If you have already read the article about Lazy 5 Vets alleged malpractice in dealing with an ill cat who bit a vet tech please read it again as I have updated it with a note having telephoned the hospital seeking a statement from them in response. The earlier post can be seen by clicking on this link (opens new window).
This story is not over and we should expect a statement from the hospital in the future. They are probably investigating but the practice manager, Scott, said that they have done nothing wrong. He is unable to make a comment at this time.
Two useful tags. Click either to see the articles:- Toxic to cats | Dangers to cats
Michael reading the praise from the clients reminds me very much of an ex FB friend who was banned deleted and mostly forgotten for saying it couldn’t happen to her because she checks her veterinarians out.
Thus implying that we did not vet our vet so to say, false we did and she had many glowing reviews like this clinic does. And that it could not happen to her or her pets. Again false.
Veterinarians are disciplined under the SVB not courts. They rely on their jury of peers to acquit them and the backward laws that render our pets worthless in the eyes of the law. Most people never drag these cases into a court of law because of the cost and lack of any recovery if you do win.
BTW cats are more likely to scratch than bite unless declawed. KitKats owners need to demand proof that the tech was bitten as in are there pictures of the wound ? The clinic has legal counsel does KitKats guardians or can they afford a retainer to hire a lawyer ?
Did the vet tech go to the ER? Urgent care ? Was the person handling the cat even a licensed vet tech ?
The place to start is the vet tech and demanding a history of bite reports from that clinic. There was a least one in the reviews.
The clinic has launched it’s counter assault to defame the cat owner and maintain their professional reputation. Go for the underbelly.
More cautionary notes regarding this kind of thing. I have a cat who’s been a stray on the street for 13 years. I decided to take him in. I brought him to my vets a month ago and after having to wait this long had an appointment to continue treatment (neutering and teeth cleaning). I’ve been okay with the hospital I’m using now, but in this case: they have not offered or even talked about rabies vaccinating, nor the routine Feline Immunodeficiency Virus (FIV) and Feline Leukemia Virus (FeLV) being done ahead of time. He would not be considered safe from having rabies until 10 days had elapsed, and they wouldn’t take my word that he’s been quarantined for the month I’ve had him, should he actually bite someone without having had the shot… though obviously they can do whatever they want in their panic as Lazy 5 did. I’m not as thrilled with my current vet now, especially due to what happened to KitKat.
So for what it’s worth, I’m taking KitKat’s story as seriously as possible to have something good come from it, though I wish I didn’t have to. Take heed people and don’t let happen to your cat what happened to him.
P.S. I told my vet’s office the story of KitKat too, and hopefully they’ll be more on the ball to help protect our cats from what might happen to them like this.
We should all take this seriously.
As a child the veterinarians didn’t ask they muzzled animals they were treating, shots even for some exams. It protected everyone including the pet owners in the exam room.
Just because we consider them family members doesn’t make them human. They will react like animals.
The law still sees our pets as personal property with no individual rights. It’s a cosmic collision waiting to happen in every veterinary clinic.
The more I read about what happened with KitKat the more likely it seems that the tech was bitten and they were informed they’d have to pay for the 10 day quarantine for their sick cat or euthanize. I don’t know if home quarantine was ever put on the table for them. If you don’t have the resources for that kind of care and you are told you have no choice pay or else it’s not much different than having a gun held to your head. The clinic is at fault for NOT muzzling or sedating a sick cat who was in pain.
I had a vet tech grab one of my cats. Kitten was not stranger friendly, but had never been aggressive at the vet. When she tried to scruff she grabbed Kitten in the middle of the back it is a wonder that her teeth missed. It must have been excruciatingly painful and the grab was not necessary. In fact I would say on that occasion the vet tech picked the fight with my cat using horrible handling techniques. We actually mulled filing a complaint then but decided that since no actual damage had been done to our ‘ personal property’ we had no real recourse but to stop using that clinic.
As with many cat owners finding not only a good clinic but a cat friendly one is often just hard.
I have a great deal of honest sympathy for KitKats guardians. Put between a rock and a hard place by the clinic there was not going to be a good outcome.
I was very angry when I read the arrogant statement on the clinic’s FB page. Besides showing zero sympathy for what happened, they were extremely defensive & in so many words actually challenged the owners to bring a case to the vet board. M.E.King is exactly right about what steps should be taken. I do hope they get legal help right away.
Cornering a bad veterinarian is probably worse than being locked in a whole room full of rabid cats.
I didn’t see that. I’ll try and find it now.
“No comment” means they all need to get their story on the same page.
I agree. They are in the process of CYA.
There is something wonky ( best word I can come up with ) about this whole case.
A compliant should be filed by the cat’s owners as soon as possible so that the governing body for veterinarians is involved.
It is standard procedure to make the pet owners look like emotional basket cases who are overreacting while veterinarians stand on their professional perch looking down.
The onus is on the cat’s owners to push this through every possible legal and disciplinary route if they truly feel they have been wronged.
Again in general if the cast’s owners truly feel this is what happened to them they are not guilty of slander. They have a right to their opinion as well as much as the clinic does. Threatening to sue is another way that larger entities shut down wronged individuals.
I’m not a political obsessive but threatening to sue for slander or libel is what our buffoon of a president does all the time to anyone who is critical of him. Indeed he’s acted like a friggin dictator here trying to shut down our free press. Almost 70% of us agree he really shouldn’t be in office.