Need advice please on vet problem

[Deb's Tiny Dogs]

I can't remember if I've talked about this situation yet on the forum or not, so forgive me if you already know some of this. Please hang in - it's a bit long.

I noticed Bogey had a lump that was about the size of a walnut and was covering part of his ribcage. I check him quite often so I knew this new.

I took him to the vet. She did a needle aspiration, then told me it was showing a few red blood cells in it so it should be sent off to be tested.

She called a few days later to tell me it came back as nothing but inflammation. Then she said she had just noticed he had been in for a rabies vaccination a few weeks ago which most likely caused the lump (same spot). She said all vets in the practice give the shots in different places so there was no way of her knowing what had happened.

Then she wanted to put him on an anti-inflamatory and an antibiotic, both of which I refused (more income for them, which I felt was not needed). Within two more weeks, it went away on its own.

I wrote her a letter asking to be reimbursed for the $125.00 this cost me. My assertion is she had his chart right in front of her and could clearly see he had a rabies shot a few weeks prior. She should have gone and found the vet who gave the shot and asked in what location she gives her rabies shots (or better yet, why don't all the vets there agree to give them in the same location?) Then we could have held off for a few weeks to see if it would clear up on its own, which it did.

Well, today she called and said she did nothing wrong and I wasn't getting any of my $ refunded. She said even if she had known about the rabies shot, she would still have done the same thing (aspirate, send off, etc) because it COULD have been something worse. I said, "Something so bad that it couldn't have waited a few weeks to see if it was a vaccine reaction?"

She said no, because vaccine reactions (a lump) are rare in an 8 year-old dog.

Can a few of you in the know, give me your opinion on this? Do you know if it's rare? What would they have done in your vet clinic? I'm so angry because I feel I got ripped off due to their oversight and that even when facts are presented to them, they won't admit they were wrong. I'm SERIOUSLY considering changing vets, which I HATE to do since it's such a pain to find good ones.

Help - need advice here. UGH!!!!!

[micki]

My dogs have had lumps from vaccines it is usually caused by the vaccine getting trapped in the layers of the skin when injected. this usually goes away. and it has happened when the dogs were adults. caused by them moving when given a shot or the vet being in a hurry and not as careful.
i would be upset too. she should have waited or at least gave you the option to wait

[hennaly]

ever thought of changing your vet, it sound like she is in it for the money.

[BabyElephant]

When Poppy had a lump my vet inspected, checked her records and said it was either a reaction from a vaccine or caused by the roll in the agility tunnel and we would wait two weeks to see if it went away. If not they would then look further to see what they would do.

I have a few questions:

Did the vet give you any options or did she just say "I need to take a sample so that's what we're going to do" sort of thing?

Did the vet ask you if he'd had any vaccinations recently?

Were you not there when they gave him the rabies shot - did you not see where they injected him?

Depending on your answers would make a difference to what I would have done and whether or not I would tell you to change vets!

[Dignity]

I want to start by saying I love my vet (it's just he's getting harder and harder to get in to see). My vet always lists what the problem could be and the solution to the problem. I can at that point decide where I want to goand what I want to do (see my example). My first vet didn't tell me how she'd react to medicine would give me pick-up times that they couldn't meet (even though they knew I was driving some distance). Also with my first vet, they never gave me options it was like this is the problem and this is the solution - nothing else. I feel that your vet is like this one, and I would definately change vets! Had you been told that 'that's where the shot was and it could be a bad reaction to the shot, however we can test the spot to see if it is something else, how would you like to proceed' that would be totally different, and that's how I would expect it to be handled.

My example with Denali's allergies (with my good vet), he told me about just giving her an antihistamine which is relatively inexpensive, giving her cortizone shots which is a little more expensive and he didn't want to do it because of her age and then he said that there was another pill but it would cost me between 80-120$ a month (so I didn't even explore that option) and he also talked about environment stuff that can have an impact on her. So he gave me 3 options or I had the option to do nothing.

[Trace]

Deb - is Bogey the dog that had cancer - forgive me my memory isn;t what it used to be?

[dobermom]

I agree its hard to switch vets, but I cant agree with vets who take advantage of clients.

[GretaJack]

Vets do not give vaccinations in the same spot, but they administer them in one of two ways IM (intra muscular) or SQ (sub cutaneous). I do believe that rabies is given IM to dogs. So, yes, it could cause a lump or swelling.

As far as reactions in older dogs, personally I think older dogs have more chances of reacting that younger dogs. The older a dog gets the more compromised their immune system is so they fight off diseases and foreign antibodies differently than they do as a young dog. Now I would say that if a young dog has a reaction, it most likely continue to be at a higher risk for reaction into senior years. I don't have those fancy DVM letters after my name, but personally, senior toy breeds can develop reactions to immunizations. It is not rare

Debbie, switch vets if you have a better one available to you. It is so frustrating to deal with, but usually worth while

[pung-yo]

We give vaccines in the fold of skin on the top of the neck or in the butt. Funny that the reaction was on the rib cage. But I agree, we can tell by examining a lump if it's to be inspected on the spot. So she should have given you the option since it didn't sound rushed and she already suspected the rabies shot. We operate in a way that will try to make it easy on a client's pocket book, but I also know vets who will do tests to pad the bill. I would probably find another vet if she can't come up with a valid reason fo r doing this.

[weezyNollie]

Well.. the only thing I actually see odd here is this whole rabies vaccine thing. They should have a protocol of where the vaccine is given, and a RECORD of where it was given. At our hospital (and I think at most, or most in Colo.) we give it RIGHT REAR. Now, of course right rear is a generalized area so you can still give it in a slightly different location each time. Either way, in the record it should have been written down where the vaccine was given if this clinic has a protocol on how/where vaccines are given.

As for the aspirate and send off. I mean, it still costs the clinic money to perform these. And the doctor is correct by saying the "what if?" factor. I mean, there is a reason we "practice" medicine! Now I dont know the doctor personally, but I would hope/assume they wouldn't perform anything unnecessary if she didn't think there was a possibility that there was something wrong with the lump?

However, if this truly was a vaccine reaction.. it doesn't quite sound like one. Was it a raised lump? Or a hard knot underneath? When I first got Ollie as a puppy he did have a vx reaction, but it was just a subcutaneous lump. Nothing above the skin, and it went away on its own. Has the lump gone away?

The only step up you have on this doctor, is saying it should have been recorded where the vaccine was given so we could have ruled out the chance of reaction to the vaccine. Also, depending on the response to the lump (did it get smaller? Bigger? gone?) would have helped clearly make that decision to send off any aspirates.

Overall though, I think you really need to trust your vet.. and if you don't.. I'd find a new one! If anything, if you are a really upset client with her she should at least offer a free exam within the next 12 months or something she can personally offer you her time. Maybe no refund as she may have already had to pay the lab she sent it off to, but something for the future?

Good luck.