PLEASE HELP!!! My ferret is dead!?

Question

My ferret had adrenal surgery on Thursday on his left adrenal. The doctor said it was large and contained a large blood supply. Come Saturday, he wouldn't eat or drink anything, so I took him back to the vet. Yesterday he ends up dieing and the doctor is making me pay $655 for the surgery and $100 for the overnight visit. Is this right? I was really close to my ferret and now he is dead. Should I still have to pay these bills even though they killed him.

Answer 1

First of all I want to say that I'm so sorry about your ferret =/

But, I don't think that the vet is responsible for the death of him. If he said it contained a large blood supply, that means that there's lots of risks involved... anything could have gone wrong during the surgery or after, and something did. =/ Although doctors can fix things they can't always fix what will happen in the future. So.. I don't think they killed him, certainly not on purpose. They did the best they could, I'm sure. Also, surgery is tough on anyone let alone a little ferret.. animals can die just from the stress of being under... their little bodies aren't made to take such physical and mental stress.

If you truly believe they killed it, you have to take them to court and prove that they did in fact kill your ferret. If you don't take them to court, you have to pay for it, because surgeries cost a lot of money for them, so you have to pay it back because it was performed even though it wasn't successful.

Good luck.

Answer 2

ask the doctor why u should pay the money even though ur poor little ferret is dead. Why should u pay him for killing ur ferret?!

Answer 3

You're going to have to prove that what they did killed your ferret.  You could see about getting an autopsy performed, but that may not be practicle.  Your best bet would to be to get the opinion of other vets and if they agree that the vet that treated your ferret is responsible, get their statements in writing and take the vet to small claims.  You could also try negotiating with the vet your ferret was at to get the bill reduced, but if you accept the negotiated amount you can no longer take them to court.

Answer 4

They didn't kill him, he died. There is a difference. Did they tell you it would cost this much even if he died. You should have to pay it, but they should give you time to get over it and grieve. I would suggest finding a different vet if they are being greedy about the money. Doesn't sound like they are being very fair to you.

Answer 5

You should take it to court, if they killed it then you shouldn't let them get away with it, they should at least not make you pay anything, since THEY killed it.

Answer 6

I have 2 ferrets so I understand how they can become like family to us. However, the surgery for adrenal disease is very expensive, and as a responsible ferret owner, you should have put money aside in case something like this happened.

I learned this the hard way, too, and now I have pet insurance which would cover surgeries or any health problems that may come up.

You are responsible for the charges, even though your ferret died. The vet didn't kill your ferret; in fact they probably did all they could to save him. Adrenal disease is a killer, surgery or not.

Answer 7

Unfortunatly, you are responsible for paying this.  There are risks to every surgery.  The doctor said that it was large and contained a large blood supply, meaning that there was something wrong with it.   The doctor didn't cause this.

What you are paying for is the resources and time it took to do all this.  They can't get that back.  Unfortunatly for you, you do need to pay it.

Sorry about your ferret.

Answer 8

Yes you should pay it.

Adrenal cancer is a very serious disease.  It is fatal.  Ether you have two option, the surgery and hope the cancer is removed and has not spread, or meds. to slow down the disease.  Depending on the heath of the ferret you can decide which direction to go.  When you have the surgery you should be informed by the vet that there is a chance that the ferret will not make it, ether threw the surgery or passing away the next day, week or month.  They did not kill him, they were trying to save him, the cancer killed him.  

I can understand though of having to pay all the money and it turns out you are getting nothing in return.  Think of it as paying to give your little guy a chance of living a longer life,  he would have passed away from the cancer eventually.

Answer 9

putting any animal under anestisia is cause for concern the ferret made it through sugery, even if he didn't have surgery your ferret was more than likely not going to make it, there is nothing you can do unfortunately and you are responsible for the cost of surgery, the vets didn't kill him his body was just to weak to withstand anymore  i do not reccomend suing cause the courts will more than likely rule in favor of the vets office and you will be stuck with court costs and the vets office will more than likely counter sue you for the cost of their court bills and you will be stuck with having to pay 2 times as much as before talk to your vet about a payment plan and see if they work with you sorry about your ferret you did  everything you could for him and good luck hope this helps

Answer 10

Unfortunately, the only option is to take this to court.

You shouldn't let them get away with this, no, and it's not fair at all.

I feel sorry for you & your poor ferret, but it's gonna be just fine.

<3 x

Answer 11

Yes, you should pay the bills. Did the vet tell you thier was a risk of your ferret dying? It was good you took him to the vet. I'm sorry about your ferret.