My dog bit the vet..

[Sansena]

And his tech, who happens to be his fiancé.

Ok. Backstory. Ive had the dog some 5 yrs and got her from a rescue. Previous vet was very receptive to my suggestions on how to handle her and we’ve never had a problem. Granted, I was always there and it was office procedures, vaccine updates, blood pulls, some acupuncture, etc.

But we moved, old vet is an hour away now and staff has changed. They never got back to me on scheduling some things and never returned my call/ email when asking for pricing on a dental.

Meanwhile, dog’s rabies came due, I found a practice next town over who came highly recommended, had her Rabies updated along with a quick exam. Easy peasy. I mentioned her idiosyncrasies and he seemed to understand. 6 weeks later, I schedule a dental, have DH drop her off. He says all went well on drop off.

I call for an update and find she’d bitten that vet… after the initial sedation, pre-anesthetic. And his assistant. Vet (surgeon who also did dental) has puncture wound on webbing between thumb and index finger, assistant was bitten on the arm but did’t break through fabric or skin. He’s very understanding, says she was clearly frightened and the sedation likely eliminated any bite inhibitions she has/ had.

She’s a chow. And I’m a little cranky. No, I didn’t make any special reminders about how to handle her, and yes he said he would ike me to be with them in the event of any procedures requiring handling… and anesthesia. I’m more than thrilled to do this. But I’m still upset she’s now been labeled “a biter”.

No, I wasn’t there. Yes, they are professionals. I don’t doubt it was a rodeo getting her sedated.

I suppose I"m just venting. Does anyone have any input? Thoughts? I’m seriously considering just continuing with my old vet, despite the travel time and obvious lack of attention to detail by his new office staff…

[S1969]

Is there any repercussions for being labeled “a biter?” - e.g. do they have to report this to anyone (health department, etc?)

If not, I would not be upset about the “label” - I have a dog that was scared at the vet and growled when they tried to pull blood. He now has a “red dot” on his file. I discussed with my vet and now would prefer that they muzzle him now, for several reasons - 1) I don’t want the dog to bite anyone, because I like my vet and know their jobs are difficult; 2) I don’t want my dog to actually bite anyone for his own mental health - I’m not sure how he would react? and 3) if they muzzle him, they don’t have to restrain him as carefully, so they won’t escalate his feelings of fear/being trapped etc.

I have had him to other vets in the meantime for health testing (OFA xrays), muzzled him for one and they ended up taking it off because he didn’t need it. It was a situational issue, and we know how it sort of happened, but it’s good to be careful in the future.

In your case I wouldn’t be angry, but would think about proactive steps to keep it from happening again, and especially to prevent situations where she is so afraid she might bite. Obviously sometimes they can’t be avoided (if she was injured, etc.) and in that case I would just muzzle her. It’s recommended that you put the muzzle on, rather than vet, so that it’s not another thing about the vet that she may not like.

Sorry this happened…

[RPM]

I second what S1969 said about the muzzle.

I would also try to go back to your old vet, if you Chow Chow doesn’t get carsick.

Jingles!

[Magicboy]

This is my personal nightmare and I’m sorry it happened to your dog and you. I’d be very interested in knowing how you followed up with the vet

[Callista17]

Vets are aware of they will probably be bit at some point. The animals they treat aren’t always feeling well, are stressed, in a different strange environment, and having close invasive procedures done. Every one I know, has been vaccinated against rabies.
Yes, charts have been labeled, but honestly, they look at us cross eyed, and there may be a note- better be safe than sorry.
Yes, you could always ask for a muzzle and put it on ahead of time.
With my lil old dog, I always said “my feelings WONT be hurt if you muzzle him!” Some did, some didn’t. Some had me hold, which may be a liability if something happened to me, but I knew the risk.

[S1969]

@Callista17

Yes, you could always ask for a muzzle and put it on ahead of time.
With my lil old dog, I always said “my feelings WONT be hurt if you muzzle him!” Some did, some didn’t. Some had me hold, which may be a liability if something happened to me, but I knew the risk.

Apparently many people’s feelings are hurt. My vet was a little surprised at how quickly I agreed that muzzling was a good choice - he was particularly hoping to eliminate having to restrain my dog tightly in the future because he thinks that was part of the problem. But I was like you “yes, definitely! Muzzle him!” and he was very pleasantly surprised. (His actual response was “if more owners were like you, I would like my job a lot more.”

A muzzle on in advance of needing it is good for the dog and the vet - and the owner, too, if you are helping restrain. Dog bites can happen so fast in response to pain or fear.

[Marshfield]

I would suggest getting her used to a basket muzzle. I think things are likely to be good with you there, however, I think having a basket muzzle on her will make you less stressed.

[Foxglove]

Guess I’m missing why you are upset that your dog was labeled a “biter.” Some dogs bite. I think any dog will bite if under enough pressure (new people, drugged, maybe in pain). We had a JRT that bit. He bit everyone. We tried all kinds of things, but at the end of the day, he bit. We live on a large farm. the JRT killed groundhogs. He did it quickly and efficiently and was very, very good at his job. So we kept him for almost 16 years. He had to be muzzled when taken any place for any reason or anyone came to the house–he was small and quick. There was no predicting when he would bite. I bought him a cage muzzle off the internet --a smaller version of what attack dogs wear. he could bark, pant, and snap his teeth together. He wore it proudly --snarling and snapping like a rabid wolf when someone would try to pat the “poor little doggie.” He was always muzzled at the vets. Did he bite his family -yep --every single one of us --and no reason. You’d go to sit on the couch and he’d walk by and sink his teeth into your leg, He was sitting on my lap asleep, woke up and sunk his teeth into my hand going all the way through the webbing between thumb and fingers --but as I said, we kept him for 16 years because of his efficacy at groundhog control. Eventually he had heart failure --we kept him going for another year with medication. Then it got so bad he couldn’t stand up and we took him to the vet one last time --muzzle in place. The regular vet wasn’t in, his associate was. She said, “I think he’s so weak you can take off his muzzle to say goodbye.” We didn’t. He’d have bit someone. We still miss him --now we have to shoot and trap groundhogs and we aren’t nearly as thorough as the JRT.

[chestnutmarebeware]

Meh, two of my three have a caution notation in their files because I’ve asked that they be placed there to protect the vet staff. My ACD has fear aggression (former puppy-mill puppy abandoned by his prior owners) and my pound-puppy cocker spaniel because, well, she’s a cocker.

From day one I’ve muzzled both of them, but as the staff came to learn them, they’re less inclined to do it.

As as long as you’re willing to muzzle your girl, the vet won’t mind treating her at all.

[shayaalliard]

my vet trusts me- she doesn’t even bring a tech in. If I don’t tell her this one will bite, she doesn’t worry about my guys. But when I had one who was iffy, we showed up with a muzzle and a warning- this one MIGHT bite you- and, once, in the case of a friend’s much loved dog, who we euthed for aggression issues, this one WILL bite you.
I agree that unless the vet is reporting to the county, the notation is not a problem, and is standard here.

[LauraKY]

I always warn vets that one of my dogs can be fear aggressive and although he’s never bitten anyone, there’s always a first time. I don’t think I’d worry about it. Actually, since your dog had already had some sedation, I would think it was the vet’s fault. There’s no more dangerous animal than a tranqed animal…dog or horse. The vet should have been more careful.

[hb]

It’s better to be labeled a biter and they take precautions than not and someone gets bit again. An old friend who was a vet tech told me she would get bitten or scratched pretty often, and most of the time they wouldn’t even tell the owner.

They make stickers for files that say “caution: will bite”. One of my cats has a “caution: will slap” sticker on his file. So I guess cats slapping is common enough that whatever company makes paperwork templates for vet offices has stickers that warn of it.

[yellowbritches]

I had a dog that was a PITA at the vet and at one clinic had the red dot and an orange label to muzzle. I was offended by it as a teen and young adult, but I’m a lot wiser now and realize it was the best for her with that practice. Later on, we switched practices, and the vet there quickly realized that all of her issues were directly relate to protecting ME from the “bad people.” It had nothing to do with herself. He took her away, practiced her heel and sit and down up and down the back hallway to establish a little leadership, did what he needed to do, and brought her back to me. She never saw a muzzle while we used that practice. The best thing I ever did for her, though, was get a house call vet. She considered that vet a guest instead of a foe, and was always happy to see her, even when we had to remove a giant thorn from her foot.

Nowadays, I think if I ever have a dog that’s a little funny, I will happily muzzle them for everyone’s sake. I’m lucky that both my girls are sweet and easy to deal with (the old girl is wiggly and opinionated, but it would never occur to her, even under great duress, to do anything other than make Chewbacca sounds). But I intend to have a lot more dogs in my life, and I’m a lot smarter about handling them now than I was with my super wonderful but ridiculously protective girl I had as a teen and young adult (I look back on her and realize how stupidly lucky I am she never did actually bite someone).

Vets are pros and are accustomed to dealing with stressed out critters. Hell, my horse vet gets a chuckle at my one horse’s opinion of him (and he has completely different feelings on him depending on whether he views him as Dr or not :lol:). I think it’s good that they KNOW your dog can be tough and now have it where everyone can see it. They will know to take precautions with her and avoid the chance of someone getting injured. I do agree that investing in a basket muzzle and getting her used to it at home would probably be a BIG stress reducer for her AND you.

[Gainer]

Not a dog, but one of my cats bit a tech as she was coming out of anesthesia. It happens. Health department tried to get involved when the tech had to seek treatment for the bite. She took along a copy of my cat’s vaccination records and told the physician that she wasn’t worried about rabies. The physician still had to report the bite and I was contacted by the health department. Cat has not bitten anyone since, but I always caution them anyway.

Most important thing is to make sure your dog is ALWAYS current on its rabies vax. It will make life a lot easier should someone get bitten again. To be on the safe side, I would muzzle the dog for vet visits. As mentioned above, use it at home for short periods until she gets used to it. You don’t want a dog with repeat biting incidents on her record.

[Mango20]

It doesn’t sound like the vet thinks it was a big deal, so I see no need to go back to your old vet.

One of my dogs earned a caution sticker once, but it was more of a misunderstanding that the practice was happy to resolve. They took her in the back and went to pick her up like they probably do for lots of dogs - with one hand underneath. Even at home, this causes this dog to yelp and swing her head around (but never bite). She came to me with some issues, and this is a big one. Once I explained to them that they can’t pick her up that way, but an arm around the chest and one around the rear is just fine with the dog, all has been well.

[HPFarmette]

I would understand being irked if the new vet were making a big deal, but it does not sound that way.

[sisu27]

Ugh I’m sorry.

One of my Dobes bit a tech. On the face. Required reconstructive surgery. It was horrible. The dog was meant to be getting rads for a fractured jaw. I was referred to a specialist at the same vet university practice that the dog was already going to (DCM study). The vet was an arrogant ass. I asked him to muzzle the dog. He refused. I asked him to let me flip him. He banished me to the waiting room. You don’t do well trying to muscle most male Dobes onto their backs and this one had some issues which I conveyed. Next thing I knew he came flying into the waiting room and told me to get my dog and get out as he had bitten the tech. Dog was sedated at that point and nearly impossible to transport alone.

I was horrified. Dog had never bitten anyone before and didn’t after. My regular vet called me to apologize after. Said the vet had given sedative and not waited and asked tech to hold face when he flipped the dog and that’s when he bit her face. I was sick about it.

I learned my lesson. My dogs are muzzled by default. I hate that it encourages the stereotype about the breed but that won’t happen again.

[HPFarmette]

Sisu27, that is awful. What incompetence on the part of that specialist.

[SonnysMom]

I have had 2 dogs that used to be muzzled at the vet. Over time they no longer needed to be muzzled. With Rosie we were no longer muzzling at the regular vet but she had to go get an abdominal ultrasound and I told them she should be muzzled for clipping and the ultrasound. They muzzled and and when they returned her to me told me that they were glad we told them to muzzle. She was giving clear signs that she would have bitten somebody. I also think that if a potential biter is muzzled that the vet can get a better exam rather than rushing one to avoid getting bitten.

[SonnysMom]

I had one cat that was very aggressive. I got her as an adult when the owner died about 2 weeks before I was moving. She had not been to a vet in 3 years. I dropped her off at the vet to board while I moved and to have her shots done. This vet was not my normal vet. They had a boarding facility and my vet only does medical boarding. I wrote all over her records. “Will bite, will scratch, consider feral. Please tranq. Yes, she has a bite history” I signed extra paperwork to consent to the tranq.
The arrogant vet decided to not tranq her. I was told by a friend who was a vet tech there that she ripped into the vet and he bled all over the table.
A few months later she breaks her leg. She goes to my vet and guess what poor thing also has tapeworms and ear mites. Of course since they couldn’t do the exam when they gave her shots they didn’t catch that.

I would have happily paid for the tranq so they could have actually examined her. Heck a muzzle would have been a nice start. He didn’t do that either. He apparently knew better than the owner on whether she was agressive. You would have thought that FERAL would have been a clue. So yes he gotten bitten by an unvaccinated animal. Thankfully she had been in indoor cat for those 3 years so would not have had exposure to rabies. But cat bites are dirty anyway.