On Thursday, February 15. I noticed my dog cough. I was not very concerned at the time since she was very energetic and playful and was eating well. I though perhaps it was the climate change or allergies. It started to get worse and more frequent over the weekend. I was going to bring her to the vet on Fort Stewart the following Monday to get her checked out.
She ate well as usual over the weekend and other than the cough she seemed to be fine. Then on Sunday at about 1:25pm I noticed she was lying down and did not get up when I called her. I picked her up and noticed her breathing was labored and looked at her gums and they were not as pink as they should be. I offered her water and she would not take it. I knew immediately she was in distress.
I called 4 or 5 vets and Dr. Stobaeus was the first one that I spoke to since he has his personal number on his answering machine at his office. I told him what was going on and he said to bring her in and he would meet me there. When I got there, he was not there but there were 3 men who said he would be there soon. I waited about 20 minutes and he arrived.
I told him what I knew about the dog and that I was concerned about heartworm since I did some research on the internet when I noticed the cough and knew that could be a possibility. I commented that she seemed to be dehydrated and her gums were turning white. He listened to her heart and felt her stomach and looked at her gums. He took a blood sample and went into another room. I heard him say, Hey guys, have you ever seen microfilaria? Come here and look at this! The men went into the room with him and then he returned with the men to the examination table. He said the men were his students and they were from Iran.
Dr. Stobaeus told me shed heartworm and it was not looking good. She had heart arrhythmia due to the heartworms. I asked him what he could do for her. I told him I wanted her treated. He said I owed him $200 already and he would need that to continue. I told him $200 was ridiculous and he did nothing other than a heartworm test. He then said, I'll tell you what, I can tell you are from up North too and we aren't like these rednecks down here.
They would tell you to take her in the yard and shoot her. Let me keep her overnight and try to stabilize her, let's see how she is in the morning.By then it will be $200 because I am going to give her some fluids and see how she does. You can decide where you want to go from there.
He called me Monday morning and said she was doing much better. I went in to see her and she was in a cage in the back. She did not seem better to me. I took her outside to let her walk around a bit and she urinated and fell over. She seemed worse than when I brought her in. I told him I wanted to begin treatment for the heartworm immediately. He told me it would be around $1200. I told him I could give him $200 a month until she was well. I even told him I had other dogs and would consider bringing them to him for their routine care as well. I was hoping the promise of repeat business would motivate him to help Sarah.
He said she had diarrhea and he would not let her leave until she was over it and he could not treat her until then. He said to give him a $200 deposit before I left. I declined and said I would give it to him when I picked her up.
I thought it was odd that he wanted money from me while the dog was still in his care. I was also concerned since she seemed to be getting worse and it did not appear that he was doing much for her.
I asked him what he was doing for her. I expressed my concern that her gums were white and asked if she could have anemia. I asked why she was not on an IV. His response was, You said you couldn't afford to give me more than $200 to treat her and doing those things would go over your budget. I am giving her a pill for diarrhea and that's all.
I have not done any tests or given her any other treatment since that would be more money I corrected him and said. No, I said $200 in monthly payments until her treatment was finished. His reply was to bring him the $200 the next morning and he would get started. But either way he said you cannot take her home until she is over the diarrhea and I am not going to do any tests until I get the deposit and you have to pay me $75 a day to board her.
I was so upset when I left. I knew Sarah was dying because he depriving her of treatment.
On Tuesday morning, I started calling other vets and found out the treatment should only be from $400 to $800 depending on the severity of the heartworm. At this point I wanted to bring Sarah elsewhere since I began to question the care she was receiving. I made an appointment for her my other dogs since they were due for their annual shots at the Fort Stewart vet for 2:00pm that same day.
I called Doctor Stobeaus, he was not in. I told his receptionist his fees were out of line and I was going to take her somewhere else and since he was doing nothing other than giving her a pill, I could do that myself at home without paying him $75 a day. I also stated that I would bring $100 with me towards her bill. She told me there was no way she was letting the dog go without the Doctors consent and now the dog had stopped eating as well and her condition was deteriorating.
I told her to call him immediately because I was coming for her and wanted to make sure he would release the dog. I waited for 2 hours and he never called me.
I waited for Doctor Stobeaus to call me back and he never did. I didn't know what to do. I had never dealt with something like this before. All I could think of was her dying in that cage without care. I called the Humane society in Brunswick and told them what was going on, they told me to call the dog officer and I met with him and he said he was going to take the dog to protective custody.
I was so happy! She would get the care she needed. But sadly, she died as soon as she got out of the vets office. I waited too long to act. Had I known what to do sooner and got her away from Doctor Stobaeus, she might have lived. Had Dr. Stobaeus provided her with care, she might have lived. At least would not have suffered in a cage with no care.
I had a necropsy done and it seems that she did die of heart failure. She also had pneumonia according to the report. I got the vet bill of $425.00 3 weeksafter her death. I have never received a phone call from this guy to tell me my dog had died. For three days there and deworming and supposedly sub Q fluids and the above mentioned "treatment" he charged $425.00.
I have talked to all the local pet stores and animal shelters and they all know this guy. All the veterinary board does is fine him and he is back at it. This dog may have died anyway. But she did not deserve to be left in a cage without suitable care. The dog officer was mortified when he saw her. This vet never called to update me on the dogs condition, nor did he call to say she died.
I do not feel that he was proefessional or ethical in the way he handled things. He seemed cold hearted to me the way he left her in that cage to die. I guess I need to pay him. I do think the bill is rediculously high for this area and feel that because of the lack of contact and lack of suitable care for the dog, he is not entitled to it. I don't know if I am going to file a report with the vet board.
It does not seem that is made a difference when others have before. I also have an additional fee to the state for the necropsy and tox reports, a modest $75 which I will pay gladly. Even if the dog would have died anyway, do you think this was ethical, prefessional and represented a caring veterinarian? A professional Doctor? What would you do?
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