Too rough on older pets

We had 2 small dogs that recently passed away, which were each 13 and 14 years old respectively. I truly believe that at least one of these dogs may still be alive today, had we not taken them to the Roodekruin Veterinary Clinic.

While the Vet did try to help in both instances, I believe that their approach to treating both of our dogs was completely wrong. The reason for saying this is our first dog was taken to them towards the end of 2021. This dog’s health was not good as she was 14 years old and she was acting strange so we suspected memory loss. The Vet said she was fine but wanted to analyse a tumour at the back of the dog’s tail. They were of the view it was fluid build-up and not a tumour. They took our (frail) dog to their rooms and then proceeded to withdraw fluid from the dog’s tail. They stitched the wound up and bandaged it, but afterwards once we arrived home, bleeding from the tail started to occur (through the bandage) and it progressed severely to the point where we needed to take the dog back to the vet. They then tried to assist, but said unfortunately they cannot stop the bleeding and the dog needs to be put down. My initial thought was why then did they fiddle with an obvious tumour, but nevertheless we proceeded with their recommendation as the dog was suffering.

The second dog was also old and suffered what we think may have been a stroke in early January, so we rushed her to this Vet too, as they as they are very close to our home. They then analysed her and kept her for a few days, while also prescribing a lot of medication for the dog when we collected her. At her age, these meds were definitely too strong (in my opinion) but I’m not a Vet. Our dog initially seemed fine but after some days on the medication, she became immobile and was unable to walk and also unable to even defecate. She was still fine after the stroke for a few days and walking, but after we took her to this Vet (a week prior) for treatment, her movement was hindered badly in her back legs. They then said, the dog is old and needs to also be put down. It was really heart-breaking to witness this. It is important to note that this dogs legs were on the weaker side, but I felt that this Vet was too rough with both our dogs, especially given their fragility and age. Furthermore, it was also a different person that assisted with each of our dogs.

Please note that the views expressed above are purely my own, but I certainly would not recommend this Vet.