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I think my vet made a mistake.
What can I do?
Something has gone wrong with your animal's veterinary care.
Perhaps your pet became much sicker after treatment. A diagnosis was missed or delayed. An operation didn't go as expected. Your animal suffered an injury. Or, hardest of all, your animal died.
You may be upset, angry and left wondering: Was this just a bad outcome — or did something go wrong that shouldn't have?
That isn't always an easy question to answer.
Veterinary medicine involves judgement, uncertainty and risk. Even excellent veterinary care cannot guarantee a good outcome.
But veterinarians also have professional responsibilities, and sometimes the treatment or advice an animal receives does fall below the standard that should reasonably be expected.
Working out which of those situations you are dealing with is the place to start.
A bad outcome doesn't necessarily mean your vet was negligent
This is important.
Animals can deteriorate despite appropriate treatment. Diseases can be difficult to diagnose. Surgery carries risks. Animals don't always respond to treatment in the way we hope.
The fact that your animal became worse — or even died — does not by itself establish veterinary negligence.
Equally, being told that something was “a known complication” doesn't necessarily answer every question.
The real issue is usually: What should a reasonably competent veterinarian have done in these circumstances — and is that what happened?
To answer that, we often need to understand both the veterinary medicine and the evidence.
What can go wrong with veterinary care?
Concerns about veterinary treatment can arise in many different ways.
They might involve:
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Diagnosis: Was an important condition missed, or should further tests have been undertaken?
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Treatment: Was the treatment appropriate for the condition and the information available at the time?
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Surgery: Was the procedure appropriate, properly performed and adequately monitored afterwards?
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Medication: Was the correct drug, dose and method of administration used?
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Monitoring and follow-up: Were signs of deterioration recognised and acted upon appropriately?
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Referral: Should referral to another veterinarian or specialist have been recommended?
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Communication and consent: Were the material risks, alternatives and likely costs adequately explained before decisions were made?
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Records and continuity of care: Do the clinical records show what was found, what decisions were made and why?
Sometimes the concern involves one obvious event.
More often, the answer lies in the sequence of decisions made over hours, days or even weeks.
"The vet says it was just a complication"
Sometimes it was.
A complication can occur even when veterinary treatment has been entirely appropriate.
But describing an outcome as a complication is the beginning of the enquiry, not necessarily the end of it.
We may need to ask:
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Was this a recognised risk of the procedure or treatment?
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How likely was it?
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Were you told about that risk?
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Could reasonable steps have reduced the risk?
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Was the complication recognised promptly when it occurred?
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Was it managed appropriately once it was identified?
There can be an important difference between a complication occurring and the way that complication was prevented, recognised or managed.
How do I know whether my vet actually made a mistake?
We start by reconstructing what happened.
Not simply from memory, but from the evidence.
That may mean looking at:
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The clinical records: Consultation notes, examination findings, diagnoses, treatment plans and progress notes.
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Laboratory and diagnostic results: Blood tests, pathology, radiographs, ultrasound, CT or other investigations.
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Medication and anaesthetic records: What was given, when, at what dose and how the animal responded.
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Surgical records: What procedure was performed and what occurred during and after it.
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Communications: Emails, text messages, estimates, consent forms and notes of telephone conversations.
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The chronology: Often one of the most useful things we can do is put everything into a timeline and ask what was known — or should reasonably have been known — at each point.
Only then can we start comparing what happened with what reasonably should have happened.
Can I complain about my vet?
Yes. There are different possible pathways, depending on what has happened and what you want to achieve.
For example, concerns about a veterinarian's professional conduct or competence may potentially be raised through the veterinary professional complaints process.
But a professional complaint and a claim seeking compensation are not necessarily the same thing.
Before starting a process, it is worth asking: What outcome am I actually looking for?
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An explanation?
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An acknowledgement or apology?
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A refund of veterinary fees?
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The cost of remedial treatment?
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Compensation for a financial loss?
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Professional accountability?
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A change in the way the practice operates?
Sometimes there may be more than one pathway.
Choosing the process should follow understanding the problem — not the other way around.
Why DogLawyer?
Veterinary negligence cases are unusual because understanding the law is only half the problem.
Someone also needs to understand the medicine
I’m Dr Ian Robertson, the Principal of Guardianz. I'm often referred to as 'that guy who's a vet and a lawyer'.
I started my career as a clinical veterinarian, later become a lawyer, and worked as a prosecutor for the Ministry of Primary Industries. Today, I leverage this unique blend of expertise as a defence barrister, specialising exclusively in the field of animal law.
Animal law is not just one of the things I do; it’s the entire focus of my work as a lawyer.
Guardianz is the only law firm in New Zealand dedicated to the practice of animal law. We genuinely care about animal law being done well and the outcome you get.
How do you want to look back on things in 12 months?
What's the best that could happen?
What's the worst?
Smart steps taken at the right time are routinely key factors that affect your outcomes in these matters, so your next step is simply to fill in this contact form.
CONTACT US
You can help us to help you by using the 'Message' section in this form to tell us:
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Where you are in the country
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Key dates and details about the problem that you're facing; and
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What you would like to see as the outcome.
"Bottom line," it doesn’t matter where you are in New Zealand; one way or another, we can help you put your best case forward.