot wait to get my friend at UCSB to test those fibers....

It would be icing if the other vet had put them there not that my case isnt strong enough for small claims court...


[edit on 10-7-2008 by jasonjnelson]

reply to post by jasonjnelson


I really doubt if the previous vet jammed cotton down kitty's throat (ever try to give a pill a cat? imagine jamming cotton down its throat, that would require effort and the emergency vet wouldn't bother).

The cat probably swallowed it days ago, and that is what made him so sick. If it was in his throat, maybe in his stomach etc...it could really mess kitty up. He might not have been eating well for a couple of days, not drinking, getting dehydrated, and then the coccidia got out of control. It just seems too coincidental that both happened at the same time.



[edit on 10-7-2008 by Sonya610]

reply to post by Sonya610


I wasn't assuming that they forced it. He could have eaten a bandage, because they never put a collar on him. Obviously detail was not their forte, as the poo-covered cat should surmise...

But yes, he could have eaten it days ago.

So why was the diagnosis FUO?

And actually, side note, Sawyer eats pills out of your hands....

[edit on 10-7-2008 by jasonjnelson]

reply to post by jasonjnelson


Well no doubt the throat problem should have been caught days ago. And yes the first vet was horrid, but unless your cat is a freak about chewing and swallowing weird stuff (and it does appear he might be!) cats rarely wear e-collars. None of mine ever have, whether in the hospital or at home. Most likely he swallowed something at home days ago.

Lets just hope getting it out of his throat fixes things and he doesn't have a big wad in his stomach or glumping up his intestines.

Wow, lucky you to have such a well behaved kitty

My dog had to be forcefed her medicines when she got sick, she would always find the tablets hidden in food and spit it out.

Back on topic;

I agree with Sonya, I think it's possible that the cotton (?) was probably eaten by the cat, maybe when playing with a toy or something he ate some by mistake... actually it sounds kind of like the rolls of gauze the dentist would use to stop bleeding when you get teeth removed. that's usually a white fibrous material about an inch long.

Who knows, he probably could have eaten it in the vet's surgery when he was left alone in there while you were being threatened by the vet and his flunky.

reply to post by Vilyariel


I agree with both of you. But when the kitty is healthy, I will plan my strike, back at the empire...