Having to put a pet down

[Doggyluver]

Several years ago I had a Black Lab who was at the time 11 years old. Anyone will tell you a large breed is living on borrowed time past the age of 10. He wasn't eating and I took him to the vet who did blood tests and said they had found something that concerned them and because they didn't have an ultrasound, referred me to a large veterinary clinic in Brossard. I called and they agreed to see me as soon as I could get there. They did the ultrasound and when the vet came to speak to me she told me he had a cancerous tumor that if it was removed would also necessitate chemotherapy. Total estimated cost, surgery $8,000. and chemo $10,000. I love my dog but he is after all 11 years old, what would I give him, another year ? I asked if there was any other option and was told that the humane thing to do was to put him down.......immediately ! Not anticipating this, I decided to put this off and give myself a chance to make the decision on my time.
I took him home and lo and behold the next day he began to eat and behave like himself, 16 months later I made the decision to have him put down, not because of the cancer, rather because he was unable to control his bowels and he was unable to stand on his own. He was now 13 and it was time, I made the decision for him and for everything he gave to me. I still wish I had reported the vet who saw me in Brossard, she gave me information which had I acted on it would have cost me a fortune or cost my dog his life. Go with your gut when making these decisions.

The leading cause of death = Cancer
The second leading cause of death = Physician error

I would suspect that many pets are put down because the vet has also erred

 

[Sol Tee Nutz]

Update: Very surprised that I recieved an e-mail from the Quebec Veterinary board today ( thought they were going to brush it under the table ) and according to them are doing a full investigation. When I get back to Drummondville I plan to hand flyers out explaining what happened around his office plus putting a post in the weekly local newspaper. Kramer is still living a healthy life, walks are shorter though.
Be warned, many vets know most will spend a small fortune on their pets, many vets do not know what they are doing same as any profession. Get a second opinon, something I fucked up on.

 

[EagerBeaver]

Sol,

It's with a heavy heart that I must report that my paralegal's fish is dying. Frankly, I think it's because she isn't copious about changing the fish bowl water. To me the water looks gross and if I was a fish I would want to be swimming in some clean water. Anyway she went on vacation and asked me to feed this fish and the poor bastard was lying on his side on the bottom of the bowl. I tapped the bowl and the fish seemed to arise from its catatonic state. I put some food in the water but the fish didn't seem interested in it. To me that is a bad sign.

I don't know if it will have to be out down. It may just die. I wonder what can be done?

 

[EagerBeaver]

Hey I have seen both seasons of Better Call Saul and she would never hang me out like Saul did to his brother. Love that show BTW. The first trial of Saul is classic and I would have used the same closing argument as him to a jury ("my clients are only guilty of being knuckleheads"). You do have to have a sense of humor doing this.

But as far as my paralegal's fish if it dies it's on her for not keeping the water clean. Looks disgusting to me. I wouldn't drink it or swim in it.

 

[nycbadboy128]

EB my brother in arms,

Sounds like your paralegal's fish has Columnaris, a bacterial infection that causes the fish to be lethargic and breathe laboriously and often hanging out on the bottom of the tank. Let me guess that her fish was kept in some type of bowl without filtration or water movement? It is the chief cause of mortality amongst office fishes and was once dubbed the "vacation killer" since most of the time that's when they were most likely to be neglected.

The presence of Columnaris usually means that the water is depleted of oxygen (due to poor aquaria maintenance), spoiled and rotting fish food thus causing the ammonia level in the fishbowl to spike to dangerous levels leading to secondary infections and other nasty diseases that can not be treated.

However, if it's caught early on it may be treated by a Gram-negative antibiotic but based on how you described the fish's condition...it's basically doomed, finished, kaput! Should your paralegal come back from vacation to find a deceased fish which is highly likely the case, for future references she should start adapting a weekly water change schedule and better maintenance of her aquaria to avert another fishy homicide.

 

[EagerBeaver]

EB my brother in arms,

Sounds like your paralegal's fish has Columnaris, a bacterial infection that causes the fish to be lethargic and breathe laboriously and often hanging out on the bottom of the tank. Let me guess that her fish was kept in some type of bowl without filtration or water movement? It is the chief cause of mortality amongst office fishes and was once dubbed the "vacation killer" since most of the time that's when they were most likely to be neglected.

Correct on all counts, no filtration or water movement, small bowl, water looks cloudy kind of like swimming pool water that hasn't been cleaned. She is a great paralegal but maybe not so great as a pet owner. It's not really my place to critique her pet care techniques but they are clearly not getting the job done. I think the fish isn't long for the world. All I can do is feed it as instructed which I did, everything else is on her.

 

[bushleague]

they didn't have an ultrasound, referred me to a large veterinary clinic in Brossard. I called and they agreed to see me as soon as I could get there. Total estimated cost, surgery $8,000. and chemo $10,000. I asked if there was any other option and was told that the humane thing to do was to put him down.......immediately !

I suppose you're talking about the large clinic open 24/7 on Taschereau. Hopital veterinaire Rive-Sud. They are very good... at sales pitches. They are very manipulative, very good at avoiding questions. They basically choose a "treatment" plan, who happens to be quite expensive, pretend to examine your dog a few minutes then spend an inordinate amount of time hammering why you should absolutely agree to it, deflect questions about possible side effects or alternatives, then if all fails try to guilt trip you.

Unfortunately, vets at smaller clinics tend to refer clients there because they have all this fancy equipment smaller clinics don't have.

 

[SilverDust]

Correct on all counts, no filtration or water movement, small bowl, water looks cloudy kind of like swimming pool water that hasn't been cleaned. She is a great paralegal but maybe not so great as a pet owner. It's not really my place to critique her pet care techniques but they are clearly not getting the job done. I think the fish isn't long for the world. All I can do is feed it as instructed which I did, everything else is on her.

Why don`t you change the water.

 

[EagerBeaver]

Why don`t you change the water.

All I was asked to do was feed the fish. It does look like ithe water should be changed, but it's not my fish and my fishbowl. It's my paralegal's, and she didn't ask me to change the water, but I will suggest she do so Monday, provided her fish is still alive Monday.

 

[SilverDust]

All I was asked to do was feed the fish. It does look like ithe water should be changed, but it's not my fish and my fishbowl. It's my paralegal's, and she didn't ask me to change the water, but I will suggest she do so Monday, provided her fish is still alive Monday.

Oh come on, its not hard to do. Get a bottle of water(room temp) or tap water(let sit till it reaches room temp, and chlorine has evaporated) Pour out some water from the bowl and put some fresh water in.

 

[EagerBeaver]

I have no idea where she bought the fish. It's a tropical looking fish in a very small bowl. I also question whether she shouldn't keep the fish in a bigger bowl. But these things are not my concern and there is no implied contract because if she wanted me to change the water she would have said so. I don't think a fish swap would fool her so easily. She knows what that fish looks like.

 

[nycbadboy128]

EB,
By any chance was this "tropical looking fish" a Betta Splendens? A stunod looking fish with a constant scowl on it's fish face, has long flowing fins and doesn't really swim around much except for when it eats? Lol

 

[EagerBeaver]

I don't know what species this fish is. It's bluish-Orange and still lying on its side on bottom of bowl looking 75% Dead.

 

[A12B]

Putting a dog down is already one thing to live, but to see your kids going through this ordeal adds more to the pain .... .

 

[jalimon]

EB this is sad but hilarious at the same time. I once kept a aquarium for a friend. After 2 days I found one fish on the floor outside the aquarium!! Suicide it seems

Had a hard time explained that to the owner... I guess it would be the same for you. Maybe the fish got depressed or something

Good luck!
Cheers,

 

[Sol Tee Nutz]

Found this info.

Keeping the fish in a small tank without filtration requires a lot of maintenance and can be frustrating. If the tank does not have a filter, nitrogen based toxins build up which can severely harm or even kill your fish.

I would advice you to switch to a bigger tank with a filter and until you can afford one, here's something I would advice

1. Feed them only ONCE per day and only the amount of food they would eat in a minute or two. They will survive on only one meal a day.
2. Get a food that is rich in essential vitamins and nutrients (This is important). Would recommend Flakes - Feed the fish only a little amount. Approximately 5-pieces of small flakes.
3. Do a water change twice daily and when doing a water change, get the fish out of the tank and place them in a bucket with water that is of the same temperature as of the tank
4. Get any residual poop or food up out of there before the fish are placed back in the water. For if you do not, you are defeating the purpose of changing their water.
5. Check the water temperature, by all means. A good mixture of hot and cold water is excellent. Not too cool, but not too warm either.The fish would die if the water is too hot or cold. I would say right around room temperature - between 20°C (68°F) and 22°C (72°F). And make sure that is maintained.
.
Check your water parameters. Ammonia, nitrates and nitrites and even the pH, my goldie did that because of a spike in the ammonia and the pH was getting to high. If those are good, try feeding it some frozen, peeled peas. It helps their digestive system if its clogged and that could be weighing her down