Linda Haworth breaks down in tears when she describes how she took her cat to her veterinarian because he wasn’t feeling well. He had stopped eating. Whilst at the clinic the veterinarian decided that she needed to take some blood tests and took Timmy into a different room.
Before she did so, Linda mentioned that Timmy was agitated and that he is a sensitive cat. Nonetheless the veterinarian took him to a room where she could take blood samples. She came back not long afterwards looking upset. She told Linda that Timmy had escaped. Linda thought that she meant Timmy had escaped into the clinic somewhere. However, the veterinarian explained that Timmy had escaped to the outside.
Timmy had escaped the room and then had run up a flight of stairs and jumped out of an open window which overlooked a garage roof. He then ran away. Linda is absolutely distraught as any concerned cat guardian would be. Linda says:
“We’re both absolutely devastated and disgusted. He’s such a nervous cat. I warned them he would struggle. They left me in the main treatment room and when they came back they were all flustered and said ‘we’re really sorry to tell you his escaped’. I can’t believe it. When you take an animal to the vets you expect a safe and secure environment. You certainly don’t expect windows to be left wide open. We’ve been bringing our cats here for 25 years and never had a problem but this just shouldn’t have happened.”
Both Linda and her husband Mike spent many hours looking for Timmy and putting up posters and appealing on social media. So far they have been unable to find him. Naturally, Linda fears for his safety.
Linda says that he’s probably curled up somewhere terrified and of course he is ill and not eating which makes his predicament doubly worrying. Not knowing what’s going on is very upsetting for her. She prays that she can find him before his illness gets the better of him.
The clinic is part of the Regan Veterinary Group and their clinical director said:
“We are devastated that this is happened and have apologised to Mr Mrs Haworth wholeheartedly. We take the safety of animals in our care very seriously but in this case something went wrong and we will be investigating and reviewing our procedures carefully. Our immediate priority however is to find Timmy and we have already printed out posters, carried out a local search and posted hid details on our social media platforms.”
The story is interesting because it is the first time that I have heard of a cat visiting a veterinary clinic escaping from the clinic. I’m going guess what happened. In the hot weather, and it has been very hot, the clinic decided to open a window. And the door to the room where the blood tests were being carried out must have been open as well (perhaps to facilitate a flow of air) and that left access to the outside. Timmy seized the opportunity.
There is a moral here no doubt which is that cats are nearly always agitated at veterinary clinics which means they could struggle and escape the control of the veterinarian or staff and from that point on anything can happen. Precautions need to be taken at all times as disaster can strike in the blink of an eye.
The clinic is the Park Veterinary Clinic, Prestwick, UK.
I carry zip ties in my purse. That goes on before we leave the exam room. A hard carrier with extra hardware securing it both in how it is put together, most come with extra holes, and doors zip tied are more likely to stay intact if they are dropped or the worst happens and you are in an accident. Most carriers can be seat belted in with a bit of ingenuity
zip ties come in a variety of strengths. The one with the higher test strength often have a release tab.
Beware of soft carriers as most have inferior nylon zippers that can pull apart or in the case of one of my cats who got clever a well inserted claw or tooth. Soft carriers provide no body protection in an accident or dog encounter at the vet.
There are no safety standards for pet carriers aside from size restrictions for travel. Pet carriers should come with a rating similar to riding helmets.
I live in a pass though town. When there are accidents it’s not uncommon to hear that someone is looking for a cat or dog whose kennel popped open of came apart in the impact.
This of course bears no weight on how Timmy was lost. That was negligence. I hope he has been found.
You aren’t rambling ME 😉 Your comments are valued.
Thanks ME. Just so you know. The reason why your commented was held for moderation is because it contains links and the software sees that as a potential spam. It is not me but the software.
http://www.catvets.com/cfp/cat-owners/what-is-a-cat-friendly-practice I continue to recommend in the US finding a practice with gold status for your cat. In most cases a vet cannot claim to be a cat expert without credentials that often include internships and extra education.
The vet we use does not have back room procedures unless there is a need for equipment. I have seen their exam rooms, operating rooms, x ray rooms. I know the layout of my pets facility and it is every bit as important as the staff.
I am paying more but getting more services included such as free follow ups and a well organized computer system that has my cats full medical history at a tap. My vet spends actual time with my cats. Interacts with them. My cats normal behavior is not seen as misbehavior.
When we were losing Kitten this hospital and the staff found cost saving everywhere they could so we could continue treatment and they were brutally honest when we reached the end of the line.
What happened isn’t this couples fault. But as pet owners we trust that DMV. If you see something speak up. If the staff has issues like snotty looks and eye rolling get the heck out of there.
For anyone who’s pet has been prescribed medication Merck provides a free online complete veterinary drug handbook.
http://www.merckvetmanual.com/mvm/index.html
Along with the FDA in the US DailyMed provides all medication packages and inserts. These are the most current for human and veterinary drugs.
https://dailymed.nlm.nih.gov/dailymed/index.cfm
You can access all the information on RX drugs and their warnings that your vet may not mention.
Sorry to ramble on Michael It really is all one in the same in how our pets are handled from the time they come in the door to the treatments they may receive.