pissed

the stand in vet at our regular (really good, really caring) clinic fucked up Ninny's treatment and put her in danger. I just provided him with a new cloaca. He will be disciplined. Turns out that idiot didn't give Ninny (who has been in ketoacidosis) insulin along with her fluids WHICH IS HOW YOU TREAT THAT CRISIS. Fucker.
She's back with her regular vet who is taking good care of her and he's going to
deal with Dr. Hernandez (and find out what in the HELL he was thinking)and report back to me. Dr. Rovner says there is NO REASON for her diabetes to kill her now if we keep it managed, WHICH WE WILL, if we are given the chance. Oh boy am I going to badmouth Dr. Hernandez everywhere, unless he has a REALLY GOOD explanation which I doubt, Dr. Rovner says Ninny can have her life back.

I'm so fucking pissed at Dr. Hernandez I could send him into diabetic ketoacidocis and withhold treatment after I pulled out his intestines.


She's hospitalized for a few days while they get her insulin levels stabilized. We'll be giving her shots for awhile if not forever but I would feed her 100 times a day and carry her on a golden pillow if it made her feel happy and like herself.

ninny letter

my letter to the clinic. I'm taking it there today when we go visit her.



Dear Drs. Rovner and Hernandez and Higgins Animal Clinic;


I wanted to put in writing both my support for and dismay at the care our cats have received at Higgins.
I have found Dr. Rovner to be a caring and well informed veterinarian who has provided great care and information for 3 of our 4 cats (Zachary for his teeth, Newguise for his geriatric status and Ninny for her arthritis -Mr. Teatime hasn't been seen yet since he's not due until December). I appreciate the time he has taken with us and that he seems to be on the cutting edge of cat care. He doesn't speak down to us and truly seems to care. We have recommended him already to a number of other folk, most of whom have become his patients or will in the very near future. We are great advertisements for our veterinarians-at the Irving Street Veterinary Hospital in San Francisco where we lived last ,we were responsible for about 50 patient referrals and hoped to do the same for Higgins, since Dr. Rovner has been so skilled and caring to our animals (and us).

I am, however, not pleased at all with Ninny's recent visit and treatment by Dr. Hernandez. Her labs show that she was in an extreme diabetic ketoacidocis crisis, yet Dr. Hernandez did not give her the correct treatment for this. According to my information there is only one way to treat this crisis, with re-hydration and insulin. Ninny was given no insulin and a clean bill of health to go home and await follow-up treatment on Monday. . My husband, James Martini, asked several times if she really was able to return home and wait for further treatment until Monday and Dr. Hernandez assured him she was. She began to deteriorate immediately upon her return home. If we hadn't taken her to the emergency clinic within that following 24 hour period she would have died. We have been assured that there is no reason for Ninny to die at this time, her diabetes is manageable and we are devoted to giving her the best care. Aside from the fact that her life was endangered; Dr. Hernandez treatment helped her very little and frightened her quite a bit. His explanation for his treatment was unacceptable as well. I understand that you don't give insulin to a dehydrated cat in crisis; however, you DO give insulin after rehydration. And you always hospitalize for ketoacidosis and do recurring ketone and glucose tests. Either the labs were misread or Dr. Hernandez didn't know the correct treatment for this crisis, I see no other plausible explanations.

Because of this I believe we should not have to pay the bill for the visit and care that put her life in danger.I would appreciate correspondence on this matter. We plan to continue with Dr. Rovner and Higgins but will no longer see other vets at Higgins unless our confidence is restored.

I understand the tone of this letter to be somewhat harsh. We nearly lost a valued and very much loved member of our family for no reason that we can understand and our reaction is one of anger and sadness. I hope that we can rebuild our relationship with what we have found, in the past, to be a very caring and well-informed clinic.