A devastated dog owner has hit out at the treatment his three-year-old chihuahua received after it died despite a clear set of blood tests.

Levi, who was three, had been suffering from sickness and diarrhoea and to begin with his owner Keiran Scott, from Darlington, brushed it off as a slightly upset tummy.

However, the dog also became lethargic so he took him to the Vets4Pets practice in Darlington.

The vets found that Levi’s temperature was low and prescribed him antibiotics for sickness.

But soon after returning home Levi deteriorated and was unable to move from his bed, and continued to suffer from diarrhoea.

Mr Scott, therefore, returned the dog to the vets and this time blood tests were carried out which showed that the three-year-old chihuahua was fine, but a bit dehydrated.

According to Mr Scott the dog was soon sent home, despite showing little signs of improvement.

He told The Northern Echo: “They argued that his blood test results before he died, like 12 hours before he died, showed nothing but dehydration."

However, shortly after midnight that night Mr Scott found that Levi had died.

Mr Scott believes that due to Levi’s clear blood results, the cause of his death was dehydration.

He added: "In the time he was there, he had 40mls of fluid."

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Mr Scott was also left with £400 worth of vet bills and believes staff at the surgery should have showed more compassion towards him.

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A spokesperson for Vets4Pets said: "We were very sad to hear of the passing of Mr Scott’s dog Levi, and our thoughts go out to him and his family at this difficult time.

"Pet health and welfare is always our number one priority, and so we have been in regular contact with Mr Scott since these concerns were raised and are currently reviewing this case. "

Vets4Pets say it is continuing to discuss the case with Mr Scott and a bid to resolve the situation is ongoing.

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