| Complaint: | Complaint 21-56 |
|---|---|
| Respondent: | Kathleen Chiles |
| Premises: | Exceptional Pets Chandler |
The complainant tells us due to negligence, a dirty exam area, or equipment her cat was diagnosed with an abscess where blood was drawn on his neck. This resulted in multiple followup exams and medications that were prescribed; the compainant's tried to take it up with Exceptional Pets but says she was passed around from person to person. According to her, the operations manager (Jason Brown) had her get in touch with someone else (Carla, perhaps sh e means Scarlett Heydt) who told her these things happen all the time; the complaniant, on the other hand, says she's owned cats for 40 years and never had this happen. She would expect Exceptional Pets to take responsibility but they won't; she says that the cat deterioriated as a result of this and could no longer fight off both the infection and cancer. The cat was finally euthanized a month later. She also gives a timeline of each visit, treatments performed, and costs incurred; among other details we're told she was sold a bottle of "RCVD Recovery" (pet food?) that she didn't use because it was a year out of date.
Chiles tells us that the cat is actually older than the complainant says, at least according to the records she says she has. She also notes that the cat had an aggressive tumor on the right elbow, an abscess even the complainant wasn't aware of, and also matted, unkempt hair. She also says that according to the medical records the cat had developed two other abscesses at other veterinarians; she concludes the cat happens to develop abscesses a lot. She says that when she examined the cat she noted "the prognosis was very poor and quality of life should be considered" (that's veterinarian-speak for suggesting the cat was better off dead than alive); she recommended surgical consultation and oncology referrals but was turned down in favor of palliative care. She notes that an abscess did develop at the site of the blood draw but it had nothing to do with the care provided; she details how careful they are to keep things clean. We're also told the complainant is senile or something very similar in that she "tends to forget entire conversations including medication instructions, discharge instructions, laboratory result conversations, including emalls that were date and time stamped." We're told that the complainant wasn't charged for the recheck exams or wound care. She also believes the subsequent euthanasia was a result of the cat doing badly but had nothing to do with the abscess.
The Investigative Committee said that it's unusual to develop an abscess from a blood draw and that the cat was just prone to developing abscesses. They also said that the blood draw was done with a clean needle and totally up to code; even if it was caused by the blood draw, they say it wasn't intentional, and Chiles wrote off the cost of most of it anyway.
Exceptional Pets has an exceptional tie to the veterinary board in the case of Robyn Jaynes, who worked there as vice president of operations for The Pet Club/Exceptional Pets.
| Source: | May 5, 2021 PM Investigative Committee Meeting |
|---|---|
| People: | |
| David Stoll | Respondent Attorney |
| Kathleen Chiles | Respondent |
| Roll Call: | |
| Adam Almaraz | Aye |
| Amrit Rai | Aye |
| Brian Sidaway | Aye |
| Cameron Dow | Aye |
| Result: | Passed |
| Source: | June 6, 2021 Board Meeting |
|---|---|
| People: | |
| David Stoll | Respondent Attorney |
| Proposed By: | Nikki Frost |
| Seconded By: | Jessica Creager |
| Roll Call: | |
| Darren Wright | Aye |
| J Greg Byrne | Aye |
| Jane Soloman | Aye |
| Jessica Creager | Aye |
| Jim Loughead | Aye |
| Nikki Frost | Aye |
| Robyn Jaynes | Recused |
| Sarah Heinrich | Absent |
| Result: | Passed |
The primary source for the above summary was obtained as a public record from the Arizona State Veterinary Medical Examining Board. You are welcome to review the original records and board meeting minutes by clicking the relevant links. While we endeavor to provide an accurate summary of the complaint, response, investigative reports and board actions, we encourage you to review the primary sources and come to your own conclusions. In some cases we have also been able to reach out to individuals with knowledge of specific complaints, and where possible that information will be included here.