Retiree laments loss of canine companion
http://www.venicegondolier.com/NewsA...05/tp2vn15.htm
This poor man :(
Retiree laments loss of canine companion
It's clear from the moment you walk through Jerry Rustler's front door, you have entered the domain of a pet lover. Walls are filled with photos of his present and past dogs. Life-size ceramic Dalmations and tigers eye you as you walk from one room to the next.
In the den is a homemade shrine for Butterfly, with three shelves of photographs neatly displayed, surrounding Butterfly's leash, near a small decorated box that contains her ashes.
"I miss her so much," Rustler said. "I cry for her every day."
Butterfly, a Moth Papillon, was his constant companion for 14 years until she died on her birthday, Aug. 19.
"We were inseparable," Rustler said. "She went wherever I went. And I mean everywhere. We were never apart. Not one night.
"My friends know that if you take Jerry somewhere, you have to take Butterfly. We were just so close."
The night she died, Jerry Rustler took Butterfly home and sat with her in his arms all night because Rustler "couldn't go to bed."
As it is with many retirees, Rustler's pet was more than just a pet. She filled a basic human need.
"I live alone," said Rustler. "I am 75 years old. I have no family. Butterfly was my life. We talked to one another and knew each other's needs, wants. Love and devotion on both parts was beyond just having a pet."
A defective heart
Butterfly was born with a heart valve defect but had been carefully monitored over the years. Every June, Rustler would take his 5-pound, 4-ounce Papillon to the Tampa Bay Clinic in Largo, where a heart specialist took X-rays, blood test and an ultrasound of her heart. She was treated with a drug called Enacard.
The clinic vet told Rustler that Butterfly would die of old age before she would die of heart problems because of the excellent care she had been given since birth.
Only a few weeks after the last clinic visit, Rustler's local veterinarian prescribed thyroid medication after taking additional blood tests. Rustler said he was shocked by that because the specialist in Largo went over her blood tests with him and said Butterfly was fine.
When Rustler took Butterfly into the Emergency Veterinary Clinic of Sarasota that fateful night, the doctor on call looked at the medication she had been taking and said it was too powerful to use on her, according to Rustler.
Levothyroxine, the drug prescribed for Butterfly, is a synthetic thyroid hormone. Thyroid hormones increase the body's heart rate and entire metabolism.
Drug literature states that large doses may produce serious or even life-threatening manifestations of toxicity. Levothyroxine is contra-indicated in patients with acute myocardial infarction and precautioned in patients with cardiovascular disorders.
Like something right out of the TV series "ER," Butterfly's last breaths were recorded on her chart:
"The patient presented in respiratory distress. She is a small breed canine species that has a long history of cardiac complications. ... It is currently out of control. (A)s we were about to transfer the patient to radiology for imaging of her chest, she arrested. CPR was immediately instituted. ... The heart stopped beating and 1 cc of ephinephrine was administered IC. The patient was completely unresponsive. ... The patient's death was called."
Two hours after arriving at the emergency clinic, Jerry Rustler's dog was dead.
Looking for answers
Copies of records provided to the Venice Gondolier Sun show the local veterinarian called in prescriptions for Levothyroxine on two occasions. The first prescription was for 30 Levothyroxine pills with a dosage of 0.05 mg. The second prescription was called into PetMed. On this occasion, 120 pills were ordered with a dosage of 0.5 mg, 10 times the previous dosage.
Rustler gave Butterfly the medication on a daily basis, as prescribed.
"Butterfly would know when it was time to take her heart pills," Rustler said. "She would hold her head up with her mouth open. I'd just drop it in, and she would swallow it."
Rustler said he contacted his veterinarian on three occasions, concerned that Butterfly was panting excessively.
After Butterfly's death, Rustler wanted to understand what had happened.
"I asked my veterinarian, 'Was it PetMed that made the mistake?' She told me, 'No. It was me.' The doctor owned up to her mistake," according to Rustler.
Rustler said the veterinarian apologized, and added that she was not perfect.
"That's not good enough," said Rustler. "It was so cold. I just can't accept that. At the very least you'd think she would offer me another Papillon. But she didn't. She offered no replacement. No restitution. No nothing."
The veterinarian is not being named because a licensing complaint is pending review, but she stands by her treatment.
"I took excellent care of her all those years," she said while declining to comment on the specifics of Rustler's claims. "There is more to this. Mr. Rustler called in the prescription. I would caution others about using online pharmacies. I think that's your real story."
Chattel
Rustler wanted to seek replacement costs and compensation for pain and suffering, so he retained an attorney, who has since backed out of the case for unrelated reasons. Now, he isn't sure he wants to shell out up to $500 on his limited budget for a civil case.
Rustler was disappointed to find out pets are viewed under Florida law as chattel -- ordinary property that depreciates over time. With Butterfly already near the end of her life expectancy, she would be depreciated down to nearly no value, Rustler said.
There is no compensation for sentimental value or other emotional damages.
And it would likely be a tough case to prove. Butterfly was cremated before a toxicity report could be performed, so there is no firm evidence of the cause of death. Another hurdle: finding a veterinarian willing to testify that the dose given was 10 times the normal dose for a dog of Butterfly's size, and likely contributed to her death.
Rustler did recently file a complaint with the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation that will be reviewed by a panel of past and present members of the Florida Board of Veterinary Medicine.
The vet has practiced nearly 10 years in Florida and has a spotless record, with no complaints filed at the DBPR.
Whatever happens, at DBPR or in court, won't erase Rustler's feelings of guilt.
"I was following the doctor's directions," he said. "I had given her a pill that she opened her mouth willingly for, because she knew her Dad would never hurt her. And this pill killed her. I have to live with that memory."
