A six-month-old rottweiler is fighting for his life after contracting a deadly disease, which its owner believes was due to medical “negligence” at a leading veterinary hospital in KwaZulu-Natal.
The dog has been infected with the contagious canine parvovirus (CPV) which has a high mortality rate.
This, in spite of the dog being up to date with all the required vaccinations, administered at the Westville Veterinary Hospital.
Joy Huang, the owner of Momo, claimed he contracted the parvo virus from her other puppy called Stupid.
Momo, Stupid and her third puppy Money, were born in July to parents Pretty and Handsome, who Huang also owns.
Stupid was taken to the hospital on December 6 because it had diarrhoea, became “very quiet” and had a high temperature, but was sent home after a routine checkup but without a parvo test being done.
A few days later, after Momo and Money displayed similar symptoms, Huang took all three dogs back to the hospital.
Fearing the worst, she insisted on a parvo test being conducted, in spite of the doctor saying it was expensive.
It was confirmed that they had contracted the virus.
Huang said Money and Stupid were recovering but Momo was “struggling”.
“I’m concerned about Momo. I can’t sleep. I don’t know if he will make it,” said Huang, who referred to her dogs as “babies”.
Huang said she “trusted” the doctor’s assessment of Stupid’s condition on December 6 and she didn’t suspect parvo because of its vaccination history.
Huang claimed the doctor who did the parvo test tried to pass blame on to the suppliers of the dog’s vaccine.
Both Momo and Money were hospitalised on December 10 but not Stupid.
She removed Money from the hospital two days later, even though the doctor said it was a risk, because she wasn’t happy with the animal being kept in a “cold kennel”.
At 3am on December 14, Huang said she received a call from the hospital doctor who said Momo needed to be euthanased.
Huang appealed to the doctor to wait until 7am, by which time she could be at the hospital, but was refused.
She got to the hospital an hour later and told the doctor not to put the animal down until she had spoken to the doctor who had been designated to her dog in the afternoon.
She informed the doctor about her intention to remove Momo because his condition worsened in hospital.
The doctor suggested the dog remain for another day and an intravenous drip would be administered.
The next day Huang noticed a large swelling on one of Momo’s legs, which was caused by the drip being out of place and lodged in tissue.
Huang said the explanation she received from a staff member was that the dog caused the shift.
She responded: “I don’t agree with care the dog is receiving. He’s a baby. He can’t speak. If the needle from the drip is out, he can’t press the buzzer to alert you. That’s why we pay the high fees at this hospital.”
Huang said she became very emotional and decided to remove the dog from the hospital and signed the letter that stated Momo was being taken against medical advice on December 15.
On Tuesday, while washing the dog, she noticed deep cuts on his body.
“It looks like another dog bit him,” Huang claimed.
Huang said even though the doctor said his condition was critical on December 14, she has still been able to keep him alive.
She believes the treatment Momo received was not effective and she was “heartbroken” about his condition.
Huang confirmed that the vaccine supplier, as a gesture of goodwill and not conceding liability, had since agreed to contribute R5 000 towards the parvo treatment of each dog. Huang said she was considering her legal options.
Dr Richard Smith, a partner at the hospital, said that they took immense pride in offering an excellent standard of care.
Smith said all complaints were viewed in a serious light and investigations were thorough, open, compassionate and done with honesty.
He said that the attending veterinarian kept in constant communication with Huang, even when Momo was taken home and have subsequently met with her to discuss her concerns.
Smith believes Huang was a good pet owner who did everything to prevent her dogs from contracting parvo.
“All black and tan dogs like rottweilers get more ill when they get parvo and this breed are also poor vaccine responders.”
He said that Money and Stupid’s quicker recovery showed they had some immunity.
On why she was not warned about rottweilers susceptibility to parvo, Smith explained that every breed has its own assortment of problems and it was not possible to give prior warning.
He said the majority of vets would have not suspected parvo if a dog has had all its vaccinations, and Stupid’s was a rare occurrence.
Smith admitted that the call to “euthanase” by the locum on duty was a wrong one and could have been communicated better.
He said that it was unfortunate that the fluid pumper beeper didn’t go off when the drip was pulled out of position, which is how the leg became swollen.
But it was logistically impossible for them to provide round the clock monitoring to every patient as Huang required.
Smith also suspected that bacteria could have then entered the catheter port, and with dog being off antibiotics, it might have eventually resulted in a burst micro abscess which looked like cuts.