Vet Wont Amputate

[Blackdog92 2,047]

So the missus springer has been needing its tail amputating for a while now as its in a bad state. We now have the money to get it sorted dropped the dog of at the vets first thing this morning and just landed home with her now.

When i went to pick her up the vet brought the dog out wiith its tail still intact saying they will not operate on her because she has a heart murmor and its to risky so they want to just bandage it up so it will heal. But i really dont see this as a long term solution and i really dont know what to do has anyone else come across this before?

[BIGLURKS 874]

Not much you can do Iam not clued up on heart mumours but if the vet says it's risky there prob thinking if this lads dog dies on the table your going too kick up a major stink about it imagine if they done it and the dog dropped dead I mean I have heard of some vets that don't see the point in docking but there very few why not try and get a second opinion

[mackay 3,044]

If the heart murmer is so bad that the vet doesn't want to put it under it should have been spotted when being checked as a pup.

( Unless it was home vaccinated).

If it is that bad I can understand why he would be reluctant, although you as the owner would sign a disclaimer in the event of anything happening he seems to have your dogs well being at heart. They would probably take the risk to do a life saving operation, which this is not.

I'd definitely be getting a second opinion if nothing else just to find out how bad the murmer is.

[gnipper 5,944]

Has it definitely got a murmur or is it the vet trying to wriggle out of docking?

[Blackdog92 2,047]

Its not my dog its the missus she had it before we got together so i dont know much of its vet history. Im deffinatly going to get a second opinion on this one. Gnipper you could be right because ive found some of the vets at this practice are anti feildsports and are usualy pretty arsey if you fetch a dog in with a working related injury of sorts. Ive never had any trouble with them but i can tell there not keen on it. To be honest though even though the dogs not mine its tail has got a lot worse since ive been taking it out mooching with my lot before it would just be going down the park for a hour or so not crashing threw cover like a lunatic.

[skycat 6,172]

I can't believe any vet would refuse to dock simply because they were anti. Surely leaving a bloody raw tail is tantamount to cruelty, but if the dog really does have a heart murmur then fair enough: not worth the risk, but I'd get a second opinion anyway, from a good, experienced and older type of vet.

[jok 3,035]

Iv'e now heard everything. What a load of tosh.

[delboy_187 900]

You guys need denis breary good vet

[TOPPER 1,809]

you need to find a decent vet as said that cruelty to leave it like that

[Peter Leemooch 160]

report the vet if they are willing to see a dog continue suffering it's an rspca case surely the vet sounds an arse

[beast 1,884]

It's not about suffering, it's about the vet trying to save the dogs life, o at least not put it in any avoidable danger. Heart murmurs can be a sign of a number of different complaints, and some are life threatening. Going under general anaesthetic potentially could put a fatal amount f strain on the heart. Some vets would take the opinion that the dogs tail would be better treated by not taking it out mooching, just take it o h local park. Some vets might even say that the heart is being further pressured by this type of exercise, whether the dog likes it or not. A heart specialist may be able to make a better diagnosis than your vet, but you might have o consider other options to manage this issue

[skinner 348]

they don't have to knock a dog out to do little ops now a days , I work on a farm and a cow had damaged its tail ,it had to have about 12inch off a jab to numb it cut off stiched no problem

[beast 1,884]

I think it is very u likely that you will find a vet who will do amputations on dogs without general anaesthetic. The exception might be if the actual tail had gotten so necrotic that the nerves had died, or if the damage was so bad that again the nerves were not functioning. I guess this was the case with your cow? It doesn't sound as though this is the case with the OPs springer

Edited June 23, 2015 by beast

[BIGLURKS 874]

they don't have to knock a dog out to do little ops now a days , I work on a farm and a cow had damaged its tail ,it had to have about 12inch off a jab to numb it cut off stiched no problem

aye but you can stick a cow in the crush or stall too do them procedures and plus cows generally don't try and bite your fingers off and putting cows asleep too do procedures is a pain in the ass cos a lot of times they tend too hurt them selfs when there waking up

[chook1 184]

I would ask them what grade is the heart murmur, one of my lurchers has a grade 3 murmur and at 11 years old coped very well with an anesthetic

when he went in to have his nackers off, there are lots of dogs out there with murmurs and lots of owners who don't even know the dog has one,

so long as a dog is not showing signs of the murmur being a problem, ie coughing after excersize etc then i cant see it being a problem,

if worried though you could always get an ecg or a scan done before hand, neither are expensive or shouldn't be.