Legal Question in Personal Injury in California

small claims?

In January I took my cat to the Vet because of trauma to the right side of his body. X-rays were taken and the cat went into surgery. The Vet said he did not find anything and the cat was badly bruised. As time went by the cat seemed to recover but I did notice a change in his breathing but I didn't think anything of it. In August I started to notice the cat wheezing like a hairball problem. I started to treat him for hairballs. I took him to a different Vet in October for his shots and asked that Vet for their opinion. X-rays would be needed and compared to the last set in January. I went back to the first Vet and had X-rays taken then they refered me to a specialist. I was told he had a hernia from a previous injury. My question is do I have a small claims case against the Vet who charged me $600 and found nothing for the $3500 I had to pay the specialist whose services were needed because of the ongoing condition?


Asked on 1/05/05, 7:56 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Lyle Johnson Bedi and Johnson Attorneys at Law

Re: small claims?

To succeed with such a lawsuit you will have to show that the first vet was negilgent in caring for your cat. Without an expert witness to support your position it will be difficult to win. Experts are quite expensive. I would expect an expert to charge $1,000 to $2,000 to prepare an opinion and more if required to go to trial. The charge for a vet may be some what less. You should talk to the second vet about the negiligence or lack of negligence of the first vet before proceeding.

Read more
Answered on 1/10/05, 2:23 am


Related Questions & Answers

More Personal Injury Law and Tort Law questions and answers in California