Veterinary Malpractice

Veterinary Malpractice





We have never posted an email or blog before however on this occasion we feel justified to warn others about veterinary care and medication after having to have our dog put to sleep earlier this week.


Our dog suffered from Leishmaniasis, she was diagnosed 4 years ago in Spain and was treated accordingly. Over the past 2 years her kidneys started to deteriorate due to her illness, we adjusted her diet and took her for monthly blood tests, together with her maintenance medication we managed to stabilise her.


Since moving to France, nearly 1 year ago we struggled to find a vet with whom we we felt confident. It was several months ago that we found Dr (name removed) who we felt to be very knowledgable. He was happy to hear about her monitored kidney diet, her vitamin supplements and was understanding of her problem. The past couple of months saw her Leish flaring up again ( Leishmaniasis is a parasite that once inside and established in the body can never be eradicated, reoccurences are common) leaving her with the visible symptoms such as a scabby nose that would not heal and the clinical symptoms such as high high crea and urea in her kidney results. Our dog regardless of this was always playing, eager to go for her daily walks in the woods and had a fulfulling life. As a Husky she enjoyed her short runs and still had the energy to play after.


We talked about the reoccurence of the Leish with the vet who advised us that we needed to treat it, to halt it in its process and recommended injections every other day for a month of the only product available in France, GLUCANTIME. It was a different one to that we had used in Spain (Milteforan) but like any dog owner asked all the relevant questions re side effects etc and were reassured to proceed. Nothing was mentioned only that it was a little uncomfortable for the dog.


We started the injections last week and after one she had muscle weakness, we told the vets colleague who we saw for the second injection (who we had also seen in the past and was aware of her condition and who also had experience with this disease after having lived in Marseilles) and was told that it was a normal side effect. She had the second after which she deteriorated so fast she was dead in 3 days after suffering all of the documented side effects and total kidney failure.


We have since read on the web and contacted our old vet in Spain who have confimed that the given product should NEVER have been administered in cases where the animal already has a weakened kidney and warnings are clearly marked.


We are finding it difficult to understand why someone with years of experience, access to all documents, seminars, friends in the field can administer something that clearly NEVER should have been used given her diagnosis.


Unfortunately due to the negligence of both vets who made the inappropriate treatment, our visibly happy and energetic dog is no longer with us. We realise that our dog would never have a full life expectancy however we would have hoped for a more peaceful, less painful end not decided by a veterinary practicioner.


We visited the clinic this morning to discuss our feelings with the vet and we found out that it was the first time he had ever administered this medication (although his colleague had experience although she was not smart enough to realise the fatal side effects given her diagnosis and still continued with the second injection) and was referring to the small slip of paper in the box to find out how to use it!! He also shyly recognised the dosage should have been administered gradually (as recommended on all web sites) to monitor the animals reaction although above all showed no remorse for his errors.


Other products are available outside of France to treat this terrible condition and please, should anyone be in a similar situation, trust no-one, research yourselves, I would be happy to try to help those that may have need.


Thank you for listening to my story,






No problem Catherine :)

Gotcha - and yes I agree so well done for being thoughtful enough to share. I should have noticed but with 4000 members and zillions of posts every week, it is a bit hard to keep track. Sorry! x

Catherine, I probably wasn't very clear, it wasn't my dog but I was so moved by Sudis story that I thought it deserved a larger readership and the dogs forum seemed a more appropriate place.

Sorry for the confusion :(

Dear Lisa

So sorry to hear this. It is always hard enough to say goodbye to a friend. Sending you virtual hugs xx

I brought this over from the general discussion board so it could be seen by a greater number of people. It's heartbreaking for Sudi and frightening to think that we have to put our trust into so-called 'experts'