My Cat Kitten was blinded because of a bad veternarian overdosing her with Baytril

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kittens mom

Kittens life was lost to a negligent veterinarian.
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Here is my original thread about my cat being blinded by Baytril. It was never intended to become a blog about her last week of life with us. But it did. She was euthanized yesterday due to liver failure.( much more complicated than that but enough information to understand it became the main focus of the thread). There is a link to a rainbow bridge. But Kittens story is not over. The wrong inflicted on her has not been set right. The veterinarian who gave my 13lb cat 68 mg of Baytril per day has declared it was fine to do so, no wrong doing and scuttled behind a lawyer like a cowardly whipped dog. I cannot let rest the issue of the medical battery inflicted on her in those last months of life. Most of her sight. Bayer has made it clear on every label the correct dose / maximum dose that is safe for a feline and why. We are going to be forced into suing this DVM for the only thing we seem to be able to recover. KItten's resulting vet bills. And to aggressively pursue our claim of malpractice through the State Veterinary Board.  It matters not that her incinerated remains will soon be on my desk in an urn or I wish still sitting on the kitchen table at this hour using her infra red eye lasers to burn holes in my back waiting for her breakfast.  I have since realized that not only did this DVM blind my cat she failed to treat her ulcerated eyes and the drug in the Rx bottle labeled as a brand name drug is actually a generic form. Why is this wrong. Baytril is a name patented by a company.  Why does that bother me. When people show such unethical behavior I wonder what else they are up to. Consider one clinic we have used before that said they don't even prescribe this class of drugs to cats for an URI. I get small town , not even really a town here, vets. They often have no more than an x-ray machine but usually a full pharmacy of safe reliable species safe drugs. Is this vet unable to afford to keep her supplies stocked ? Should a vet be able to smile, take your money and then go back and see what she has left in the cupboard without disclosing to you the pet owner this is all they have on hand.

Looking back at this I also realized she gave no warning about what to watch for on this drug. No take home sheet for home care. All of this escaped us at the onset. She seemed like such a caring person. Bundy was charming too.

So I can't eulogize Kitten or lay her life story down in peace while this is unsettled. She was a baby when my beloved Arab mare Nikki passed. I often called Kitten my heartbeat. We shared an incredible bond. Today my heartbeat is silent. I cannot change that. We can pursue a bad DVM.

I should disclose that because we noticed an issue with the Baytril we took Kitten to a vet hospital and she did retain some of her sight. But she didn't have to lose any of it. Over twice the safe dose and we have never been able to determine the dose given in a shot during her vet visit.
 
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crazy4strays

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How completely horrible and heartbreaking. :( I'm sorry for the loss of Kitten and sorry for the malpractice situation.
 
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kittens mom

Kittens life was lost to a negligent veterinarian.
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How completely horrible and heartbreaking.
I'm sorry for the loss of Kitten and sorry for the malpractice situation.
I need to be clear. Kitten received excellent superb care in the last week of her life via the VCA hospital. My case is against a local vet who set up shop in a small town.  Small town country vet can conjure up visions of All Creatures Great and Small. 

Of course it's also good cover for substandard DVMs that need a place to hide their shoddy practices. I invite an open discussion on this thread by anyone who has had a DVM seriously injure or even kill their pet via malpractice How they resolved it to the best of their ability.

WE CANNOT CONTIUE TO CALL OUR PETS FAMILY MEMBERS WHEN THE LAW SEES THEM AS LITTLE MORE THAN DAMAGED SOFA CUSHIONS UNDER THE LAW. IT IS TIME FOR REASONABLE REFORM TO ALLOW WRONGED PET OWNERS SOME PUNATIVE AND PAIN AND SUFFERING FOR THEIR ANIMALS. KITTEN WAS A VALUABLE MEMEBER OF OUR HOME AND OF SIGNIFIGANT IRRIPLACEABLE VALUE TO US. WHEN A PROFESSIONAL USES RECKLESS , GROSS DISREGARD FOR A PATIENT THEY HAVE AGREED TO TREAT THERE SHOULD BE A RECOURSE FOR THE PET OWNER, GUARDIAN TO PUNISH SUCH BEHAVIOR. THIS IS NOT A CALL TO PUBLICALLY LYNCH A VET BECASUE YOUR PET DIED OR A TREATMENT DIDN'T WORK AND YOU'RE MAD BECAUSE YOU STILL GOT A BIG BILL. THIS IS ABOUT MALPRACTICE AND RECKLESS DISREGARD. GROSS NEGLIGENCE. WE DON'T WANT TO MAKE GOOD VETS SCARED TO TREAT AN ANIMAL.
 

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The standard dosage for Baytril is 5 mg/kg so a 13# cat is about 6kg which x 5mg equals 30mg of Baytril once a day so the vet did more than double the dose.  68mg is the standard size small pill for baytril, so its not like she calculated 68mg, what it sounds like she did was just prescribe the standard smallest pill rather than the appropriate dose.  Baytril is rarely prescribed for cats due to this issue and its mostly prescribed for urinary tract issues, and even then probably only when serious.  When my vets prescribe it, we check the cat's sight twice a day....

Most vet's also have a tech cross check every prescription, and in this case a tech should have caught it and brought it to the vet's attention.
 
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kittens mom

Kittens life was lost to a negligent veterinarian.
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The standard dosage for Baytril is 5 mg/kg so a 13# cat is about 6kg which x 5mg equals 30mg of Baytril once a day so the vet did more than double the dose.  68mg is the standard size small pill for baytril, so its not like she calculated 68mg, what it sounds like she did was just prescribe the standard smallest pill rather than the appropriate dose.  Baytril is rarely prescribed for cats due to this issue and its mostly prescribed for urinary tract issues, and even then probably only when serious.  When my vets prescribe it, we check the cat's sight twice a day....

Most vet's also have a tech cross check every prescription, and in this case a tech should have caught it and brought it to the vet's attention.
Baytril is sold also sold as a 22.7 mg tablet. They are not tastetabs but then cats won't likely eat them anyway. Which would be almost standard for a 10lb cat.
 

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I hope you can get the justice kitten deserves. It was so apparent that you and kitten had a very special bond. I am so sorry 
 

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One of my cats was given Baytril once about 3 years.  He was given one of the 22.7 mg pills a day.  He was given it for an unusual reason, as a precaution after a dental and extractions.  He is the one that had fatty liver and the vet treats him as though he has liver damage even though his numbers are good.  My other kitty got a different antibiotic after extractions so I assume the Baytril was part of protecting his liver.

I have had bad experiences with vets that weren't very good, not to this extent though.  My issue was with vet hopping with my kitty that was finally diagnosed with IBD which started when he was only 18 months old.  He also had atypical symptoms.  Three vets and two emergency vet clinic visits and still no diagnoses.  I had one vet at a cat's only clinic say he had pancreatitis without having done any blood work. This went on for 6 years.  I tried one more vet and he got a good diagnoses.  Unfortunately he was in fatty liver at that point.  I had asked the vet that said he had pancreatitis about fatty liver.  He had symptoms that mimicked foreign body ingestion, anorexia, vomiting bile and constipation.  She told me it wasn't a concern because he was underweight.  I waited longer than I should have to try another vet because of what she told me and he ended up with fatty liver.

I live in a large urban area.  Vets that aren't very good at least when it comes to kitties are also in the city not just small towns.  We even have a vet school at the university here.  
 

carinajosefine

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Ive currently just began the long road of legal actions against my vet's office after they misdiagnosed Kitty. Kitty is still with me (not thanks to them, but thanks to another vetrinarian and my mum's money), and I hope and pray for reconvery. That doesnt change the fact that the first vet's office did Kitty very wrong, and I want them to remember that the next time they get a housecat into their care, and they feel tempted to take it lightly and ignore worried owners. 

As Im in such a situation myself, I read all your previous posts, and will follow your story in the future.

Im so sorry for the loss of you precious family member <3
 
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kittens mom

Kittens life was lost to a negligent veterinarian.
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One of my cats was given Baytril once about 3 years.  He was given one of the 22.7 mg pills a day.  He was given it for an unusual reason, as a precaution after a dental and extractions.  He is the one that had fatty liver and the vet treats him as though he has liver damage even though his numbers are good.  My other kitty got a different antibiotic after extractions so I assume the Baytril was part of protecting his liver.

I have had bad experiences with vets that weren't very good, not to this extent though.  My issue was with vet hopping with my kitty that was finally diagnosed with IBD which started when he was only 18 months old.  He also had atypical symptoms.  Three vets and two emergency vet clinic visits and still no diagnoses.  I had one vet at a cat's only clinic say he had pancreatitis without having done any blood work. This went on for 6 years.  I tried one more vet and he got a good diagnoses.  Unfortunately he was in fatty liver at that point.  I had asked the vet that said he had pancreatitis about fatty liver.  He had symptoms that mimicked foreign body ingestion, anorexia, vomiting bile and constipation.  She told me it wasn't a concern because he was underweight.  I waited longer than I should have to try another vet because of what she told me and he ended up with fatty liver.

I live in a large urban area.  Vets that aren't very good at least when it comes to kitties are also in the city not just small towns.  We even have a vet school at the university here.  
The good vets present all the options when a diagnoses is not clear. Even with the best diagnostic tools it can be hard to pinpoint an exact problem. The good vets know how to change direction and reevaluate when something isn't working and can think on their feet. And some issues never get a firm diagnosis the vet is simply left to treat the symptoms.

Vets that make generalizations oh it couldn't be that often end up with egg on their faces. Or worse a pets life or injury on their hands.

Baytril and that class of antibiotics are life savers when used correctly.  I have always felt safe using small vet offices for general things like shots and an URI which was nasty looking but she was eating, drinking and not running a temp seemed like a way to cut excessive stress with a long car ride. Her behavior has an impact on other small vets that might want to live out here not hide their shoddy practices. What she charged me that day was what a lot of residents here make a week. We have monstrous unemployment, under employment here. We were lucky to be able to take our cat to the ER. I wonder how many pets sobbing owners have buried in their yards because they don't realize or have no recourse. To file small claims is about 100$ here. She's already shaken her lawyer stick at me. Personally given the evidence I would have paid it. Taken the slap on the hand from the SVB and engaged in some self reflection.

We need to learn to question our veterinarians. Not in an accusing manner but to test their mettle. If answering your questions is an imposition to them they are not going to listen to your concerns either.  Our vet cried at the euthanasia yesterday. Not much , she sure sucked it up. I know they can't become emotionally engaged. But not caring at all makes them little more than test dispensers' and verdict readers. Have you ever felt after a visit that the vets, vet techs didn't even SEE your animal.?  Are they on task or gossiping with each other oblivious to you. Is your animals protest of being examined a reason to go to the big guns before stepping back a second to try again or try something else. Do you feel your pet is no more than an object on a table ?

I got to watch how this vet yesterday handled her little body. Cradled against her. I left knowing we had made the right choice. We did not opt for the biopsy. She had gone downhill so fast and was spiraling all of Saturday night.

It may seem odd but I feel the vets were successful with Kitten. They gently led us to the conclusion we already knew.
 

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I am so sorry this happened to you - I had been reading your other thread before it got closed, but just didn't know what to say.......

What can we really do to prevent this from happening?   I have a vet that I trust, but there have been little small things where I have disagreed with his particular choice (like giving my boy metacam instead of buprenex after his neutering -  I didn't want to give metacam to my cat, but he said two small doses of it would be fine).    Any time I've ever gotten a prescription drug for my cats, I always Google the drug but it's not always easy to find what the proper dosage size range for a cat would be.   It's easy to research things after the fact, but when you're actually there with your cat in a vet office, it's harder to speak up & question what the vet is doing, because we don't want to come of as being difficult...or we may not even realize that the vet is doing something questionable - because we aren't vets ourselves so we just don't know.....    

Another example - we had to euthanize our little Chihuahua several years ago, on Christmas Day at an emergency vet clinic.   He had lost the use of his hind end/back legs - the e-vet told us there was no hope for recovery and urged us to euthanize.    I am so conflicted over that decision to this day - should I have said no & gotten a second opinion?  Or would doing that have left our dog in pain?   It's so hard to really know what's what, then factor in that some vets are uncaring, dishonest, incompetent, etc - it's like who can we trust?    It feels like the best we can do is give our pets the best food & exercise we can & just pray no one gets sick.....it's scary to navigate in the veterinary world.     Again, I'm sorry this happened to Kitten - thank you for putting this story out there, awful as it is - it gives us all something important to think about.   I'm glad you found a caring vet to guide you through the very end.   It sucks the vet who did this wants to hide behind a lawyer now......
 
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kittens mom

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I am so sorry this happened to you - I had been reading your other thread before it got closed, but just didn't know what to say.......

What can we really do to prevent this from happening?   I have a vet that I trust, but there have been little small things where I have disagreed with his particular choice (like giving my boy metacam instead of buprenex after his neutering -  I didn't want to give metacam to my cat, but he said two small doses of it would be fine).    Any time I've ever gotten a prescription drug for my cats, I always Google the drug but it's not always easy to find what the proper dosage size range for a cat would be.   It's easy to research things after the fact, but when you're actually there with your cat in a vet office, it's harder to speak up & question what the vet is doing, because we don't want to come of as being difficult...or we may not even realize that the vet is doing something questionable - because we aren't vets ourselves so we just don't know.....    

Another example - we had to euthanize our little Chihuahua several years ago, on Christmas Day at an emergency vet clinic.   He had lost the use of his hind end/back legs - the e-vet told us there was no hope for recovery and urged us to euthanize.    I am so conflicted over that decision to this day - should I have said no & gotten a second opinion?  Or would doing that have left our dog in pain?   It's so hard to really know what's what, then factor in that some vets are uncaring, dishonest, incompetent, etc - it's like who can we trust?    It feels like the best we can do is give our pets the best food & exercise we can & just pray no one gets sick.....it's scary to navigate in the veterinary world.     Again, I'm sorry this happened to Kitten - thank you for putting this story out there, awful as it is - it gives us all something important to think about.   I'm glad you found a caring vet to guide you through the very end.   It sucks the vet who did this wants to hide behind a lawyer now......
Like you I am of course questioning my decision today. It's important that sometimes we have to make these decisions in the moment. We had a long discussion before we left for the hospital yesterday to make sure both of us were on the same page.  You made the best decision for your pet in the moment.  We opted for a feeding tube but further testing would have revealed the masses. We got an extra week to adjust to what I came to realize was likely coming.

You are correct that time in the vet office your focus is on your pet. If they are ill it's doubly so. It is also hard to find accurate information on many drugs. Drug fact sheets should go out with every prescription. Of course it then falls to the owner to read that information. We need to educate ourselves.

Because veterinary medicine is expanding rapidly pet owners need to know their budget, how they feel about some treatments and how far they are willing to ethically push their pet so it has respiration and a heartbeat. Pets live in the moment and cannot process a painful treatment that may last for months on end.

we could have found the money for surgery and treatment and let them dig around in her already dying body. Most likely all it would have meant was her passing on the table or worse in pain later and thousands more in medical bills. Most of us have other pets and bills to pay. And extended grief.

We as owners are bound to give them a life of comfort , safety and care. They owe us nothing , we owe them for the happiness and joy in our lives. I seen Kitten changing from the tail flipping diva i'll do what I want to a sunken creature who would have been a shadow of herself in probably days. And yes I'm sure I could have taken her home and played nurse a bit longer.

I can talk about Kitten but I don't really know the details of what happened to your baby. But anyone who feels they were wronged can file a complaint. One thing to get into the habit of is signing the forms and getting copies of the actual medical report written by the doctor. Not the itemized bill but the details of treatment, test results etc and keep them in hard copy and stored.

I am gather names and phone numbers. We have Kittens witnessed cremation tomorrow. There is enough on my plate.

All I can say is you made the best decision for your pet at that moment and in the end that is all any of us can do.
 

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I am so so sorry, I've been away for a few days and came back to check on you and Kitten and just saw this. This is horrible news and my heart aches for you all. You had to be very strong to make the decision to let her go at the right time for her and I'm sure she would be grateful to you for that, and for going to sleep in the arms of humans who loved and fought for her.
 

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Another example - we had to euthanize our little Chihuahua several years ago, on Christmas Day at an emergency vet clinic.   He had lost the use of his hind end/back legs - the e-vet told us there was no hope for recovery and urged us to euthanize.    I am so conflicted over that decision to this day - should I have said no & gotten a second opinion?  Or would doing that have left our dog in pain?  
For what it's worth, we had the same exact thing happen to a Chihuahua we had back in 2004. We did not euthanize her immediately, and then one Saturday night shortly afterwards, my mom called me to tell me that Hua was screaming in pain. I went home and took her to the ER vet to be euthanized, crying in pain the entire time until she was gone. I still feel guilty about THAT and wish we would have looked for some earlier sign. But for the life of me, I don't know what we would have looked for.
 
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kittens mom

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There may be helpful info about filing a complaint with the veteterinary board and pursuing a malpractice suit here: http://thetooncesproject.com/
One thing that needs to happen is the consumer following through when they know a vet or vet tech is in violation of even basic care for animals. Right now it would be very easy to get apathetic about this and say enough is enough and let it go.  My gut feeling on Kitten and her death are that I took a healthy cat in who had an URI and three months later she's dead. I can't prove it. I don't know that an autopsy would have proved it.  Add to this the more I read about stress and the effect it had on cats the more I wonder if the overdose of Baytril set off a slow ticking bomb that only outwardly manifested itself in the last week of her life. I mean at this point for all I know this vet was reusing needles.

Something I've seen plenty of by horse owners when giving shots to their horses. How are her drugs stored ? Were they expired ? Is she sanitizing the exam room between visits.

If she's labeling generic Baytril as the real thing what else is this woman up to ?

I want to cry and grieve and feel really sorry for myself , my husband and my precious little cat. The SVB is run by vets. There probably needs to have some oversight and review.

We had one vet out here for years that answered the phone drunk and even showed up to a farm call at the ranch I worked on completely stewed. Last I heard he had made his way down the food chain to horse traq. And yet he got his license back over and over.

Again don't sing me You're my Best Friend to peddle pet wares and then back peddle when a pet is injured or killed by a professional and say you can only recover the vet bills and the cost of a new cat. We all know the process of reporting a veterinarian is flawed because it's run by them. Likely dealing with some you cover me and I'll cover you.
 

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I'm so sorry to those of you that have had issues with a bad vet. :hugs: We place our trust and our pets' lives in their care. I found a stray a while back (which my mother eventually adopted) that was grossly misdiagnosed by a local vet. I was lucky in that it was caught and did not threaten her life. I do tell everyone I know that is looking for a vet to avoid that one.

I just want to remind everyone that if you are posting here about a bad experience with a vet, please do not name the vet or clinic involved. If you need to share that information with someone, please do it via PM. Thanks.
 
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kittens mom

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I'm so sorry to those of you that have had issues with a bad vet.
We place our trust and our pets' lives in their care. I found a stray a while back (which my mother eventually adopted) that was grossly misdiagnosed by a local vet. I was lucky in that it was caught and did not threaten her life. I do tell everyone I know that is looking for a vet to avoid that one.

I just want to remind everyone that if you are posting here about a bad experience with a vet, please do not name the vet or clinic involved. If you need to share that information with someone, please do it via PM. Thanks.
Thank you for clarifying that. No you cannot bash by name. Although I would like to do so in flashing neon lights.
 

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I am so sorry for the loss of your valued family member. Yes they are complete members of our family just as our human members. In most cases, they become more valued because they depend on us to care for them and love us unconditionally. I wish you the best with your suit against this vet.

I am blessed to have a vet that talks to me and listens to me when I have a concern. There are too many vets that look to the almighty dollar instead of the compassion of our precious babies. My prayers are with you during your loss and continues blessings for you battle with this vet.
 
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