Why you should ask to see your pet’s medical notes

‘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.