I fell in love with her and she with me. I had her love and companionship for eleven years and three months, I was looking forward to a few more years with her when she died from what I firmly believe was a toxic reaction to Rimadyl. She had been taking it for eleven months when she became ill. She was unwell so I took her to see the vet, she had been vomiting and hardly eating anything, she had a swollen stomach and she was having difficulty standing, her legs would splay as she tried to stand up, she was dizzy, restless and panting heavily. If I had been given the information regarding Rimadyl's potential side effects I would have recognised her symptoms as a serious toxic reaction, something my once ' trusted ' vet failed to do.

Instead of withdrawing 'treatment' with Rimadyl Kerry's vet told me to increase the dose for three days ! This, I feel, sealed Kerry's fate and she passed away four days later after she waited for me to come home from work to say good-bye, she died in my arms in the garden ten minutes after I came home. But, if I had know the facts about this dreadful drug I would never have given it to Kerry and I would have sought alternative treatment for her. Not once did my veterinary discuss anything about any side effects with me and no tests were done to check for liver and kidney function before or during Kerry's ' treatment '. Nearly every 'story' I've read of someone's precious pet dying due to a SAR to Rimadyl the pet owner has said they were never told by their veterinary about the potential side effects. In my opinion, with the exception of a small minority, most vets come with the same script when we pet owners start to ask questions about the safety of the drugs they prescribe for our pets, most have no morals or they wouldn't dispense such a potentially lethal drug so casually for every ailment suffered by our pets, we all know Rimadyl is an anti-inflammatory pain relief drug so why is it prescribed for conditions where the dogs are not in pain? I blame Kerry's vet for her death above Pfizer as it was she who failed to inform me of the facts, and I blame myself for putting my ' blind ' trust in her and not researching Rimadyl for myself before giving it to Kerry, but if my vet was doing her job properly I shouldn't have needed to do any research. The casual way it is dispensed so readily for any ache or pain gives us, the pet guardian, the impression it is completely safe - UNTRUE ! If it is so safe why do the veterinaries become annoyed and defensive if we start to ask them questions about it ? After Kerry's death I had a meeting with the head vet at the surgery where Kerry's vet ' practiced ', he was annoyed when I asked if Kerry could have had an adverse reaction to Rimadyl, he appeared to be shaking and when I told him what I had read on the Senior Dogs website he said " You can't believe everything you read on the internet " and he also said " you're obviously going down the legal route which you're quite welcome to do, but you wont win. "Kerry was my soul mate and I miss her more than words can say, she is on my mind the whole time, she's the first thing I think of when I wake and the last thing on my mind when I go to sleep, I will never forgive myself for letting her down by putting my trust in her veterinary and I will never forgive my once ' trusted ' vet for failing to provide me with the facts.In the UK it is a legal requirement that vets discuss the potential side effects of veterinary medicines with their clients, they are breaking the law by failing to do so, but the law is not being enforced. I complained about Kerry's vet to the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons and she was given ' advice ' on client communication, in my opinion she got away with a ' slap on the wrist 'KERRY, I love you and miss you.

MUM xxxx  

Gina Spillane