When your pet doesn’t make it, who pays the bill?
By Christie Keith
June 5, 2007
Gina says my head explodes a lot. Well, it does. But I swear, I don’t get up every morning intending it to happen. People just keep saying things and the next thing ya know, cranial combustion.
Not long ago, it was someone on one of my email lists suggesting — are you sitting down? — that if your pet dies while your vet is treating him or her, you shouldn’t have to pay the vet.
I understand that some people can’t afford to get appropriate vet care for their pets. Some people can’t afford to get appropriate medical care for themselves or their children. Some people can’t afford to buy enough to eat.
These are tragic circumstances. And I know there is getting to be a gap between what’s available out there on the cutting edge of veterinary medicine and what any pet owner, even a fairly well-off one, can afford.
But vets have to pay their staffs, pay for their facilities, pay for medications and fluids and equipment. They take continuing education and pay insurance and many of them even offer benefits to their employees.
What vet would risk treating a pet — paying staff, using up hospital space, paying for drugs, supplies, tests and equipment — if they won’t get paid if the pet does not survive? Certainly, if the vet did something wrong that causes the pet to die, of course you should aggressively pursue all available options, including withholding or recovering payment. If a vet does something genuinely wrong and kills my pet, I not only won’t pay them, I’ll sue them. And get a gypsy to curse them.
But if they did all they could and your pet dies anyway, what is the logic or justice in them not being paid? Did they not do their best? Did they not expend their efforts on behalf of your pet?
I don’t mean to sound uncaring. Financial realities can bite, and I say that as someone who has gone into the five figures with vet bills trying, and failing, to save a beloved pet. But refusing to pay your veterinarian for trying and failing to save your pet? How does this make sense?
Only two days ago, Don posted the results of the independent test he commissioned after his beloved cat, Chuckles, died. Karen Roebeck picked up the story and found even more information about acetaminophen in pet food. She and the Pittsburgh News-Tribune are courageous; the story is in today’s paper. Would we ever have learned about this but for Don’s initiative?
http://www.pittsburghlive.com/.....10984.html
Texas lab finds pain medicine in pet food
By Karen Roebuck
TRIBUNE-REVIEW (Pittsburgh)
Tuesday, June 5, 2007
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is investigating a Texas laboratory’s finding of acetaminophen in dog and cat food, an agency spokesman said Monday.
“We’re very interested in being able to test these samples ourselves to determine the levels of those contaminants,” said FDA spokesman Doug Arbesfeld. “What’s significant is these things are there. They don’t belong there.”
The pain medication is the fifth contaminant found in pet foods during the past 2 1/2 months and can be toxic or lethal to pets, especially cats. It is not known if any animals became sick with acetaminophen poisoning, or died from it.
“We were looking for cyanuric acid and melamine, and the acetaminophen just popped up,” Donna Coneley, lab operations manager for ExperTox Inc. in Deer Park, Texas, told the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review yesterday. “It definitely was a surprise to find that in several samples.”
At least five dog and cat food samples submitted by worried pet owners and pet food manufacturers contained varying levels of the pain reliever, she said. Only the food, not individual ingredients, were tested.
The medication was found most often with cyanuric acid, a chemical used in pool chlorination, Coneley said. Varying levels of melamine, a chemical used to make plastics, also were found among the hundreds of samples ExperTox tested, she said.
The contaminants were found in foods that are not among the more than 150 brands recalled since March 16, Coneley said. The highest level of acetaminophen was found in a dog food sample submitted by a manufacturer, she said. Coneley declined to identify the company but said its officials were given the results “well over a month ago.”
That company should have — but did not — notify the FDA, which first learned of the acetaminophen findings after pet owners posted lab reports on the Internet, Arbesfeld said.
“With any poison, it’s the amount that matters.” said Dr. Wilson Rumbeiha, a Michigan State University pathologist who is working with the FDA on the pet food contamination investigation. His lab has screened for acetaminophen but found none, he said.
The highest level of acetaminophen found by the Texas lab — 2 milligrams per gram of dog food — is a large amount, Rumbeiha said. That is eight times what a 10-pound cat could safely consume, he said.
However, a 20-pound dog would have to eat more than 6.5 pounds of food in 24 hours to be poisoned, unless it ate the same contaminated food daily, Rumbeiha said.
A still-unmeasured amount of acetaminophen and cyanuric acid were found in cat food submitted by Don Earl, 52, of Port Townsend, Wash., whose 6-year-old cat, Chuckles, died in January.
He said he was suspicious of two flavors of Chuckles’ Pet Pride food because his other two cats refused to eat it and because Chuckles, strictly an indoor girl, had been healthy.
Comment by Maureen — June 5, 2007 @ 2:59 am
Here’s an article from today’s Miami Herald about vitamins manufactured in China. If it weren’t for the pet food crisis, would any of this be coming out?
http://www.miamiherald.com/103/story/128699.html
SHIJIAZHUANG, China — If you pop a vitamin C tablet in your mouth, it’s a good bet it came from China.
China has cornered the global market for vitamins, and it is assuring a jittery world market that its tablets are safe.
BY TIM JOHNSON
McClatchy Newspapers
In less than a decade, China has captured 90 percent of the U.S. market for vitamin C, driving almost everyone else out of business. Chinese pharmaceutical companies also have taken over much of the world market in the production of antibiotics, analgesics, enzymes and primary amino acids.
According to an industry group, China makes 70 percent of the world’s penicillin, 50 percent of its aspirin and 35 percent of its acetaminophen (often sold under the brand name Tylenol), as well as the bulk of vitamins A, B12, C and E.
(…)Sometimes you enter a factory, and you say, `I can’t believe they produce food here.’ It’s dirty and the machines are old,” said Jan Willem Roben of Vision Ingredients in Shanghai, a broker of food additives for export.
Since U.S. laws don’t require food and drug labels noting the country of origin of ingredients, it’s impossible for consumers to know where food or supplements are coming from, not to mention what factory produced them.(…)
Comment by Maureen — June 5, 2007 @ 3:14 am
Wow, Maureen! This bears repeating. More recalls pending?
*The highest level of acetaminophen was found in a dog food sample submitted by a manufacturer, she said. Coneley declined to identify the company but said its officials were given the results “well over a month ago.”
That company should have—but did not—notify the FDA, which first learned of the acetaminophen findings after pet owners posted lab reports on the Internet, Arbesfeld said.*
http://www.pittsburghlive.com/.....10984.html
Comment by Ann H — June 5, 2007 @ 3:58 am
Well, maybe you should put it this way to the people who don’t want to pay their vet: If you, I don’t know, typo your memos, do you not get paid at work? How about if you make a mistake? How about if, you know, you stay late at work every night for a week trying to finish something and it doesn’t get done? Do you just not get paid at all that week, let alone the overtime?
You might get fired, sure. But you get paid for the work you did before you were fired.
Similarly, your vet gets paid. You might “fire” your vet and find a new one, but they get paid for the work they did.
Comment by Katherine — June 5, 2007 @ 4:57 am
I have had some adverse experiences with vets, including one that, in hindsight, was drastically inocrrect care being given to a cat and not diagnosing what is now obvious to me was heart failure. But did I pay the vet bill? Of course. The treatments that were used, whether they were the correct ones or not, cost money to do. The kennel space in the veterinary ICU costs money to maintain.
Vets do what they can, but even when their judgment isn’t the best, as long as they are earnestly trying to do their job, it’s grossly unfair to say that if your pet dies when in their care, you should not have to pay them. They are rendering a service. If you don’t feel that they did a good job, go to a different vet with your next pet.
Or, even better, become an informed consumer so you can make decisions WITH your vet instead of relying completely upon your vet’s advice for everything — and them blaming them for the outcome.
Comment by CatLady — June 5, 2007 @ 5:14 am
People don’t pay their vet bills? Gads!
Comment by Linda — June 5, 2007 @ 5:52 am
Not to mention, if we were to stop footing the bill for cases in which pets died- how many vets would be willing to take on a case in which there was any likelihood that a pet may not recover? What would happen to the emergency clinics? Where would critical patients go for treatment?
In such a world, all four of my cats would’ve been denied treatment at some point or another.. and not a single one of them would be here today. (One has since passed away, but an emergency surgery performed many years ago when she was attacked by a large dog while under her previous owner’s care afforded her many happy, healthy years she certainly never would have had had said vet taken a look at her and said ‘Ooh.. look at that. Not touching that one. Next!’)
There is a big difference between negligence and simply not being able to save an animal.
Comment by Gwen — June 5, 2007 @ 6:06 am
I’d had a couple of bad experiences but I paid the bill, but I believe there are circumstances where withholding payment is the right approach - in cases of blatant disregard for the health of my pet.
But generally, Vets do the best to save a pet and one should pay the bill. Disagreements can be decided in court.
Comment by Linda — June 5, 2007 @ 6:07 am
What are the 5 toxins in the pet food?
Melamine
Acetaminophen
Cyanuric acid
The other stuff used for pools
what is the last one?
Comment by Jill — June 5, 2007 @ 6:35 am
It goes like this Jill:
Original 4 contaminants: The last 3 are by-products of melamine http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2007_pet_food_crisis
Melamine
Cyanuric acid
ammelide
ammeline
New contaminant is acetaminophen
Comment by Peggy (AKA: Big Fat Momma Cat) — June 5, 2007 @ 6:49 am
Thank You.
None of these should be in the dog or cat food. WHY are they in there? Are these PEOPLE STUPID?
Comment by Jill — June 5, 2007 @ 6:57 am
And, aminopterin.
That was found by 2 labs. But, as there is a poster here that had posted Univ of Guelph communications indicating that “light” sensitivity may have impacted the subsequent tests not confirming the findings. Protocols were then modified for that.
Comment by Ann H — June 5, 2007 @ 7:01 am
The Chinese companies added it to wheat flour create a false indication of protein. (We know that, right?)
My personal theory for the acetaminophen is that it was expired. So they ground it up and sold it as corn starch which is used as a binder.
New FDA test for the four contaminants: (nothing redacted on this page) http://www.fda.gov/cvm/GCMSMelamine.htm
Comment by Peggy (AKA: Big Fat Momma Cat) — June 5, 2007 @ 7:04 am
Right, Ann H; that would make 6 contaminants.
Oh and Jill, they’re not stupid, they knew what they were doing. They are greedy and don’t care about the value of life…
Comment by Peggy (AKA: Big Fat Momma Cat) — June 5, 2007 @ 7:07 am
I WANT TO KNOW THE NAME OF THE COMPANY:
*The highest level of acetaminophen was found in a dog food sample submitted by a manufacturer, she said. Coneley declined to identify the company but said its officials were given the results “well over a month ago.”
**********************
So, acetaminophen contamination was known to at least one lab over a month ago.
Do we ALL have to submit private samples for testing to CALL THIS COMPANY OUT? The company knew its food was toxic and submitted the samples itself so they could sit on the information, selling the rest of the lots because they knew the FDA was only testing for melamine and its related compounds.
This is EVIDENCE that the pet food companies (probably many more than one based on the lab findings from Don’s website) care NOTHING about our pets’ nutrition and safety.
Can you imagine the number of dog illnesses and deaths that have occurred in 30+ days because this company refuses to come forward and continues to make profits at the expense of our dogs who continued to solve the “problem” for the company by wiping their food bowls clean until they got sick or died?
THE TRUTH WILL COME OUT. THE COMPANY WILL PAY!
THERE ARE SIMPLY TOO MANY PEOPLE WORKING TOGETHER TO EXPOSE THE GREED AND CORRUPTION IN THE PET FOOD INDUSTRY.
THIS COMPANY’S NAME WILL BE EXPOSED!
I’m heading over to Itchmo to donate money toward the cost of food testing!
Comment by petlover — June 5, 2007 @ 7:26 am
The FDA said that the redacted “fifth ingredient” was related to their testing protocol, if I’m remembering correctly. They said they didn’t want to share their testing protocols with manufacturers of products being tested, or words to that effect. I believe the “fifth ingredient” was, in this instance, just what they said it was. Here’s the published protocol:
http://www.fda.gov/cvm/GCMSscreen.htm
I think that it is Benzoguanamine, which they added as an internal standard.
They also say in this protocol that urea/biuret may be found.
Perhaps the scientists among us can read the document and see if they come up with a different read. That said, we now know there are at least two contaminants that they didn’t add to the list for testing, aminopterin and acetamyophen. How many more? Who knows…
Comment by Maureen — June 5, 2007 @ 7:26 am
I’m afraid that commercial pet food has become synonymous with waste disposal.
Comment by Peggy (AKA: Big Fat Momma Cat) — June 5, 2007 @ 7:35 am
Basically, the food industry (pet and human) has become a dumping ground for making every last buck you can from waste products.
Personally, I don’t think it can simply be blamed on China any longer. China is responsible for their part in the already discovered contaminations, but the U.S. (government and business community) also has a part in this.
It’s a sad revelation to see all the research and testing that seeks to prove something that is not usable can actually be used. Low risk — I don’t think so.
Comment by Donna — June 5, 2007 @ 8:24 am
Comment by Donna — June 5, 2007 @ 8:24 am
“Basically, the food industry (pet and human) has become a dumping ground for making every last buck you can from waste products.”
You summed up what I’m taking away from all this. Nicely put. I can’t believe what I was feeding my pets for all these years. How many years did I take from their lives?
Just because a commercial pet food isn’t contaminated doesn’t mean it’s nutritional for them.
Comment by Maureen — June 5, 2007 @ 9:37 am
I have a life sleeping under my bed right now which is my cat and my mother’s dog is right outside my door and I care about them a lot aqnd if any thing happens to them I will give my sister some of their food and she will give it to the people at UC Davis and they will test it for me. My sister works at UC Davis A very angry pet owner
Comment by Jill — June 5, 2007 @ 11:19 am
Not paying your vet bill because your pet died is preposterous.
Just as silly expecting a vet to treat an animal for free that you found hurt on the street. Most vets perform a great professional service to animal/owners at a very reasonable cost IMO. Compare their fees(in lieu of all their expensive training) with your car mechanic, plumber, electrician etc.
Many are still paying off students loans, not mentioning expensive equipment.
Compare their fee with an MD or lawyyer.
Taking a very sick pet to a vet and have it back the next day greatly improved- priceless.
Taking a pet very sick pet to the vet but having it die in spite off but know that you did your very best- no guilt- , also priceless.
BTW, many vets also provide their services at nominal cost to TNR groups on their day off.
Comment by Serijna — June 5, 2007 @ 11:27 am
I was just wondering how may of the employes of these companies have animals that died? also there is insurance for pet’s I have both my dog and cat insured the plan covers medication and shot’s that are needed it’s a great thing to have.
Comment by Deborah Stow — June 5, 2007 @ 12:16 pm
I pay my vet bills , win, lose, or draw.
The vets who pimp Hills poison in their waiting rooms?
Those bills I pay, grudgingly, and then never come back.
Comment by E. Hamilton — June 5, 2007 @ 4:35 pm
Should the Veterinarian be paid if the animal “doesn’t make it”.
I’m a veterinarian myself, and I certainly agree with the statements about the consequences of the idea that honest failures shouldn’t be paid. If somebody approached me with the HONEST expression of “if my dog or cat doesn’t live I won’t pay you” I would AUTOMATICALLY cut the conversation short so as to not waste valuable time talking with a crook. No payment, no service. Slavery was abolished over 100 years ago.
Yet, there has to be honesty on the veterinarian’s side as well. Nobody can give odds to the decimal place or even within a 10% range, but I think it is imcumbant on the veterinarian to give an HONEST qualitative prognosis. If recovery is unlikely then say so. That is the ethical requirement of the veterinarian. The ethical requirement of the client is to pay the person who gives their honest opinion of the chance of success. In ALL other “chancy” service industries the words “go to hell” would come up if the customer tried the scam of refusing to pay unless success occurs.
After decades in practice I find myself NEVER using the word “certainly”, only “almost cetainly” and then “probably”,”likely”, “possibly”, “if we are lucky”, “unlikely” and “almost certainly” at the low end of the scale. The circle comes back on itself. The veterinarian can easily be fooled by many factors, and a seven point qualitative scale is about as fine a distinction as I am willing to make.
Mollymew
Comment by Mollymew — June 5, 2007 @ 6:58 pm