A sad story from Michael Kröner who wanted to get this message across, so people are prepared, and know what could happen to their pets.
Due to inappropriate medication, my elderly but still quite agile Jack Russell (14) took a turn for the worse at the ‘Clínica Veterinária Santa Teresinha’ veterinary clinic in Funchal (veterinarian Andreia Araujo). This happened very quickly.
On 7 June 2025, at 1:45 a.m., after four days of incorrect treatment (for pain caused by spondylosis), he died in an alternative 24-hour veterinary clinic, ‘Hospital Veterinário da Madeira (HVM), Funchal’. I took him there immediately after his condition deteriorated, hoping that he could still be saved. However, his already diseased heart gave out after a short time; the extreme strain of the last few hours, indeed days, was simply too much.
The severe side effects of unsuitable medication, which were clearly recognisable, especially to a doctor, and which had been rapidly increasing in the previous days, led in particular to extreme shortness of breath, followed by tachycardia, blood pressure of 220, an extremely high pulse, white gums (state of shock), a temperature of only 35°C, etc.
For four days in a row, my little friend was tortured to death with unsuitable or incompatible medication and grossly negligent ignorance of the obviously rapidly escalating side effects.
I repeatedly drew attention to these sudden deteriorations, but in a completely unprofessional manner, they wanted to blame everything on pre-existing conditions and age. They even advised me to start thinking about putting him to sleep.
On the evening of the third day, after further deterioration, I said that I did not want to continue like this. Potentially problematic medications should be changed or discontinued.
An experienced doctor with a PhD and many years of professional experience should have carefully checked the medication on the morning of the third day and discontinued it, as there were clear correlations between the medication and the deterioration in his condition. The night before had also been a disaster, with my friend experiencing increasingly severe breathing problems, followed by severe circulatory stress, which I reported to the vet in the morning.
However, my instructions were then incredibly ignored and the problematic painkiller (buprenorphine) was simply continued to be administered.
On the evening of the fourth day, my dog collapsed shortly after the last injection and was in danger of suffocating or dying of heart failure due to the stress.
I immediately contacted the vet, Dr Araujo, with a short video of my friend fighting for his life. I pointed out the side effects of the painkiller (buprenorphine). I had checked this myself online that evening, and the problems in question were at the top of the list of possible side effects. I had also found out that the medication has a very long half-life and that administering it twice a day can lead to problematic accumulation after a few days.
Again, this was ignored and dismissed, saying that the dog was just old and had pre-existing conditions, and that the medication was certainly not the cause.
Then they wished us ‘a relaxing night’. There was no sign of the emergency assistance they had offered! Unbelievable!
At the emergency clinic, he was immediately given oxygen, blood pressure medication, etc., but the stress of the last few days and the complete escalation on the last evening had already taken too much of a toll on his pre-existing heart condition. After a short time, his breathing and heart failed, and unfortunately, resuscitation attempts were unsuccessful.
Now my best friend is dead, which definitely should not have been the case at this point in time.
A doctor must know that if severe symptoms suddenly occur after new or increased medication (dangerously severe, rapidly increasing), then at the latest at this point, the side effects and interactions must be checked and immediate action taken.
At the very latest, when the dog owner points this out.
Furthermore, as it turned out, when administering this painkiller in this manner, regular monitoring must take place (especially blood pressure, pulse, breathing, blood count monitoring). This did not happen. On the contrary: even the noticeable side effects, especially the breathing problems, were simply ignored or completely misinterpreted.
Incidentally, we had previously been prescribed Librela for spondylosis, which is fundamentally unsuitable. It wasn’t really effective either, as fatal pain therapy was now required.
This suddenly caused my four-legged friend to become incontinent. A known side effect.
I get the impression that, unfortunately, there is only a lot of superficial knowledge available here, that serious mistakes are made with medication, and that possible side effects and interactions are either completely inadequately monitored or not even known. In some cases, this has dire consequences, namely the death of the patient.
In my personal opinion, veterinarians who make such gross errors should be removed from practice or, after legal proceedings, at least be punished, obliged to pay compensation for pain and suffering or damages, and required to undergo appropriate, obviously necessary further training.
But that wasn’t all.
After my best friend passed away, his body remained at HVM. I was assured that he would be kept there perfectly until I had organised everything else. This was even confirmed to me in an email.
I wanted an individual cremation and then my friend’s ashes to keep in an urn. I organised all this within a few days through the ‘Vetfunchal’ veterinary clinic. When the doctor from this clinic wanted to collect the body, it turned out that they also work poorly there and had lost the body through gross negligence. It was simply collected like rubbish, along with various other dead animals, and then incinerated. No ashes, no certificate and therefore no urn. I would like to emphasise once again that the Vetfunchal veterinary clinic did not make any mistakes here.
My appeal: keep your eyes and ears open when choosing a vet!
This is particularly obvious in Madeira.
Here is the information about the veterinary clinics:
Clínica Veterinária Santa Teresinha
Travessa dos Piornais, Ed. Monumental Parque II, Bloco B, Loja AD; 9000-246 FUNCHAL
Doctor: Andreia Araujo
This is where my best friend died.
Hospital Veterinário da Madeira (HVM)
Caminho de Santo António 202, 9020-353 Funchal
This is where the body was mishandled. See email below from HVM.