My dog bit the vet..

[GraceLikeRain]

Sedation can do weird things to even the sweetest dog. My parents late wheaten terrier had to be basket muzzled and monitored carefully coming out of sedation. He was a sweet, derpy boy who turned completely feral when waking up from dentals or any type of sedation. He punctured at least a tech or two during his lifetime because someone wouldn’t want to be “mean”. In his case, he was painfully dumb and I think his response was a complete fear reaction based on being disoriented.

Conversely, one of my cat’s came to me labeled as unadoptable due to a long history of being a biter. He’s never tried with me and is a total ham at the vet. However, at all times I treat him like a biter. With him everything is an ask not tell, we work on his timeline, and I don’t force an issue. If a vet tried to manhandle him I have zero doubt he would live up to his reputation.

[Larksmom]

I have an 80 lb baby. He is a fear biter. We don’t go to the vet often, but we do go. A couple of months back, we somehow didn’t get his muzzle on. Not sure why. I have been muzzling him for at least a year now when we go in. He didn’t get muzzled, and when the vet tried to give him a shot, Jethro bit him. He got very angry, and threw down the syringe, and walked away. I then muzzled my dog, and the tech gave him the shot. I delayed taking them in for the annual round of rabies shots till yesterday, and I did see a different vet, (she is MUCH nicer, and friendlier too) I put the muzzle on him, and had to sort of hold him down for the nail trim. That is always the worst thing. If it is a hair too short, he freaks out. We struggled thru it, and altho the woman vet was much nicer, I think if they could take just a minute or two more, to reassure him, it might go over better. Very discouraged about the other vet. They are in the same practice.

[saultgirl]

My Daisy is VERY afraid at the vet’s office. Whenever I bring her, I always say to the vet/tech “She’s very nervous, I don’t mind if you want to put a muzzle on her.”

She hasn’t bitten anyone but when we first got to the vet’s office yesterday she was literally trembling in fear in the waiting room (luckily, the vet was running behind about 15min so we had some time to chill out!). The vet seems to be very good at reading her and has put a muzzle on her twice (once when removing stitches from being spayed, the other when she had a swelling on her throat).

You just really never know what they are going to do when they are under a major stress.

[Nezzy]

I would talk with the vet that was bit. Vets are at risk every day, many times a day. i have one Biter out of 5 dogs. he was a rescue, and he bites when he is scared. So i make sure they all know it, and NOT to touch his ears unless he is under full sedation. All an owner can do is make sure to warn the staff and vets and be loud about it. I make sure they know he is not just a biter, he is a MANIAC when he goes off.

[Equibrit]

There is nothing extra-ordinary about a fear biter. You TAKE PRECAUTIONS to prevent injury in fearful situations. There is no shame attached to it.

[Sansena]

Thank you, all.
Vet didn’t seem inordinately upset when I spoke with him. He reiterated, “she was just afraid”. The shame I feel is self imposed and I appreciate all of you chiming in about it. I feel much better.

In her defense, the whole ordeal freaked her out for about 3 days. A little separation anxiety, more noise-reactive, obviously uncomfortable – you could tell from her posture. Poor thing. I’m sure she was having flash backs from when she was in that puppy mill situation down south before she came to us.

[Tjkobol]

I work at a vet office… we get bit, it’s part of the job. Do not feel guilty, especially since you seem like a very responsible and aware owner. Yes, we would put a “use caution” alert on your pet, but this does not change the way anybody feels about working with your pet, it simply tells everybody to go extra slow and be extra aware. Protects pets and people. Also, since this has happened… if you go to a new vet, give them the heads up. I’d much prefer to be given the heads up by an owner than after I’ve tried to work with the dog and it already tried to bite me…

Being left at a vets office, while most vets will try to make it a positive experience for the pet, is still scary. They’re in a strange environment with weird noises, strange animals, strange smells, they are likely on a lot of medications so they don’t feel normal… All things that can contribute to an animal fear biting.

It sounds like this was an isolated event, so I wouldn’t worry too much… but…

If a pet is aggressive and shows these signs outside of the vet or outside of being left for a procedure… I cannot say enough positive things about basket muzzles. If an owner spends the time to get their pet used to a basket muzzle and uses it regularly, it can be an awesome training tool. The awesome thing about basket muzzles is most dogs adjust super quick… and lots and lots of treats can be fed through it! Plus keeps everyone safe.

[animaldoc]

I agree with Tjkobol- it’s really not a big deal. Bites that happened at the vet are classified as “provoked” and don’t need to be reported to any regulatory agencies, so the notation in the chart just reminds everyone to go slow and be careful (which really they should do with ANY patient, since they can ALL bite, LOL).

[sisu27]

@animaldoc

I agree with Tjkobol- it’s really not a big deal. Bites that happened at the vet are classified as “provoked” and don’t need to be reported to any regulatory agencies, so the notation in the chart just reminds everyone to go slow and be careful (which really they should do with ANY patient, since they can ALL bite, LOL).

My dog that bit the vet was quarantined for 2 weeks. I do not do rabies every year and had not done a titre so I think that was why but I believe it was still recorded as his first bite. Perhaps that is specific to Ontario I don’t know.

[Sansena]

My dog’s prior visit to this vet was for rabies vaccine, blood pull for lyme titer and general pre-dental exam.
I was there… it went fine, hence both mine and the vet’s dismay over her reaction.

Thanks for everyone chiming in. I’ve spoken to the vet at length and a few of his staff on 3 separate occasions after the bite. I think we’ll be okay

[animaldoc]

@sisu27

My dog that bit the vet was quarantined for 2 weeks. I do not do rabies every year and had not done a titre so I think that was why but I believe it was still recorded as his first bite. Perhaps that is specific to Ontario I don’t know.

That’s probably more specific to not being UTD on Rabies- that’s not something anyone is going to play around with. That would happen in the US too if an unvaccinated (or not UTD vaccinated) dog bit a vet (or anyone). As far as a dog getting classified as a “dangerous dog” which is a legal term in many jurisdictions, a bite to a vet is considered “provoked” and doesn’t need to be reported to the health department, animal control, etc.

[Tjkobol]

Agreed, the dog being quarantined is likely due to not being UTD on Rabies. We had a dog, who was not UTD on rabies, bite a staff member and they had to do an in-home quarantine.