Dumb Friends League Veterinary Hospital at CSU Spur

Thank you, Forrest for your support!

Dear Mr. Whiteley, Please accept our sincerest condolences in your loss of Rose. As you know, parvovirus in such a young puppy has an extremely guarded prognosis even with the most aggressive medical treatment. Our staff dedicated hours of nursing care to give her a chance, and we are sad that she wasn’t able to recover. Your concerns regarding parvo patients being unattended overnight are valid. As a non-profit, donor-subsidized veterinary hospital, we don't have the resources to staff the hospital 24/7. You sought our care, presumably because the emergency hospital where Rose was initially seen at was financially out of reach for you. We are transparent about this practice. The risks with leaving a critical patient unattended overnight while receiving intravenous fluids and medication almost always outweigh the risk of sending and the patient home with no medical care. We stand behind the decision to hospitalize Rose while staff was not present rather than letting her suffer at home. Urgent care services are not open over the weekend, which is why we needed to discharge Rose on Friday evening. We did recommend transfer to an emergency practice for continued care, which it seems you did not pursue. Our policy to not offer resuscitation efforts to animals with parvovirus is based on experience. Resuscitation in a critical two pound puppy that is compromised with parvovirus has a zero percent chance of survival without advanced intensive therapies and care, treatments that are beyond our capabilities. Even with days of ICU hospitalization at a specialty hospital, survival of a patient that has decompensated is negligible. As a subsidized hospital, we have a responsibility to be good stewards of the donations received. Putting resources towards advanced treatments into a patient with a poor prognosis only limits our ability to help dozens of other animals. Our hospital admittedly has limitations on the scope of care we can provide. Our fees are generously subsidized by donations with the owner paying only a portion of what it costs to provide the care. Our staff pours their heart and soul into their patients and your comments are damaging to the medical team that makes a commitment to help families that cannot afford care elsewhere. You are grieving a difficult loss, and we hope that you grieve gently and get to a place of understanding and compassion.