Woman brings her cat to the veterinarian for a flea bath. It gets euthanized instead. - Polidicks

[quote]GARDNER — An 8-year-old cat that was brought to a veterinarian for a flea bath was instead euthanized, its owner said, and she wants others to be aware of what happened so no other pets are harmed. Colleen A. Conlon made an appointment to have her cat, Lady, bathed at Broadway Animal Hospital after Dr. Muhammad Malik told her it would be the best way to combat the fleas, which were affecting the family's sensitive dog. Lady was special to the family because she first belonged to Ms. Conlon's daughter, who died in a car accident in 2010. Her daughter had given her the cat about a year before the fatal accident, Ms. Conlon said. She said she called about 15 minutes before the appointment to confirm and to check on the price for the flea bath. Both Lady and Little Bit, another family cat, were to be bathed on Monday, so Ms. Conlon's son, Jesse, who's 24, brought Lady first, taking the cat carrier home to retrieve Little Bit. “They had him fill out some paperwork; he said they were like index cards which had basic pet information,” Ms. Conlon said. “He filled it out and signed it and he left to go get Little Bit.” But when Mr. Conlon returned with the second cat and said he'd take Lady home if she was finished with her bath, the vet surprised him when he asked, “You want the bodies?” “At first he thought it was some cruel joke,” Ms. Conlon said, but the veterinarian told her son he'd signed the papers. He quickly realized Lady was gone. Ms. Conlon said she could not bear to go back for her cat's body, saying she wanted to remember Lady alive and well. Her son took Little Bit home and the family, grieving, wondered what to do. “I don't think there was any malicious intent, but I do think it was negligent,” Ms. Conlon said. “I'm sure there are standards of practice they have to follow.” She said she's spoken with other animal care experts who've told her flea dipping is “archaic” and most vets use topical flea treatments now, something she said the vet did not tell her family. Ms. Conlon said she filed a complaint with the attorney general's office and plans to talk with the state Board of Registration. Records show Dr. Malik was placed on probation by the state in 2005 as the result of treatment he provided for an injured dog in 2002. He did not comply with the standards in place, according to the state's website, and had to attend 25 hours of continuing education in radiology and orthopedics before his license was reinstated. His current license expires in February 2013. A message left with a man who answered the clinic's emergency number did not yield a return call from Dr. Malik. Ms. Conlon said she's still trying to come to terms with what happened and urged other pet owners to double-check any paperwork they're requested to sign. “She was a beautiful cat and perfectly healthy,” she said. “She was the one who would know when I was sad and would climb in my lap.” [/quote] [url=http://www.telegram.com/article/20120923/NEWS/109239745/1101/local]SOURCE[/url]

Jeez how could you

I chuckled at the title. Then I felt really bad.

Well that's one way to get rid of fleas. [editline]24th September 2012[/editline] OP's avatar fits perfectly with the article.

How the hell do you fuck up this badly? Surely they must check to see if the animal actually needs to be euthanised first?

[QUOTE=Emperor Scorpious II;37784155] [editline]24th September 2012[/editline] OP's avatar fits perfectly with the article.[/QUOTE] I've been told my avatar fits with everything

That fucking sucks

Oh man, that's so sad.

Somebody isn't getting his license back this time

Death penalty

[QUOTE=carcarcargo;37784158]How the hell do you fuck up this badly? Surely they must check to see if the animal actually needs to be euthanised first?[/QUOTE] doctors fuck up pretty often amputating the wrong limb during surgery was remarkably common for quite a while

Heard about this on the radio... Apparently she was handed the forms, and nobody told her that they were forms for euthanasia, so she just... signed em.

All of my what.

Wouldn't there be more than just paperwork to go through if you were getting your cat euthanized? I feel like you'd have to get the owners consent personally before continuing. [editline]24th September 2012[/editline] If anything, I feel like the term 'euthanasia' should have been mentioned at least once during conversation.

[QUOTE=S31-Syntax;37784206]Heard about this on the radio... Apparently she was handed the forms, and nobody told her that they were forms for euthanasia, so she just... signed em.[/QUOTE] Definitely bad on the nurse's part but people really should read or even skim over any official documents they are about to sign.

Fuck those people!

That's a shame for everybody involved, I've got no idea why the vet gave him the "kill your cat now" paperwork. But also, the contract was there for exactly this kind of reason. That guy signed it, and he's at fault for not reading it.

No, my feels. No no no.

While this is a good example as to why you should always read before you sign paperwork, if the victim in this case can prove that they thoroughly had made appointments for the flea bath, including any discussion, paperwork, and appointment documents - they still have a case to reasonably been able to assume the paperwork was for the flea bath. I have a feeling that vet office will have a nice healthy lawsuit slapped on it ontop of any other investigations.

WHUPS

[QUOTE=koeniginator;37784201]doctors fuck up pretty often amputating the wrong limb during surgery was remarkably common for quite a while[/QUOTE] yeah in the 1800s

It was called Lady? at least it wasn't executed by Eddard Stark.

[QUOTE=lotusking;37784656]yeah in the 1800s[/QUOTE] [url]http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/11/28/when-surgeons-cut-the-wrong-body-part/[/url] "That study concluded that there are 1,300 to 2,700 wrong-site procedures annually in the United States"

He should have read the paperwork instead of just signing it. I've been going to the same vet for over four years, and with anything done to the animals that requires paperwork, I look the form over front and back before signing anything. It's unfortunate the animal died, yes, but if the guy would have looked everything over before signing, then it could have been prevented.

That's why you should make flea baths yourself,not by some idiot vet.

thats so sad...

I had to put my cat down last month, I was not given any paperwork at all.

"I'm afraid your cat has a terminal case of fleas, we're gonna have to put it down" "But it's just fle-" "Don't argue with me ma'am, I'm a doctor"

[QUOTE=lotusking;37784656]yeah in the 1800s[/QUOTE] Hey, it takes time to perfect an art.

Sometimes I really wonder if putting down an animal is the only sulotion, or they arn't really trying hard enough. My cat got put down this summer and I wondered if they actually did all they could