spca and emergency vet (long rant)

[mster425]

We rescued a beautiful dog yesterday from the local SPCA. 3 year old black lab mix. We'd been looking at rescue dogs for weeks and finally found Jack. He is awesome. While we were walking him at the shelter he was gagging and had- what's the less TMI term for diarrhea? He was perfect. My husband and I both mentioned our concerns about his health to shelter employees separately and one said they'd give him antibiotics just in case. The one who actually checked us out said we didn't need them, to just call in the next few days if it seemed like he was sick and we could get them.

So we get him home, he seems mellow but fine, he's eating and drinking, we figure it was anxiety. Fast forward to today he's lethargic, still gagging and di. We call the SPCA as soon as they open today (Sunday) to get antibiotics and they say the vet isn't there until Tuesday so we can't have them until then????? By 4 pm he's vomiting and we take him to the only vet that's open on Sundays, the emergency vet, and the bill is $800 for a dog we've had for 24 hrs. That's IF he's well enough to come home tomorrow. Poor thing was so sick he didn't even flinch when they drew blood, and was sitting up but kept losing his balance and falling over. I told my husband "I'd rather have Jack than go to Disney."

Some disclaimers about the SPCA- my husband and I had been looking for a while so we didn't realize this weekend was national adoption weekend. They were REALLY packed and that probably had something to do with the misinformation. They didn't even check to make sure I owned my house, which was a prereq for the adoption. I do know this particular SPCA has a very good reputation, which is why I did not question their judgement about the dog's health, plus it seemed reasonable to wait a day before antibiotics.

I'm SO MAD at Jack's original owner for putting him in this situation. He had no vet records or innoculations. Please keep your pets for life! The vet was AWESOME and brought the bill down to $500 for us because of our situation. I told Bubba, "A year from now, we won't miss the $500 but we will miss Jack"

needless to say, losing that amount of money hurts especially when you add it to the initial cost of making a home for your dog.... we will be cancelling or shortening our vacation in April.

Just called the vet and heard Jack barking in the background! He's doing well on the antibiotics, so that's what's important! Thanks for making it this far, if anyone has. Needed to rant!

 

[Planogirl]

Wow, how awful! I hope that Jack will be fine and congrats on your new family member.

I don't have much use for the SPCA. Years ago my mother adopted a puppy who turned out to have both Parvo and Distemper. Sadly he died and the SPCA told her that she could have another puppy if she came to the facility within a few weeks. Her vet had told her not to adopt during that time because of the disease but the SPCA didn't care about that.

For this reason and a few other things I'm not a fan of the SPCA even though I was at one time a strong supporter.

 

[pixie921]

Having just gotten our dog through a life-threatening illness, I know exactly how you're feeling! It's so good to see/hear when they start acting normal again. I'm sorry for the drama with the new adoption -- we also went through something similar with a kitten we adopted from a rescue -- several hundred dollars "fixing" the problems we didn't know she had. But obviously you know it'll be worth it now that you've saved his life! I hope Jack keeps getting better, and he's one lucky dog to have a caring new family.

 

[labdogs42]

He looks so sweet and happy. I hope he gets well soon. Thank you so much for adopting him. I wish everyone would keep their pets for life, too, but I am glad that there are people like you who are willing to rescue a dog like Jack!

 

[mster425]

thanks for the support. I had no idea we'd fall in love with him so quickly, and I really thought there was a good chance he wouldn't make it. I have never seen a younger dog that sick and it really freaked me out. the vet also suspected parvo which is at least a week long hospitalization if he recovered, but luckily he tested negative for that and so far it looks good for a full recovery (knock on wood!) .

 

[SandrA9810]

Our best friend just got a cat from the ASPCA. He drove over an hour away because the adoption fee was only 10$. It's like 60$ or something at the orlando one.
Well he's had to open a new credit card and has spent more than 1500$ in vet bills because the cat has an infection in the eye. He's only had the cat for a month or so.

You think the initial fee isn't so bad. Once or twice yearly vet check ups, plus shots, maybe a couple hundred a year. Dog food, 30$ or so a month (depending on size). And then they get sick and it's a few hundred for a visit, labs, and meds all in one visit. But you know they love you to death and you would do anything for them, no matter what.

 

[samshane]

Thank you for doing all this for Jack - we got our first puppy years ago from the SPCA and she was deathly ill within 24 hours as well (the vet suspected parvo as well). This was 25 yrs ago, but my mom spent like $300 to save her life and we had her for 12yrs (my mom will always say that she was the best dog ever).

I feel your pain with the frustration of the previous owners - we adopted a cat that was given up for "allergies in the owner" yet this cat had so many medical problems... we had him for 10yrs before he passed and we became personal friends with the vet because of him - LOL! But it was all worth it... he was the sweetest, gentlest cat ever.

 

[poohguys]

Glad to hear the Jack is doing better I hope he gets to come home soon!

We had a simmilar situation. We adopted a dog from a rescue and had her 24 hours before we had to take her to the vet. It turned out she had Parvo and did not make it. We had bought the pet insurance which covered the $300 vet bill. She had a two sibling puppies that were adopted and both were fine. We have since adopted another dog-it will be 4 years this Christmas.

 

[h518may]

We had a similar experience this summer. We adopted a dog from our local animal services. In the first day or two we noticed he wasn't eating. At first we thought it was just new environment. On day three we took him to our vet and find out the kennel cough animal services told us about was pneumonia. Over the course of the next several days we ended up spending $1500 to save our dog. Well worth every penny and we also shortened our Disney trip because of the expense. But we couldn't have ended up with a better dog.


So good luck with everything.

 

[Magical Mama]

I understand! In September, we adopted our dog Rescue from a pet rescue and thought he was well. Two days later he develops a skin infection, bilateral eye infections, and an upper respiratory infection!!! We were at the vets office three times within the first week he was home and had accumulated well over $1000 in cost! Thankfully, all is well and Rescue seems to be on the road to a very healthly life!!!

But it is upsetting to be under the impression that you are bringing home a healthy pet and to find out that is not the case. Good luck with Jack!!!

 

[ShannShann]

Good for you for taking such great care of him! (Now if only there were more people in the world that would do the same for other animals.)

 

[mlittig]

mster425, please keep us updated on Jack's condition We bred and raised Huskies for 30 years so I can totally relate to what you are experiencing. Jack looks like such a great dog especially since that picture must have been taken when he wasn't feeling too well. Now we have cats and believe that pets truly are members of the family. God bless you for adopting and loving Jack
Mary

 

[NeverlandClub23]

Awww!! He's adorable! I hope he's back to his crazy 100% lab self soon! (I had a yellow lab before my current dog and she was so loving and crazy [in a good way]).

I'd talk to the SPCA. I adopted a cat when I lived in Cincy, OH and the cat died within 4 days. My fiance at the time (whom I was living with) spoke with someone at the SPCA and they gave me my adoption fee back which I thought was very nice of them.

 

[dpratt68]

I know how you feel. I never thought we would spend $1500 on a dog but when ours tore his ACL it was heart breaking. There was no choice but to fix him. 3 weeks in a cast and he is doing much better now. I tried to upload a picture but couldn't get it.
.

 

[LoriKutchey]

Bless you for having such a merciful heart and getting this dog well. He will bless you in so many ways more than just a vacation would!

 

[marie1203]

I am glad to hear he is doing better. Good thing you got there on time if not he might not even make it. We have 4 dogs all rescues and had 2 dogs we found and fix them up before they got adopted. When we got our first dog he was only one pound he was a rescue from a puppy mill. He end up having so many parasites that they didn't know that he would make it. After 2 weeks at the vet and many blood transfusions he is as healthy as he can be now. Our vet bill was over $1500. After we bought our house we decided to get another dog and how did we pick him? We got the sickest dog at the pound the one that we knew one else will even think twice. He turn out not to be in such bad condition as we thought after a few weeks of extra vitamins he was good. About a year after that I got a call from a friend telling me the local shelter was going to have to put down 3 puppies by the end if the day because they had lice they could afford the treatment and they were afraid all the dogs will get it. I was there 30 min before the shelter closed to see if anyone will rescue them. One got adopted and the other 2 came home with me . Very long and difficult process to get rid of the lice but they made it. We found 2 dogs in the road that no one ever claim they had heartworm . we did the treatment and now they have great homes. We have spend way over 5,000 in vet bills and we spend over 200 a month for food and their heartworm and tick medicine. And as you said I never miss all that money every day I play with them they make me smile they are worth every penny and more. I could never blame this organizations that are trying to help most of these dogs are sick because no one took care of them if someone is too blame are the irresponsible people that never took care of the pets they got.

 

[alliedogsmom]

OP, been there, done that, would do it all over again. We adopted an adult black lab from a rescue, and he was a mess. He was 5 years old when we got him, and the day after we got him, he needed a bath. As we bathed him, we found a huge tear in his ear that had all caked up with mud at the shelter and required immediate care. He was missing teeth (we knew this ahead of time) and had been rescued from a horribly abusive situation. He was the sweetest dog, never caused one ounce of trouble. We had him for 5 and a half years, and sadly lost him to cancer in 2007. They thought surgery might be an option, so we took all the money we had for our WDW vacation and were gladly going to spend it on him, but he was too far gone. The surgery would have been about $8000. I miss him every day, even though we have another dog

We also adopted a feral rescue kitten, a gorgeous yellow Maine Coon cat in 2006. She wound up having calici virus, and it cost us in the ballpark of $5000 to get her well.

 

[taximomfor4]

I know how you feel. I never thought we would spend $1500 on a dog but when ours tore his ACL it was heart breaking. There was no choice but to fix him. 3 weeks in a cast and he is doing much better now. I tried to upload a picture but couldn't get it.
.

My inlaws just went through the ACL tear on their lab. But 7 weeks after surgery ($1500) and she is NOT fine. Incision kept reopening, dog just WON'T calm down and rest the leg, etc. They learned that ACL tear is a known potential issue with labs.

 

[mskayjay]

My Duncan is a pound puppy as well. He was locked in one of those domed cat litter boxes and left behind when the idiots who had him moved out of state. How he survived the two weeks before the neighbors called animal control is anyone's guess but he was a mess!

He has had more health issues than any animal we've had....silly things like hair on the eardrum that had to be removed, arthritus, eye infection, skin allergies that make his feet bleed they are so bad...you name it. our annual bills run about $1500 but we wouldn't give him up for anything.

 

[TupperMom7]

My daughter worked for our local humane society, and any dogs coming in were tested for Parvo and given all their shots. If they were not spayed or neutered, they had that done too. Parvo is highly contagious, so if they were taking dogs in and integrating them with the rest of the dogs in the shelter without testing them first, they would have a real problem.

I don't mean to put any blame on you, but if it had been me, I would have asked for the medication to be sent home with me and the dog since he was showing symptoms of being ill. Why make another trip? Don't you know that dogs and children always get sick and need medical care on a holiday or weekend? I can't tell you the number of times my daughter got ear infections on a weekend! We'd have to trudge to another town to see the Dr. filling in for ours.

Glad to hear he is feeling better and thanks for rescuing the dog. Are you going to contact the shelter and let them know what happened? Even if they do not offer to reimburse you for any of your added expenses, at least it might make them rethink their practices. It's great to have those weekend adoption clinics, but they have to follow the procedures they set in place to protect the animals and the people adopting them.