1. He injected into a blood vessel and caused a hematoma.
2. When he opened a needle he accidentally touched something and used a dirty needle for the injection.
I contacted the vet clinic in Germany and asked for help. I am waiting for their reply.
But most probably my dog will need an ultrasound and biopsy. Does anyone know how much will it cost me in Switzerland?
Is there anything I can do at home for him?
Or did someone have a similar experience?
Thanks
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I don't think any of us can - or should - speculate as to what has happened, as we are not vets, and have not seen your dog. Unfounded speculation can lead to more harm than good.
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Do you believe your dog can manage until Monday, when vet practices re-open, or do you believe the pain is such that he needs an emergency appointment this weekend?
How did you leave it with the vet in Bern? Did he or she tell you when to come back if there was no improvement?
Did you feel comfortable with this vet? If so, I would go back on Monday, ask for a further assessment.
If necessary, you could ask for a referral to the Kleintierklinik of the University of Bern. This clinic is run by the Veterinary school, and has the bells and whistles for advanced diagnostics.
https://www.kleintierklinik.unibe.ch...index_ger.html
Now - while not outrageously expensive, be aware that specialist care will cost more. You will have to pay for a consultation to get started - a couple hundred perhaps - but before embarking on a course of treatment ask for a cost estimate upfront.
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I have had many ultrasounds and biopsies done with my mutts, for varying reasons - and the cost varies as well, depending on what is needed in an individual case.
But to give you a very rough idea of various veterinary costs in Switzerland, here are some published veterinary price lists. First, from a vet in Thun, from 2021:
http://www.tierklinik-thun.ch/filead...linik_Thun.pdf
And here is the general Tarriff list from the Tierspital at Uni Zürich from 2019 (maybe figure in a little more for inflation.) I couldn't find one for UniBE, but as they are both clinics run by the teaching and research universities I'd guess they would be similar.
https://www.rd.uzh.ch/dam/jcr:b6fbe1...Tierspital.pdf
As you can see you are probably looking in the low three figures for an ultasound.
If a biopsy is needed, a simple needle aspirate with a tolerant dog won't be too expensive. If sedation is needed, or if a surgical biopsy is needed, costs will be higher.
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If the local vet says that the condition is not time critical, can you return to Germany for treatment? It will likely cost less there.
If you can't get to Germany, can you arrange a video appointment with the vet you saw there? That shouldn't be too expensive and might bring you some peace of mind.
If the condition is urgent, though, if your dog is in significant pain, don't delay treatment - go to a local vet!
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This is bolting the barn door after the horse has escaped, but for the future, if you are worried about being able to afford an unexpected veterinary bill, you might want to look into taking out pet health insurance.
There are several threads on the subject, do a bit of browsing. Be aware, though, that pre-existing conditions are likely to be excluded from coverage, so run several scenarios to see if this is a sensible solution for you, or not.
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I am not in the BE area, my personal experience is with vets and clinics in the ZH/SZ/ZG area. Hopefully someone from the BE area will be along shortly with futher suggestions for area vets.
I hope you find answers soon, and that your pup recovers quickly.
Wishing you and your pup all the best.
ETA:
Just an FYI, there is a video veterinary consultation service, partnering with Meiko, the pet supply company. I have never used this, so please take it as information only, rather than a recommendation. Cost of the first consultation via phone or video is CHF 45 for a 10-15 minute consultation.
But were it me, I'd be back at the local vet on Monday - I'd want an in-person consultation.
Again, all the best.
FWIW I can strongly advocate the vet hospital in Bern (see Meloncollie's post above). When Heros, our old giant schnauzer (dearly departed), got leptospirosis in 2010 which caused kidney failure, he was referred to Bern as it is (or was) the only place in the country that does (did) veterinary dialysis. The level of care there was superb - one of the vets lay next to him on the floor holding his paw all night because she saw how terrified he was and realised the physical contact soothed him, which was critical to his recovery (and believe me it was very touch and go whether he would make it).
Granted it was 11.5 years ago now, but 12 days in intensive care with three lots of dialysis plus all the medications etc. came to just under Fr 5000. This just to give you and idea of costs for a very serious situation and hence very serious veterinary cost.
How is your dog today?
Were you able to speak to a vet, either here or in Germany?
All the best to you and your furry friend.
We had a real problem with a French vet when we lived in the UK. The young vet did not take care when applying the tick solution behind our dog's neck, at the vet check pre return to UK. It went all over her back. We then got her in the car and drove right through France, and back to our home in the Midlands. She seemed OK. The next day, she was in pain, her mough swollen and could not eat, so took her to our vet in UK who asked if she had possibly drunk or eaten anything very toxic. No we said, we drove straight home from the French vet.
And bingo, the penny dropped. She had to have full anesthesia to check the back of her throat and tongue- and a very lenghty and expensive treatment. I wrote a very polite letter to the Head of the vet practice in France, who totally refused to take any responsibility. I wrote a second letter- same response. The next time we were over, we went to see him to discuss the issue- just didn't want to know. We could have sued, but from abroad, it is very difficult to deal with. We paid the bills and put it down to experience- and wrote the whole story on their internet page.
BTW, why did you have this done in Germany, and not at your local Vets here?
To try and save a little bit of money that unfortunately turns out, yet again, to be a false economy
Of course anytime I bring my muttley home from the ICU alive and well, thanks to the outstanding care available here, I consider that money well spent, whatever the amount may be.
Stuff like this can happen anywhere, even if you are paying top dollar. We also used German vets sometimes and they were fine. All the vets in the practice we go to now are from Italy, and they are really good. One of the best dental vets that we have had was in Germany.
We went to a local vet when we lived in Aargau. He put our dog on the table and it collapsed!
One thing I love about the vets here is that they hardly use the examination table but virtually always get on the floor with our dog. He's much more at ease on the floor than on the table and he really loves the vet that deals with him most.
Just like with humans, veterinary care can sometimes be "random". You can be unlucky, and it doesn't matter where you are.
If you or an animal is having treatment, surely it is fairly sensible to make sure the person treating isn't 3 or 4 hours away by car.
People do this as they think (sometimes rightly) Switzerland is expensive but by the time you've factored in transport costs and time, i really think it doesn't make so much differecne for these small things.
As I said, the best canine dental surgeon that we found was German and he was located an hour away from us. It was a no-brainer. The fact that it was cheaper was not relevant.
However, when our dog developed allergies and needed allergy medication, we found a vet in Germany who could supply it as it cost less than 50% in Germany than it did in Switzerland. And at over CHF 400 for a box of 100 pills, it made a lot of sense to pick the pills up over the border for that kind of saving.
As with everything, decisions like this are contextual and depend on the circumstances. I would certainly not tar someone with "being cheap" because they looked for a more reasonable way of getting something done. Pet ownership is expensive enough and getting shots at a veterinary practice should have been fairly routine. This, in my opinion, was just really unlucky.