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Review content:
My dog died a few days after surgery at Animal Ark. The services started fine, consultation was good if not a bit high pressured, surgery was done quick, but the after care was terrible. My dog had a blockage in her bowel, during surgery the Dr found she had perforated her bowel. Operation was done on a Fri afternoon, but because they were closing at 11am Sat they rushed me to pick her up Sat morning. I trusted if the Dr said she was ready to go home she was - he's the expert, this was a new situation for me. I was given no instructions or a check list of warning signs to potential complications - in fact the Dr only seemed to indicate she was fully on the mend. While still in the Dr's care that morn she was so weak she had defecated on herself. While she was resting in my lap Sunday night she suddenly started breathing erratically and died - we were stunned. She had been weak since being home (but she had been weak prior to surgery plus she had just had surgery, so assumed this was normal), hadn't eaten (I had forced feed her a little), was drinking a lot but figured this was because she hadn't been drinking much prior to surgery. She had no control of her bladder - I attributed this to the IV and her drinking a lot from being dehydrated. After she passed the Dr told me it must have been her heart. But as I did some research I found all these things I described above were signs of post surgery complications. For example, these were signs of internal bleeding (there was also signs it could have been her heart too, but if the Dr was concerned her heart may be an issue after surgery why wasn't I given a list of a things to watch for that may indicate a heart complication from the procedure?). A simple press of my fingers to her gums and watching the color of the gums from the pressure would have shown me if she was suffering from internal bleeding and I would have rushed her back to the ER. I've never had to care for someone after surgery. I have no idea what to expect as far as recovery. I had been given every indication she was on the mend, no worries. If the Dr had provided say a ""warning list"" of things to be on the watch for after surgery, I would have been wary, more on watch, and I believe she would still be alive today. I had given her her pain meds 90 mins before she died - I read online if you think a dog has internal bleeding don't give them pain meds as they increase the bleeding. A list saying ""If you're pet is still weak or weaker X hours after surgery, check for this"" or ""If your pet still can't control her bowels or bladder X hours after recovery then check for this"" would have gone a long way towards saving her life. I've talked to other vets who were surprised she was dismissed so soon, especially given the perforated bowel, and who said they wouldn't have dismissed her until she was stronger and at least eating and passing waste ok and indicated a 2-3 day period under the care would have been insisted upon following such a procedure. When I questioned the Dr about the rushed dismissal, he claimed after care was offered - it was not. Her surgery was very expensive, but a little bit more to assure a 100% recovery would have been no problem - I would have gone the extra mile to save her. I believe when you enlist the help of a Dr for surgery, you expect quality care from start (ie prior to surgery) thru the surgery thru post care. It was like once the surgery was done, the Dr.'s obligations were done. Now I know, and next time I will make sure I'm more educated and not rely on the Dr. alone, even if it costs me more money (like return trips to the ER to be make sure all is ok if I am seeing warning signs the Dr has told me, or I know of myself, to watch for), because 100% recovery is the only goal. Do your research and make sure you get a Dr. who will make sure you are as informed as possible to assure your pets recovery follow surgery.
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