Terrible ending to a 10+ year relationship with our vet. Took our elder dog in for review of a small lump in her side early last year. Vet eyeballed it, said it's nothing, not in an area that could be problematic. No worries. Our mistake #1 -- believing him and not insisting on a test.
Our dog was seen by multiple vets here during the course of 2012 (for routine care). During this time, the bump is growing. Thing is, none of the vets notice. Why? They weren't looking at her chart at each subsequent visit. (They openly admit that this is what happened).
It was not until we proactively took her back for another exam that one of the vets at this practice offered to run a test on the ""harmless lump."" Cancer. Malignant. Inoperable.
In their defense, they did not charge us for the visit where they gave us the news that she is terminal. And we did get 3 weeks of pain meds for free. But they want us to pay them to put her down. Thanks. No thanks.
Lesson learned the hard way -- moving on to a new vet (to make sure our OTHER dog is okay). Real shame a 10+ year relationship had to end up this way. and yes, our dog is now older but had this been handled properly, we probably would have been discussing surgical removal not pallative care.
Big miss -- not testing, not looking at the charts from visit to visit...not good. Sad, sad ending.
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