Would you complain to vet

Aww poor dog, well yes I would certainly be asking lots of questions, I don’t know whether you are in the U.K., I presume the head bucket you are referring to is what we call a cone, ( collar) you are certainly not being unreasonable, if you had a discharge letter stating it should have been kept on, I would have contacted the vets asking about it as soon as I left after reading it, it’s been years since our dogs have been castrated so I’m not sure whether dogs still have them fitted, but as the wound is now infected due to licking , yes we would certainly be making a complaint

I would ask to see the head vet because I do not think you should be paying for all of the drugs the poor dog is having to take. It would appear you were given the wrong advice and you should not be paying for somebody else's mistake.

Why were you advised to have your dog castrated if he was elderly?

They were concerned he might have a tumour, but then said once it was dealt with and sent away of course we do not know if it is malignant 10 percent are we will have to monitor him.We would not have gone down this route if we knew that is what they would say.We have always been told not to do it unless he was having an operation for another problem, we listened to what they said and now are in this mess.

You should have told them that you needed the cone, very few dogs would be able to resist licking a wound.
If he had refused to let you have one then you would have cause for complaint, as it is I’m afraid you should have pointed out that you knew your dog better than the new Vet, especially as the letter also said that your dog should have a cone.

I hope your dog gets well soon children2 I know how upsetting and costly it can be.

An open minded discussion with the Practice Manager might be in order. Go to it with an idea of what you'd like the outcome to be rather than leave it to the practice to offer a suggestion. I'm sure they'll understand your perspective & will surely want to retain your good will? Word of mouth travels fast so I hope you can reach an amicable resolution. Meanwhile, I hope your dear doggy gets well soon.

Our Cavalier had an op on his neck last week which in normal circumstances would have needed a cone but as the site is on his neck he is wearing a full body suit .

I don’t know why you weren’t given a cone but equally wasn’t it obvious he would need one? Why would they say he couldn’t reach the wound when a dog can lick virtually every part of its body?

I think they are 75% at fault but you are 25% . They should have said and you should have asked.

Having said that if it was me I would be looking to get them to cover the additional costs of their failure .

It’s very difficult to go against any advice given to you. imo the practice are at fault and the practice manager needs to know that you were advised against your dog wearing a cone collar. If you’ve never had a dog castrated before you will depend on the advice given to you. I assume people still aren’t allowed inside the building which makes it even more difficult to have a proper consultation.

Certainly complain to the senior partner in the practice.
A substantial reduction in the bills would be in order, as if the dog had been properly treated, you would not be faced with them.

As far as I know, no tumours whether in animals or humans can be examined to determine whether they are cancerous or not unless they are removed, so I do not think you can quibble at the advice to remove a tumour, even if it involved castration.

I hope you get a satisfactory response to your complaint.

Update re dog. The vet did another swab and has come back with the name for his bacteria. It is in the envoirement so could have picked it up anywhere, still least they know what to treat it with and their profits going up daily! Still concerned re the collar etc but hopefully dog on the mend. The poor thing has been through so much it is very sad.