Ok I just wanted to run this idea by people who aren't involved in the incident

to make a long story short, my dad's 11 year old BELOVED golden retriever has cancer, we are getting her treated however, the closest oncologist, specialist, surgeon available for this particular type of surgery involves an almost SIX hour drive, but that is ok, we've had her looked at and consultations and decided to go with the best, even though its a very long drive to have to travel back and forth for the duration of, consultations, X-rays, ultrasounds, CT scans and final surgery, followed up by some radiation on that direct area after surgery and we're doing a little chemo incase some got thru that they cannot yet detect

it's very costly but her prognosis is rather good, and from what they can tell so far it hasn't spread beyond the anal gland tumor, my family and my sister took her down this past weekend, and paid to stay in a hotel for the initial consult......we had to leave her over while they did prerlimiary testing, but we got to take her to our hotel at nights and for walks at a local park in between the times they needed her at the veterinary teaching hospital/private clinic.

ok, well Monday morning when everything was said and done, they called us at the hotel and said the surgeons had all looked at her and the surgery for next week is a go, that she's a good candidate, well when we got there....we talked over prices, estimates etc. and it's going to be over $8,000 when it's all said and done which my dad is willing to pay, they said basically there is no reason NOT to proceed because she is in such good health overall and it's treatable at this stage......however when they went to bring her out of the cage they were keeping her in, they mentioned offhandedly that "we were out of largest cages this morning so we had to put her in a smaller cage and she has a tiny pink spot on her nose from the cages small size and her being a 60 pound dog.

Well we were all so happy to see her that we didn't realize it was going to be so BIG, the black part of her nose, a large strip is RIPPED off and the pink is showing, it looks TERRIBLE and hasn't started healing, to me this is completely unacceptable, for my dog to be injured like this in a professional place that is supposed to be SAFE, and accommodating to her, after all we had just gave them over $5000 and they knew she was coming back at 5am for more tests....it's not like it was a surprise a cage her size SHOULD have been set aside, I'm just so ANGRY

she's going thru all this and being away from us, all this money and travel, yet now I'm scared if she's going to be injured again next time possibly worse, when my dad saw her HE started crying, as that dog is his baby and he gets upset seeing any dogs in pain/vets, he's had bad experiences.....so I emailed their patient relations this morning and set pictures of her nose along with my concern and right away I got a call from an older guy who never identified himself, he was quite RUDE to me on the phone and blankly said "frankly, I'm far more concerned about her cancer than her nose".......this really pissed me off because WE ARE CONCERNED ABOUT HER CANCER TOO, that's why we brought her to YOU in the first place. He basically said it was my dogs fault because she was barking and moving around a lot at having to be put in a cage and that I would just have to deal with it, I'm just so angry.

so now I'm at this place where I don't know if I'm being hypersensitive but to me they really are being negligent, I really really LIKE our oncologist, she's a very sweet sensitive lady who kept rubbing my back and telling us we were doing the right thing and she is the one who told us about one of the intake clerks putting her in a cage that was too small......but when I talked to that guy who called me back and told him about the small cage he SCOFFED at the notion and said "that SILLY GIRL, we would never do that" He just seemed like a real asshole trying to cover his own ass.

Should I just let it go or should I demand an apology and better treatment? I just don't want my dog hurt

kiLL tHe VeT.

I think you should go in and speak to someone directly about it. They shouldn't have put her in a cage that was too small for her. Maybe you'll get some money off the operation If you're upset by it, don't let it go.

well the patient relations person sounds like a fucking asshole and he shouldnt be in that job ONE
and two, you should tell the vet directly what your concern is, how your dad started crying when he saw her nose, and what the patient relations man said to you in response to your concerns.

i've worked at a vet's office and once a dog i bathed got some soap in her eyes and her eye became irritated and red and the vet had to explain it to the lady picking up her dog and she became hysterical screaming baout incompetence to the vet, and i was overhearing it so i went in and said, that i was the person who did it, and im so sorry, it will never happen again, it isnt the vets fault its mine. and just my taking the blame like that very directly helped her to feel relieved. we also of course didnt charge her for that day's grooming.

they need to take responsibility and assure you it will never happen again. they have to be honest. and they should consider reducing or eliminating the cost of her boarding for that day, as well as paying for nay medications she may need to aid in the healing of her nose.

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