Rehm Animal Clinic- Hillcrest

Reviews 3

A

A Private User

Our little 5 lb Chihuahua was attacked by a 75 or 80 lb Boxer and bitten badly. We took him to Rehm Animal Clinic on Hillcrest. It was after 6:00 PM and they were only ones open that we knew about. The Vet looked him over quickly then disappeared. He was gone maybe 20 - 30 minutes. When he came back he a very detailed print out of all the things he thought he might have to do to save our dog (Tipper) and what each would cost. He was wasting time trying to justify each cost and I kept telling him he had a blank check just fix Tipper. He kept on and on about the cost and how we were going to pay and did we want to put down a deposit I kept telling him that the owner of the attacker had given us a blank check and all he to do was fill in the amount. But he still kept wasting time. Im not sure how long the entire ordeal took but it was at least an hour and all this time our little was dying. We finally got all the payment questions answered and his helper took Tipper to the back and we went home. About an hour later the Vet called to report that he had closed up the puncture wounds on Tippers side and he seemed to be doing better. An hour later he called back to say that Tippers heart was having trouble and his body was continuing to swell. The Vet said he could not find the cause of the swelling and he was losing Tipper. The wife and I rushed back to the clinic, but tipper was dead when we got there. We brought Tipper home and found that one side of his body had been shaved and there were four large puncture wounds. Only three of them had been closed with staples. The fourth was wide open and blood was still coming out. The other side of his body had not been shaved and there was at least one and maybe more puncture wounds on that side. I really cant judge if this person is a competent veterinarian or not, but what I do know is that he did not do everything that could have and should have been done. To start with both sides of Tippers little body should have been shaved to expose all the wounds and all the wounds should have been closed. The Vet seemed to be worried more about how he was going to be paid than saving our dog. His attitude about Tippers condition was very casual, but his concern over getting his money was very real and was obviously his first priority. Member Comments: Overall I would not take any animal to this clinic. I cant say another vet could have saved Tipper, but I can say this Vet did not do all he could have and should have done. Tipper was in the clinic over three hours and had only been partly shaved and he still had open wounds when died.

BR

Brent Davidson

After returning home from a weekend trip we found our cat was acting very lethargic and wasnt eating so after watching her for a bit we decided itd better be safe than sorry and take her to Rehm Animal Clinic because they have on call vets after hours. There was a Vet there which was great so we didnt to wait for them to call one in however after sitting in there for an hour and forty minutes they couldnt tell us anything just that she had gas and we needed to leave her over night and they would call us in the morning first thing. After no call we played phone tag with them until a doctor finally called us around noon and said we should move to surgery if we wanted our cat to live. As I have raised animals my entire life and have some medical training this seemed a little aggressive and odd given the circumstances. So I did some digging on Rehm and made some calls and did some research to find a top vet in Mobile that I could take her to for a second opinion before spending exponentially more money. Duke animal clinic turned out to be my favorite from everyone I talked to and researched so we decided to go get our cat and take her there. When we arrived at Rehm to pick her up they handed us a bill for $750 dollars and told us we were making a mistake and good luck with the second opinion. They had charged us for 13 different things that I have yet to understand the need for and didnt even run a full blood panel. The Vet at Duke Animal Clinic was very professional and gave us a very good understanding of what may or may not be going on and kept her overnight. He gave her a simple food stimulant, an IV and called us first thing in the morning and let us know that she was doing a lot better and was eating. Now my cat is in full recovery and turns out she had just ate something bad. He also informed us that she was too weak to go into any type of surgery, which was my thought process as well, and that probably could have killed her and would have been completely unnecessary obviously. In short, Rehm charged us $750 dollars for virtually nothing and then wanted to preform surgery on our cat as if they saw it a learning opportunity for one of their vet techs. I wouldnt recommend going to this place to buy flea medication much less ever walk or carry a pet of mine onto the property again so if youre looking to donate money to idiots and risk your pets life then you should go here. If youre looking to get a real diagnosis and not have to dig a hole in your backyard to drop poor Petey in Id say Duke did a nice job taking care of us in the aftermath of the nightmare that is Rehm Animal Clinic.

JE

Jennifer Hill

I have two cats and both are patients at Rehm. My big fat brown tabby, Ming Ming, was diagnosed with heartworms by Dr. Fox about a year ago. He is barely 3 years old and I was devastated, but Dr. Fox was so kind and empathetic. He was very encouraging and felt like even though the situation could be fatal, he didnt believe it had to be a death sentence. I was so upset, and Dr. Fox actually gave me a hug and told me Ming Ming would pull through. He also let me work out a payment plan with him. Just a few days ago we had to rush my younger little black tuxedo cat Sushi in for emergency treatment. He had a bladder obstruction and his bladder was close to rupturing. Dr. Caroline Rehm was his vet. They met us at the back door and immediately took us into a room. The procedure she wanted to do was simply out of our price range ($800+) so I asked her what my alternatives were. She ended up catheterizing him, giving him IV fluids and antibiotics, new food and sent him home with us to observe. The word "euthanasia" did come up, which of course devastated me. She was so understanding and gentle with our little dude, plus she didnt charge us for a couple of things and she connected us to an organization who would help us cover the bills. Both of our boys are doing well now and its thanks to Rehm. I have read some reviews here where they say there is no compassion and the staff is rude. I have seen nothing but compassion at Rehm. The front desk staff may come off as rude, but it is because they are SO EXTREMELY BUSY. I have never (except for the emergency visit) been in there when they are slow.The ONLY reason I dont give them 5 stars is because they are SO EXPENSIVE. BUT, they are consistently ranked among the best in the area, and that speaks for itself.