I am VERY angry and need advise! about my dog.....

So we just adopted our dog Murphy last Saturday from a rescue organization. He is the love our lives. We took him to the vet yesterday to get him checked out. I brought the shot records the rescue organization gave me.

So my vet tells me that he has to have his shots all over again because the rescue people only gave him the first set and did not get the boosters done 3 weeks later. So now they have to start the process all over again. This really pisses me off. How irresponsible. They told me he was update to date on shots and in perfect health. ALSO, he has a heart problem. My vet had to do an ECG and he has a very abnormal rhythm. She said it is not good. And she is calling me early next week to discuss the heart condition and how we can treat it. So we spent over $200 at the vet yesterday. The rescue orgnazation told me he was in perfect health!! There is NO way we are returning this dog or anything, but I want the organization to pay us for his shots and the ECG and future heart treatment. I am so upset. I couldn't even sleep last night. We love Murphy so much. I want him to have a long healthy life!

I am so pissed off at them for not taking care of him properly. I am emailing the woman who runs the organization and I am not sure what to say? Should I just say flat out "we would like you to pay for his treatment"?

 

I fostered a dog from a rescue group a year ago. They told me he's in very good health. And in two days I found out that the dog had severe kennel cough and he was not dewormed.

I am sorry to hear what happened. If I were you, I would ask the rescue to pay for some if not the entire vet bill. However, if the dog has heart problem, there will be more things to be done, including more vet bills.

 

I wrote them an email letting them know about the problems but I am afraid to send it. I don't want to them to tell them they are taking him back. I don't know what to do!

 

I dont know anything about Murphy (how old etc) and I can see your point in the vaccines but if he hadnt shown any signs of having a heart problem then they probably didnt know.
Im not defending them or anything, I have no idea of their policies etc but I can tell you from working with many extremely over-loaded and underfunded rescues anything more than a basic exam, vaccines, dewormers, maybe a microchip is unlikely to be looked into....unless theres some indication that there is a problem.

 

I understand they are overloaded and overfunded, however this was the only rescue this foster Mom had. I asked my vet if she could clearly hear the heart problem with her stethescope and she said yes. This was done in the basic exam we had done. So the vet the foster Mom took Murphy to is a MORON.

 

The shelter I dealt with didn't even really have the dogs checked by a vet. They did all the shots themselves. They had so many dogs coming and going that it just wasn't possible to take every one of them to the vet to do a thorough exam. The exam was done after the dog was adopted when it was in for the spay/neuter. The dog I adopted (only had her about 4 wks) had kennel cough - they said cold - but I guess it is all semantics, but they did give me antibiotics to give her. And before I officially adopted her I had them check her hips for dysplasia. Anyways....just telling my experience.

I understand you are upset but if you really don't want to pay you could give the dog back, it was only last Saturday. I understand you not wanting to do that but if not, I'd just deal with it and pay it. That is for the heart thing. I'm sure you had a chance to go to your own vet for an exam before officially adopted him. The shots is another thing though, they should have given the dog all the shots unless it is a puppy b/c puppies have to get shots every 3 wks for awhile.

But this situation is why I took all the dogs I have ever had to MY vet the day I got them b/c if there was something wrong I wanted to know before I got too attached.

Another idea I just had was that maybe the shelter could get you discounted vet care. The shelter here has a couple of vets that do work with them and they give them very low costs with no markup.

 

I know my story is a little different because we got our pup from a breeder...but all in all...they are very similar.
We looked for a while and thought this breeder we were going to was very good and reputable...soo...we got our pup on saturday, took her to the vet monday, noticed she was very lethargic and sleepy, and by friday (less than a week after we got her) she had to be put to sleep for liver shunts disease.

We spent $500 on the dog and another $500 in vet bills doing tests and everything we could to save her (Madison)...but it couldn't be done.

I know how you feel about being pissed. The breeder told us she was very healthy. After this happened, We e-mailed the breeder letting them know what happened, and they e-mailed us back with a very rude e-mail, cussing, calling us "insane"...im not kidding, i was actually screaming at the computer screen i was so pissed.


So I understand how you feel, did you sign a contract? Im not sure if you do that when getting a dog from a shelter, i have never got one from there before, but if you did, then read it over and see if it was anything about after the pup being vet checked and there is something wrong, that they will pay for anything?
Most of the time they only offer a replacement dog which i know is not an option for you as it was not for me. I know if we would have taken Maddy back there they would have let her die without being put to sleep and she would have suffered so much because with that disease the pup starts having suizures and our vet was very surprised she hadnt already started...
Sorry, didn't mean to tell my story so much...i just wanted you to know i know how you feel, about being so pissed about this, but be thankful hes still here...

but you are very right, they should have done that before you got the dog and hopefully they will have to pay...

Hope everything goes well with Murphy..

Good Luck!


Sarah

 

how long has it been since your dog got its shots? Because I wouldn't start all over, for fear of over vaccinating, which is difficult on little bodies.

 

That is too bad. The same thing happened to me last May with my rescue dog Daisy May. She is an american pit bull terrier that is only 23 lbs. I was told she was in perfect shape. I took her to my vets for a heartworm test because that was not done in the shelter and the vet noticed a "heart murmur" I spent $289.00 on an echocardiogram on her. She has 4 sticky valves in her heart I repeat 4!!!
Thats all of them!
She is not symptomatic as of yet and is a ball of fire. I just take things day by day. I originally adopted her from the shelter to foster her and eventually re-home her. I do pit bull rescue. I was told she was temperament tested too and I found out that she has pretty bad food aggression and toy posession too??? Some temperament test. I don't think they completed it. I was told she passed with flying colors???
She does fine with my family as I don't have small children that could easily get into her toys or food dish. We adore her though and feel the same way you do.
So, obviously, I decided to keep her and not put her or any one else in any home life situation that was not going to work.

All I can say about many of the shelters is this. The funds are limited and obviously they don't have the funding to get each and every dog fully tested with echo cardiograms, etc.. Also, some heart murmurs are not easily detected. Positioning of the dog can be a factor.expertise is needed in positioning the dog
to obtain a steady illustration that can be used to accurately assess the
heart's condition. My vet does not always easily hear Daisy's murmur. Some times it is more pronounced than other times. So, unless it was an obvious murmur, they might have missed it. Daiy May has a level 6 and it is not always heard.

Most shelters will do what they can with the funds they have and if a situation arizes, they will do their best to rectify the situation.

Remember there are many dogs that need help so they probably do try to get out of doing things cheaper than the actual adoptive family would.

There are so many homeless animals and loser owners out there that the funds are always dry with shelters. I am going through this as I type with an abused chocolate lab that needs more lab work. I am paying for it myself because the shelter is out of funds. They are all spent until another fund raiser is done. So, if I did not offer to pay for the dogs lab work myself, what would she do??? That dog needs me, so I pay. I can't tell you the number of times us volunteers pay out of pocket for the animals. Just Friday I bought the shelter animals new collars. I paid for 10 of them out of my own pocket. Why? Because the shelter did not have any funding to buy them and some dogs did not have any collars on and I was sick and tired of switching collars after walking the dogs.

I also am fostering 8 kittens and their momma because some loser dropped them off in a garbage bag without food or water to die. The shelter does not have the money to pay for the kittens food and KMR and supplements so guess who is paying for them??? ME!!! I also am paying for the feline aids/leukemia test on the momma cat. Guess what, I am not alone, MANY volunteers do the same thing I do EVERY DAY. It just becomes a way of life for many of us. So, we don't drive new cars or live in fancy homes, we have a spot waiting for us on Rainbow Bridge!!!

All I can say is what a lucky dog you have. I hope he/she knows it!!!

Good luck to you.

Keep us informed!

Sue

 

I agree with lil96, in fact I would suggest you read up on vaccines and current thoughts and recommendations. Check out this book...
http://thinktwice.com/ani.htm

 

Oh Maisey, quite an interesting link, Thanks for sharing. Very interesting and informative.
Sue

 

The dog named "Murphy"

If I were you, I'd do the same, e-mail them, BUT DON'T say nasty things to them!!! They might sue you if anything. Just tell them the whole story.

 

The dog named "Murphy"

If I were you, I'd do the same, e-mail them, BUT DON'T say nasty things to them!!! They might sue you if anything. Just tell them the whole story.

 

I wouldn't blame the rescue group - I'd blame the vet they took the dog too. If your vet could hear the heart issues the other vet should have too.
Keep in mind rescue groups tend to choose vets by price as their funds are terribly limited. They may be using a vet who offers them a low price but inadequate care. You might want to suggest to them they look around for another vet.

 

How old is the pup? The only reason puppy shots are given multiple times is because vets don't bother to test to see when the mother's antibodies are no longer present in the pup. Instead, they start vaccinating when they MAY be gone and keep doing it every two weeks until they are SURE they are gone. So if you do decide to re-vaccinate the pup, you don't need to "start all over" and do a whole series. One set of shots at 16 weeks or older will be more than enough.

That being said, I would NOT vaccinate again - ever - with that heart condition. It is very taxing on the immune system. If you are worried, have the vet do a titer for parvo and distemper. All the other vaccinations are pretty much unecessary anyway. If the pup has antibodies to parvo and distemper, he is set. If not and you are concerned, give ONE shot for parvo ONLY and two weeks later give ONE shot for distemper ONLY and then you are done. Don't give that horrible combo shot the vets love to pump into animals. You can even get exempted from rabies if your vet says the pup is sick and can't have the shot. Again, if you are worried and the pup is over 16 weeks, do a rabies titer and if there are no antibodies present then give ONE shot and that's all he needs. I would be surprised if there are no antibodies, though.

Do you have any info on the heart problem? My cat has a heart murmur. They found it two years ago in a routine exam - he had no symptoms at all so I never would have known. We spent $300 for a type of ultrasound test thingy (can't recall the name of it) rather than just doing an ECG. They could see exactly what was going on and make a treatment plan. Two years later, he still has no symptoms. I give him medication every day which is not very expensive and I take him in once a year and get his kidney blood values checked. If the murmur were to sound different to our vet, I would get another test done to check it out.

My point is, the heart problem may not be the end of the world. Still, I would e-mail or call the rescue people and politely let them know what is going on. Assuming you paid a fee that was supposed to cover shots and assuming that the shots really were not up-to-date, you could ask them to pay for shots (if you are going to get them). It could be that what your vet and what their vet considers up-to-date are different things. You could also ask if they would pay for the testing for the heart problem and then go from there.

 

The foster Mom who had Murphy (our dog) called us yesterday. She was calling to see how things were going. We weren't going to call her until later this week when we find out the final results of the heart problem. But since she called, my husband told her everything. He wasn't rude or anything, he just told her exactly what happened at the vet. My husband said she was very defensive at first and said that the reason they did not give Murphy the 3 week boosters was because he is an adult dog and only puppies get the boosters.

(I spoke with my vet and another vet and they both said this is NOT true. They said that if the dog, regardless of age, has not had vaccinations or you don't know the vaccination history, then they get the vaccines and 3 week boosters.)

Then he told her about the heart problem. He said she sounded very concerned and said she was not aware of the problem. She said the vet they took him to didn't say anything about the heart. She said he was put under anethesia and didn't have any problems. She said he would not have been adopted out if they knew he had this problem. She said she is going to talk to the resuce organization leader and let him/her know about this situation. She said to call her when we hear back from the vet.

Just for clairification, we did not get Murphy from a shelter. The rescue organization got him from a shelter and put him in a foster home. They took him to the vet, got him neutered, and he lived with his foster mom this whole time. Murphy is about 1 year old. He has a heart arrhythmia NOT a murmur.

 

Adult dogs do NOT need a second set of shots 3 weeks later. I'm not sure where your vet is coming from. Adult dogs get ONE set of shots and boosters every year (or three years) after that. In reality, the dog will never need another booster, ever.

I would personally seek a second opinion from another vet. Once a vet tells me something that I know is false, I have a hard time trusting them about other issues. Your vet may be one of those that goes overboard with prevention, thinking that it can't possible do any harm. Most vets do not realize what damage vaccines do.

I don't think I have ever heard of giving an adult dog boosters 3 weeks later. That is totally unecessary and just adds a HUGE amount of stress to an immune system that is already impaired by the stress of being in a shelter and probably malnurished before that, etc.

Wow. I am boggling over this.

 

I think you misunderstood what I said. My vet AND another vet told me that regardless of a dog's age, it needs an intial vaccine and a 3 week booster IF the dog has never been vaccinated before or you don't know the vaccine history. That's: an inital vet vist, a booster visit 3 weeks later, and THEN shots once a year. NOT 2 cycles every year...just that first year.
Does that make more sense?

 

yes, but adults don't need a booster
and possibly they don't need more vaccinations again ever.
my vet told me that, when I got my dog from the pound.

 

I understand what you are saying, but an adult dog does NOT need a booster at three weeks, regardless if they have ever been vaccinated before! What would be the reason for that? The only reason puppies get boosters so soon is because they may still have their mom's antibodies which would render the vaccine ineffective. An adult dog would not have maternal antibodies, so one shot is plenty. In fact, most adult dogs will already have natural immunity even if they have never been vaccinated so they really don't need any shots at all!

Bonnie was a rescue dog. She got a set of shots when she came into the shelter and that was it. All of the dogs I have fostered have had one set of shots and that's it. No boosters at 3 weeks.