‘Notice from your vets’ said the email subject. I clicked and there was a letter telling me that my vet was sacking me as a client with two weeks’ notice, even though I had a sick dog.

This was because I had asked to see my dog’s notes and discovered they had been discussing me, not just the dog, behind my back – because I had pointed out a mistake.

The more astonishing thing is that the mistake was not made by them, but by another vet who had missed an infection my spaniel was suffering from, which was why I took the poor pooch to this other vet, who did find it, and who I had repeatedly thanked and praised ever since.

Sadly, Cydney is now suffering with an underlying condition, aged 11, and has to be made as comfortable as possible, so you would think any vet would support me.

The first vet was a chain vet I had paid £5,000 in April for an emergency op for a ‘pyometra’ – a condition in older females. I took her back there a few weeks ago because of the sudden onset of other symptoms.

A young vet, unsupervised, had gone out the back and I could hear him making phone calls to his boss, flustered and unsure. He did blood tests and sent me home. Later, I had an idea she had an infection and went back. He examined her again and dismissed this possibility.

The next morning, Saturday, I found another vet that happened to be open and took her there. He immediately located an infected abscess, treated it and sent her home with antibiotics. I thought it responsible to tell the first vet they had missed this.

What then came down on me was the full weight of corporate veterinary wrath. They told me I was in an official complaints procedure, the purpose of which, it seemed to me, was to prove that they were right to miss the infection. They deluged me with emails, and at one point offered me a free consultation to assess the infection that had now been cured.

On and on it went. But I had this new vet and I was satisfied the ageing spaniel had someone who was on her side.

He repeated the blood tests, told me it was not great news long term, as suspected, and the only possible intervention would be lengthy and painful, and likely to fail. She could be made comfortable with steroids, so I opted for that.

As far as Cydney was concerned, her problems were dealt with. The infection had gone, she was almost back to herself again. She could, as many ageing dogs do, live with a condition for as long as we could keep her comfortable.

But the second vet kept referring to the first vet practice as ‘my colleagues’, and it made me uncomfortable. Was there a business link between the two?

So I asked for my notes, remembering when we were first told we could see our GP notes and how we asked for them and had a good nose into what our doctors really thought about us.

Well, more people should ask for their pet’s notes.

It turned out the first vet had telephoned the second vet and told them I had complained. That perhaps explained how they  treated me throughout. Referred to as ‘O’ for owner, I was described as someone who had ‘expressed the limitations re finances to pursue further tests’. In fact, I had told both vets that I would pay whatever it took to cure Cydney if the investigation and treatment were not too traumatic and if there was a reasonable chance of success, and even though I had just spent £5,000 on surgery.

At one point, they recorded how they called me back in for a blood test that had failed so they had to repeat it because the sample they took was insufficient, and they reported my response as ‘Has advised has ruined her day’.

What I had said was that I was upset for the poor dog as she had not had her breakfast. I had been told to fast her for the test and was about to feed her. I complained she was sore from being shaved and had razor burn. I was stressed that something else had gone wrong. I was obviously distraught about Cydney. But none of that was mentioned.

After reading the notes, I sent a polite email asking for a few things to be corrected for the record.

The vet wrote back: ‘We give you two weeks’ notice that our professional services will no longer be provided for your pets and ask you to seek the services of another Veterinary Practice.’

He signed it ‘Kind regards’. But there was nothing kind about it.

The post Why you should ask to see your pet’s medical notes appeared first on The Spectator.