[Redbull]

Can someone hold the vet legally responsible for a death caused by kidney failure in an over-prescribed dog? The dog died fairly young @ 5 years old and is greatly missed

A really good friend of mine from Toronto had his Boxer die very recently due to kidney failure from all of the meds he was on for arthirtis. Some of you may remember me posting pics of this boxer, who was very close to myself as well. I lived with him and shared a lot of time with this wonderful animal.

Now to me, this definately could have been prevented and should not have occured. A vet should know if certain drugs interact adversely and should prescribe accordingly. Should this vet be held legally liable for this?

I do not see how the vet can plead ignorance especially in this case because he was only dealing with one vet. What's your opinion?

I tend to be cautious of vets myself, but what about the people who trust them word for word and then have incidents like this occuring?

 

[gazar]

Sorry for the loss of this special dog. It would be a hard case to prove because the dog did have an arthritic problem and had to have medication not only to relieve pain but also so that he could funtion. You would have to prove that the vet was negligent by giving the dog the wrong medicine for the medical problem. If he "overdosed" the dog, you would have to prove that the medications were prescribed in overly large amounts than what is advised by the manufacturer. Your friend took the dog in for this problem and knowingly accepted the prescriptions and gave them to the dog. If there were concerns, the first question that would be put to your friend is, did he get a second opinion? If he did, then what was that opinion? It is not easy to prove these kind of things.

 

[Redbull]

Yeah that's what I was thinking, hard to prove negligence.
Although the dog must have been on a heck of a lot of meds over a long period of time to cause kidney failure. Seems like a pretty severe side-effect for common meds to cause. Arthritis is pretty widespread in large-breed dogs and I haven't heard of kidney failure death's too often, actually this was my first I have heard of due to meds causing failure. That's why I thought negligence may be at play here.
poor lil guy. eso was a champ

 

[msvette2u]

How do you know the kidney failure was from the meds and not something else? Did another vet do an autopsy on the dog?

 

[Redbull]

No, I just found out so I'm not sure, but it's an educated guess.

I knew how many meds that dog was on and to me it seemed very abnormal.

The dog was put through every treatment out there for arthritis and then some...and to me you should only stick to one treatment at a time and allow for a buffer zone. Seems like this vet was pX happy and was pumping the dog full of stuff. You'd have to of seen what the dog was on to know what I mean...everything and anything you can think of for arthritis, but conjunctively which was my main concern.

The last treatment he was on was cartrophen, which is specifically meant to be a single treatment type med, meaning no other med is needed in addition to it. If the vet told him to remain on the high levels of glucosamine and the many other meds while being on cartrophen injections, then I think that doctor is out to lunch. I still have to find out the details myself, but imo it does seem like negligence. This is the main reason I will not trust one doctor's word over another. I look for several sources before I will go with anyone's word.

 

[Kismet]

Cartrophen is very safe and is not a "drug" it is used for cartilage and synovial fluid support for osteoarthritis and post op for surgeries involving bone/joints. It can safely be combined with glucosamine, MSM, Chondroiten etc. with no ill effects. Those things, even if overdosed, would not cause organ failure. Either the dog had another medical condition or it was on something like Rimadyl which can have nasty, sometimes fatal side affects (as do several other NSAIDS)

 

[Redbull]

Cartrophen is awesome I agree. I have a mature AB on it atm and she's doing much better. I recommend it to anyone who has an arthritic dog. One of my vets actually recommends it being used on it's own though, not because of side effects but because he said normally using it on it's own is all the dog will need, and anything else is pretty much a waste. I was also told that over-supplementation can actually degrade nutritional food quality.

Rimadyl must be the culprit then. I know he was on that med for some time, as well as other pain relievers. It's just sad to see young dogs die before their time.

 

[PitBullRoyalty]

I'm so sorry this happened to your friend..

Yes, quack vets prescribe many meds because they don't know too much and figure that one of them will help them.
The simple mixture of medications can cause counteract each other and cause harm.

That's why I'm very careful about who my vet is, did they even inform your friend of the side effects of each medication?

It's really sad.. I would have someone check out all the medication and figure out from there.
Probably another vet could help you, not sure if they have people who specialize in veterinary malpractice.

I had a vet kill two kittens of mine a few years apart, was never able to prove it though.
One kitten was 5 weeks old and he gave it an adult dosage of distemper, which killed in within two hours.
The other was a flea infested 2 weeks old kitten that was orphaned and I was bottle feeding.
He gave her frontline to get rid of her fleas (without my approval). She died within 10 minutes.

 

[msvette2u]

YIKES!! I learned some things when fostering and raising this litter we have AVAILABLE FOR ADOPTION!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! hehe had to get a plug in there http://search.petfinder.com/shelterSearch/shelterSearch.cgi?shelterid=WA324&preview=1

I didn't realize kittens were not vaccinated until about 9 weeks of age! And the shots are at least 3 weeks apart. I'm a puppy/dog rescue, not a KITTY rescue! :shock:

 

[PitBullRoyalty]

I know.. he gave her the vaccine and the other kitten the frontline without my knowledge.
He told me after he did it.. :roll:

I'm pretty sure vaccines start for cats at 9 weeks and frontline starts at 10 weeks.

 

[Redbull]

So it turns out that Rimadyl WAS the culprit here. I just got word back on it.

Sad when something that is supposed to help an animal ends up being the cause of it's demise.

 

[Kismet]

Rimadyl shouldn't be given (IMO) to a any animal that can recover from it's injury/illness, the risks are just to high and to much damage can be done. I think in older/terminal animals that are going to die anyways it can atleast make them comfortable unil that time. I have had bad experiences with Rimadyl, Dermaxx and Meticam. I no longer use NSAID's on any of my animals. They will heal without them, and I don't have to worry about what damage they may be causing. A little pain won't kill them, but those meds sure can.

 

[PitBullRoyalty]

THEY GAVE A YOUNG DOG LIKE THAT RIMADYL!!!!!!!!!!


That is only supposed to be for very elderly dogs, the risks of that are too high!

I can't believe it, I didn't even think of that as something they gave him.

Poor dog, that is a lawsuit!

That causes kidney failure and liver damage (among other things) and should not have been given to a dog
that young. It's only supposed to provide some comfort in their last months of life.

 

[mjh68]

Glad I read this post , not to hijack it . They talked about giving Loki Rimadyl for his joint pain , but my vet said to just wait and see how he does . I think I will stay away from that medicine with a 10ft pole.

 

[BamBam's Dad]

Does anyone know if this dog had pre-existing kidney problems? 5 yrs is very young for kidney failure even with the meds. Most dogs have either kidney or liver failure when they get old, it's the dog version of heart attacks and strokes. That is just what wears out first in the canine world. Does your friend know anything about it's bloodlines? I'm not siding with the vet, it's just that these things are easy to second guess after the fact and the death of a pet (friend) is a very emotional time.

 

[Chico.Heidi]

There is a lot of info out about Rimadyl killing pets. I think there may even be a support group for it on yahoo groups. It's really sad that so many vets are so quick to prescribe these kinds of drugs. When the animal gets secondary problems from the treatment, they just prescribe more drugs for those problems. This isn't just with animals either, it happens all the time with people.

When Chico was diagnosed with hip dysplasia, he was 14 mos. old. Our vet basically just handed me a huge bottle of RImadyl and told me to give it to Chico any time he seemed to be in pain. He told me to call in any time for a refill and when it got to the point of Chico not being able to walk anymore, we would look into surgery. I got on the internet and did a little research and found alot of info about the dangers of these meds. WHen I asked the vet how he felt about the dangers of the medication, he just sorta shrugged me off and told me that it was an industry standard to use this drug. I ended up switching vets immediatly. It's so scary that so many people think they are helping their pets when they're really killing them.

Sorry about your friend's loss, he must be devistated.

 

[Redbull]

he must be devistated.

he is right now, his dog was his life, he was like his twin brother

 

[maryellen]

rimadyl is deadly with certain dogs, with others it is fine. it should not be given like candy, but under a vets care. that vet was stupid, and you can have your friend Try to sue the rimadyl makers, but you will need a necropsy or a vet letter stating the dog died directly from the rimadyl. your friend will probably get maybe a couple hundred bucks for his dog if the rimadyl company pays him.. I am so sorry to hear this about the dog..

 

[BamBam's Dad]

Did your friend get the dog from a shelter or a breeder? If it was from a breeder I would be even more mad at them. It shouldn't have been arthritic at 5 years old. Did your friends dog have symptoms of kidney failure or go all at once. I did some research:

Signs of Rimadyl intolerance may include appetite loss, vomiting and diarrhea, which could indicate rare but serious side effects involving the digestive tract, liver or kidneys. If these signs occur, discontinue Rimadyl therapy and contact your veterinarian.

 

[Redbull]

He got him from a breeder, not sure about syptoms