Pet advice (legal)

Hi all,

Had a very unfortunate issue today and I’m hoping I could get some advice from a wide range of people...

Took my boy (9yr old husky) to the groomers today for a routine groom, got called 3hrs later that he wasn’t well and arrived to find him not able to stand, couldn’t walk, hold his own weight, and looked in a lot of pain. Heartbreaking

Rushed him straight to emergency Vet, and after some blood tests ruled out anything nasty however the ortho checked him and found out he had ruptured his CCL (dogs ACL joint in the knee) and requires surgery at $4000

I’m at a cross roads as to what to do, we walked in completely fine, it’s even on camera’s that he’s walking normal, and I turn up to find that situation.

I’m thinking it happened in their care, they have public liability insurance, do I put a claim on them?

Photo of locky on the left, milly in the middle, Holly on the right.

 

ACL Injuries – Iditarod

sorry your dog is in pain

first step talk to groomer and see if they knew w hat happened what your dog was doing immediately beforehand etc

 

Did the groomer offer any explanation?
What did the vet say could have caused an injury like that?
Can it be degenerative?

To succeed in a claim you will have to show that the groomer was negligent in some way.

 

Really sorry to hear this, I'm definitely a dog person.

Is the groomer actually at fault? Professional indemnity insurance isn't a free pass to take legal action over. If the videos don't show negligence on the groomers part what do you think the outcome will be?

My sister went on holidays a few years ago, left her (very overweight) Lab with me. Took him and our dogs for a walk at the local off-lead park. He jumps over a small log and hurts his hip. It was probably a similar injury and it definitely was a similar expense. Nobodies fault but the dog's who took on more than his strength and agility allows.

Dogs can be energetic goof balls. Sometimes they hurt themselves in the dumbest of circumstances. If the groomer was negligent then you've got a case but odds are the accident was more the dogs fault than theirs.

 

The vet didn’t really offer much in the way of possible causes, he is a heavy dog so that is definitely one explanation.

I’m honestly not leaning towards the groomer doing anything negligent or nasty, I’m just struggling with the fact that he runs around, in and out of cars, up and down stairs every day, and somehow sitting at a groomer ruptures a ligiment to the point I seen him in today, it could absolutely be a long term injury and the timing was just terrible,

If he was moving, at a dog park, or out and about i would understand, but sitting still getting brushed doesn’t sit right with me. Hence why I’m thinking of taking it further

 

@Peter_Tersteeg yes their is no video unfortunately, I asked for footage. What I do have is footage of us walking through the front doors and shop with absolutely no issue

 

Is he overweight or is it just the pictures? Being old will do it too. Some breeds are susceptible, not sure if huskies are. Sounds like unfortunate timing to me.

 

So sorry. My heart goes out to you. Surely at the Groomers he must have been in the hydro bath. We have a non slip mat in ours so our German Shepherds don't slip. Wouldn't risk it without the mat. Had a friend who had the same with an eight year old German Shepherd. Not overweight, but caused by a small slip on wet pavers. Surely they have some insurance for this. Why are the cameras not on the whole time? Zizi

 

Yes he is. I’ve been trying to get the weight off him but huskies don’t loose it well. (I rescued him)

 

That’s a good point. I honestly don’t know. But will ask some questions.

Not many things bring me to tears but he’s lying down and cannot get up to even go the toilet & so I’m not sure what to do. I dear say Il be up all night with him.

I don’t know how we will manage from here on, hopefully they can brace him so at least he can stand.

 

At the very least I'd try and get the groomers to fill out sworn affidavits that nothing happened in their care.
I don't believe that it didn't happen there. It could be something innocent like the dog jumping off the grooming table and due to his age and weight doing the injury, but ACLs don't rupture from sitting down. There's definitely something that happened!

 

Codie, I am not a vet but the following instructions were given to me from the Vet Specialist Clinic when one my large male GSD had paralysis for seven weeks. This is temporary so you can manage tonight and then you will have to make a decision soon. To get him safely to the toilet, (it will take two of you to safely lift him) cut a large strong cloth shopping bag down both sides, keeping the handles intact, You will have one long piece with the handles at either end) Put this under his tummy and whilst one steadies him, you should at least get him out to go to the toilet before bed. Or a bath towel doubled length ways will suffice. Don't forget that you will have to offer him his water to keep him hydrated. I know this is terribly worrying but of the dogs I have known that have had this operation, it has been a huge success. Not advice, hope this helps just for tonight. Cheers, Zizi

 

@Zizi Thanks to all for your input, the shopping bag is a great idea.

 

(I have no affiliation with the brand, I just feed it to my dog)

Not sure what you’re feeding, but Stay Loyal is awesome and the guys who make it will be happy to talk to you (phone or email) about how much to feed your dog to help it lose weight, which will help with recovery. They’re really knowledgeable guys and the food is top notch, no crap in it like Science Diet and similar.

Good on you for rescuing him.

 

Has the surgery been decided/ scheduled?
So sorry to hear this. Hate seeing them in pain

Can try raw feed if haven't already. There are may frozen premade ones so you won't need to worry about keeping a balanced meal.

 

How is he today?

 

My, 8yo at the time, golden did his ACL 4 years ago (almost to the day) and we decided to get the TPLO surgery done vs the TTA due to advice we were given and what we read that was the more long lasting option. Also,anecdotally, chatting to people who had the TTA surgery done on their dogs it failed after several years so we didn't want him constantly having surgery or be in pain.

All up costs were about $12k but fortunately pet insurance covered 80% of that. I'm hoping he doesn't do his other one as we've been sin binned and had a $1,600 annual limit imposed now.

Here he is, high on morphine and not a care in the world

 

He’s actually showing a bit of a smile and trying his best to get up.. he can’t but it’s a positive sign he’s trying. Thanks for asking

$12k!! Holy..

I Have spent countless hrs researching the surgery’s & we are almost thinking of going without and taking a more natural approach.. there’s a ton of cases of the dog actually healing better without it providing they are restricted and cared for strictly.

All The research & medical studies I can find on CCL surgery is Class 3 & 4 and is hardly evidence based, almost all coming from osteo’s that have a vested interest in performing the surgery and not recommending ANY other options or opinions. It made me question it when the specialist recommended it within 10sec of touching him, no Xrays, or details, then left, leaving the vet to tell me the costs & that it’s 100% necessary.

Will keep him at home and monitor his progress as we can always take that route at a later date. Acupuncture for him on Friday

 

Understandable. We're lucky where we have a couple of close friends who are vets so I trust them when getting advice.

If you're wanting to go natural have a look into Rosehip vital powder. Bix, who had the surgery, had / has a lot of joint and artirists problems too. I couldn't walk him more than a 500m without him dragging his paws then being totally lame the next day. He's now been on it for about 3 years and he's like a puppy. Occasionally I take him hiking or walks along dry sand (which used to be the end of him) and he pulls up pretty good.

He's 12 now and people often think he's a teenager and not a senior citizen.

I've recommended the Rosehip stuff to probably close to a dozen people now and only in one case did it not seem to work.

The best story was from my hairdresser who has an old lab. They moved to a new house with stairs and he couldn't get up them and was getting distressed and they were getting frustrated always having to carry him. My next visit about 6 months later she told me they tried the stuff and he's bounding up the stairs now.

 

@Kinnon yes I can attest to that as well!! I actually had him on that for the last 4 weeks, it’s actually such a shame as I noticed he was moving so much better after even a week of being on rosehip powder.

He will definitely be going back on it as soon as the order arrives in the next day or so!