Our 18 month old dog went into Patton Veterinary Hospital to be neutered and have entropion surgery. We dropped him off at 7:30am on 05/07/2024, and his surgery was in the morning. I received a phone call at 12:30pm that he was out of surgery and resting. The vet (Kevin Schmidt) said they had given him a sedative because he woke up irritable and dysphoric. I was told we could pick him up at 3:30pm. My husband picked him up and brought him home. When he got home, he was very lethargic and unsteady on his feet. It took us a few minutes to get him out of the car because he would not get up. He did go potty once out of the car. Once inside, he laid down and slept for an hour or so. We were able to get him up once or twice to go outside, although he did not want to try and go potty. We noticed a saucer sized spot of blood from his sac where he was laying. He drank some water and laid back down. The last time we checked on him before bed was around 9:30pm. He was laying down, but responded to my touch and voice. I checked on him at 1:00am, and he was gone. There was no physical indication of what could have happened. Patton was not open, so we called Pets Emergency in Lancaster, and told them we would be bringing him to be cremated. We asked Pets if they could do an autopsy, and they did not. They recommended either our vet completing one, and offered to give me a number to a practice in Philadelphia that completes them. Fast forward to the next day, my husband called Patton at 8:00am to let them know our dog had passed, and the receptionist told my husband they had received notice from Pets Emergency that our dog had passed, and said that the vet would be in contact. We did not expect to have to wait to hear from the vet- we expected a phone call first thing in the morning. No one called me until 3:00pm that afternoon, after I called and messaged in wondering why no one had called me. The practice manager called me and asked me what happened, had me walk her through the series of events. I wondered if he was given too much anesthesia, if he was sent home too early, etc. According to bloodwork that was done, he was a healthy dog, and cleared for surgery. The practice manager told me the vet would be calling me. The vet called me at 4:00pm that day. The vet was not remorseful, he did not explain would could have happened, he did not give options to complete a necropsy, he even said they would not do one. I had so many questions, and just wanted to know that Patton had done everything right and that maybe losing our dog was a freak thing, and a tragic thing that we would not get answers for. He did offer to refund the entire amount of the bill we had paid. During our call, the vet basically went over the same post surgery notes he had given me the previous day. I spoke to the practice manager again after speaking with the vet because I didn't feel that he had explained his side of the story well, he didn't make me feel that he cared at all. To him, it was just something that happens sometimes, and that there is a risk with anesthesia. The vet called me back a second time, and while he did approach the conversation a bit differently, I was still left with unanswered questions and feeling that he was not going to take responsibility for what had happened. A few days later, we found out from a neighbor that they had taken their Boxer into Patton 2 years ago for a routine procedure that required anesthesia. They experienced the same tragic loss- their dog came home from Patton, and died sometime overnight. Our neighbor stated that the vet treated the situation as if it was not uncommon- they experienced the same reaction and response as we did. We also found out through a woman that my husband works with that their Rottweiler went into Patton for a routine procedure that required anesthesia. When they picked up their dog, he was not acting normal and much like our dog when my husband picked him up. In both cases, Patton assured that the dogs were ready to be released. According to the woman my husband works with, they had to rush their Rottweiler to another vet later that night to be treated for anesthesia overdose. Luckily, they did not lose their dog. The last time I spoke with the practice manager was 05/15/2024. I called her because she had called me and left a message stating that our refund check was going to be mailed. Although I was thankful for that, I did tell her about the experience our neighbor had with Patton. I told her that there is something going on, and that this is not right, dogs are dying, and according to her, dogs passing away post anesthesia is very rare. read more
