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RIP Nomnom May 23, 2013-January 4, 2014

Nomdog in better days

Our puppy, Nomnom died yesterday. I am too devastated to talk about it, but my mom found the courage to write about it since she wants to save other people the grief we’re going through right now. Here are her words:

Our sweet, lively puppy died yesterday, 2 days after a medicated bath given by St. Francis Animal Clinic in Visayas Avenue, Quezon City. It was a treatment for galis, or scabies. No post bath instructions, no precautions, no warnings to use a cone to keep him from licking, no instructions on what to do if his behavior changed or showed signs of adverse effects. They didn’t even tell us what he was bathed in. The first bath administered by Julie Fajardo resulted in lethargy, loss of appetite. We thought it was because of the effects of the antibiotic Cefalexin on his tummy. He pulled through the first time, but we were told that this had to be done every week for the next two months. The second bath was scheduled on December 28 but we postponed it since he had not fully recovered yet, and with his first New Year’s Eve looming, we thought it would be too stressful to get before then.

When he showed that he was back to his sweet and loving self, we brought him to Mac Young of St. Francis Animal Clinic for his second treatment and took him home at 3 pm. He stopped eating and drinking January 3, and had difficulty breathing January 4. He was dead upon arrival when taken to another veterinarian’s clinic at 4 pm. When confronted about the death, Mac Young denied any liability on the tragedy. No words of comfort, just a copy of the drug information used, Amitraz, which highlights adverse effects, and what to do after the bath. This was too little too late, as if we had been given this leaflet, we could have followed the instructions. It was given to us when it no longer mattered. Our hearts are broken but for the thoughts that Nomnom is in a happy place now.

He was a happy puppy.

Isn’t it true that all dogs go to heaven? Well then he deserves all the happiness that heaven has for him now.

St. Francis Animal Clinic is at:

36-B VISAYAS AVE. EXT’N. TANDANG SORA, PASONG TAMO 1116 Quezon City, Philippines

0928 625 6949, 924-98-66

They also have a branch at:

402-C3 Tandang Sora Ave., Culiat, Quezon City.
Contact No.: 454-87-21

Their facebook page is found here.

The veterinarians that treated our pup were: Julie Fajardo and Mac Young.

Nomnom May 23, 2013-January 4, 2014

8 responses to “RIP Nomnom May 23, 2013-January 4, 2014”

  1. Maan Pamintuan Avatar
    Maan Pamintuan

    Ohmi… condolence.. im so sorry for this. Im a dog lover myself and i cant bear the thought of this happening to my dogs.. Hope it’s okay if i share the link so people will be more choosy and careful when bringing their pets to vet clinics.

  2. Jody Alarva Avatar
    Jody Alarva

    Hi Maan, please do share this. Pets are our family and we want to take care of our family. Thank you!

  3. Ruthie Avatar
    Ruthie

    Hi Jody, i understand where you are coming from. It’s difficult to loss a friend and companion. Nomnom is in a better place now…

    I’m a dog owner of a 3 year old male shih tzu. Eversince, I only entrusted my pet to veterinarians at UP Vet Hospital (UP Diliman near Arts Bldg) and Bureau of Animal Inspection (Visayas Ave.) for consultation and treatments. Aside from inexpensive fees compared to most of private vet clinics, the doctors and interns are very professional and compassionate with their animal patients. Whenever my dog is sick, I usually bring him to UP Vet Hospital because they have a complete facility to operate lab test and even surgery.

    I hope that you can cope up soon. I’ll share your blog in my facebook account so we can also warn other people. God bless.

  4. Jody Alarva Avatar
    Jody Alarva

    Thank you Ruthie. Pets are really part of the family and we learned the hard way that some people do not understand the role they play. Thank you for the recommendation. Our remaining dogs and future ones will definitely be going to a better doctor should they need it. Please hug your dog for me.

  5. Arrow Avatar
    Arrow

    Another medical malpractice. I can relate to your story, I brought my puppy at this Animal Clinic near S&R Congressional. My puppy was injected by 3-in-1 vaccine resulted in loss of appetite & dehydration. 2 days after, I brought it back at the clinic, because he won’t eat. They confined him. The next day, my puppy was dead on their hands.
    Cause of death: Hindi daw kinaya ang vaccine. Sarap sipain ng spinning wheel kick!!!

  6. Mac Young Avatar
    Mac Young

    Hi Miss Alarva. Sorry to be bringing up this topic again. I just read your message now (2/19/14).
    I would be more than willing to replace your pup and sincerely apologize (it’s the least I can do) if you can give me some convincing evidence that the cause of death was due to our medicated bath.If that was the case rest assured that it was not intentional. Pleae forgive me if I cannot accept the blame just yet. The first reason is because I have been doing this form of medicated bath for almost 30 years and I have never encountered any deaths as a result. Because of my confidence in using this product I still continue this procesdure the same way I did with your pup. I just take precaution using this product on pups below 4 months, elderly, sick and/or weak dogs. May I know what the necropsy results revealed? The second reason is because The symptoms of Amitraz toxicosis develop acutely after the overexposure occurs — usually within two to six hours after the incidence. This means that the signs of poisoning should have been observe on the same day of the bath. Your pup showed signs after 2 days.Thirdly, you mentioned that your pup showed signs of bleeding from the nose. This is more a sign of rat poisoning and not a sign of amitraz poisoining. Fourthly, I cannot discount the possibility of something happening to your pup after our procedure. He might have gotten hold of something from somewhere. Or he might be already incubating some deadly disease. Fifthly, I was hoping I could talk to your vet so that she can tell me as a professional that the clinical signs she observed are conclusive evidence of amitraz toxicity. Or we can ask other senior vets who will be more objective. Sixthly, according to wikipedia,the toxic level of amitraz for dogs is 100mg/kg. This means that your pup should have ingested a lot, lot more of the solution we prepared for it to cause some serious problems. Seventhly, we followed the instructions on how to use the product. You can search their site (Ectodex). Please note: “Ectodex rarely produces side effects if used as directed. Very occasionally mild transient sedation may occur. Recovery is spontaneous.” Also please note that there is no instructions re using of E-collars (cones).
    In connection to your accusation, I am willing to cooperate with you in proving my guilt. I am willing to subject my 2 dogs to the same procedure. I can also buy a 6 month old shih tzu and give the medicated bath. Or you can give me any suggestions which mignt help you prove my guilt. However , since you are so sure of my guilt, I hope you will also be willing to give me compensation (to be discussed later if needed)if I can prove my innocence.
    PS. I am also sorry for not being apologetic beccause when you came to my clinic the day nomnom died, your mom was telling all my clients that we killed your pet even before I can explain my side.
    Thank you for your time. I really hope we can discuss the matter with someone without bias (like with another vet, professor, human doctor, etc.)so I can clear my name. I would also very much like to apologize to you and give you a new dog in case I am at fault. I really don”t like doing bad things to dogs and people.

    Sincerely,

    Mac Young

  7. Jody Alarva Avatar
    Jody Alarva

    Mr. Young,

    Your response is well noted. We had chosen not to pursue further action as no expense or effort will bring back the dog that was lost.

    Best,
    Jody

  8. R Bautista Avatar
    R Bautista

    First of all, I feel sorry for your loss. I understand your sentiments because I really love my dog too.

    Here’s my experience with this clinic:

    I brought my pug late 2013 to St Francis because of demodectic mange. I was advised to leave my dog in their clinic for a medicated bath using Ectodex. Instead, I opted to just do the treatment on my own and I asked for detailed instructions. The clinic also set my expectations that the infestation may come back considering my dog’s immunity. I followed the procedure carefully and after 3 cycles, my pug is Mange free..

    So after 2 years (late 2015), my dog had the same symptoms and I repeated the same medication with good results.

    I think Dr Mac Young and his staff are competent and they absolutely know what they’re doing. I think we should be fair with medical practitioners and we should have the inclination to educate ourselves to understand every circumstances we may run in to. If your dog unfortunately died on their hands, it doesn’t mean it’s medical malpractice..

    So recently, I see my dog having the same symptoms again so I went to the clinic today (6/14/2017) but unfortunately they don’t have Ectodex in stock.

    I need to find this medicine for my dog..

    So I tried to look where to buy online and then I stumbled upon this post.

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