Cottage Pet Hospital

Reviews 3

MA

Marti S.

***SEE ATTACHED PHOTOS FOR REVIEW, COULD NOT FIT DUE TO CHARACTER LIMIT*** If I could put anything less than one star, I would. And let me start by saying, I will be reporting them to the board of health, and most importantly to the American Association of Veterinary State Boards. After 3hrs and a 219 dollar dehydration diagnosis and some intense bullying from the staff, Im disgusted with how my animal was treated and listening to how they treated the other pet owners around me. Some of the things I watched happened: "When you figure out how to pay for the pain medication, let us know." They said to a woman holding her attacked and bleeding dog while she held back tears. Out of every which way you could phrase that sentence, they chose to shame her and bully her for not having the funds. A woman putting her dog to sleep today, was left waiting in the common area in tears, never given privacy, or a room to spend her last hours with her dog. No, she was put on display to have one of the most painful experiences a pet parent can have in a room filled with people making jokes and asking repeatedly "do you know if anyone is in room 2?" Because they cant keep track of anything themselves. She was left sitting there for an hour since I had been there, shed gotten there before me. Every person who didnt choose to do everything the doctors recommended (which most of the doctors chose the most extreme and expensive route they could instead of actually helping them), when signing a form they declined those services, it was phrased as such "You need to sign this stating you decline what the doctor has decided is best for your animal and you do not want to have them taken care of or treated." Or my favorite, which they said to me: "This is just saying that you refuse to agree with the doctors choice of action to help your cat, and that you dont want to help her." They didnt clean the rooms after any of the examinations, not even a table wipe down. Nothing. I saw mold in many of the corners of the entire building, behind their front desk, behind their charting cabinets, and where they had the medications. Now to what they did to my own animal: Unnecessarily sedated my cat for blood work that they refused to do in front of me, and refused to let me help keep her calm to avoid sedation. Even worse, my cat has always been docile in vets offices and with people, but she clearly also saw they werent trying to help, just looking to keep hemorrhaging money out of all the worried pet parents. Her physical exam was perfect, except she was somewhat dehydrated because she hasnt been eating, the first course of action they decided was necessary was a 600 dollar plus bill to hospitalize her and pump her with fluids, X-rays and tests, not once did anyone suggest "lets see about if we can help pick up her appetite with a noninvasive medication before resorting to extreme measures." I asked if it was behavioral due to recent life changes (moving across country, my work hours have changed, and were no longer home all day long like we used to be, shes a clingy cat), I was laughed at. "Its not behavioral if shes losing weight." She lost less than a pound since April, she only just started acting strangely a week ago. There wasnt any correlation. However, there was BEHAVIORAL correlation, but no, lets stress out my animal for three hours with unnecessary work ups. They kept my cat from me for an hour, locked in a cage out back instead of handing her back after she woke up from sedation and all the tests were done. They wouldnt give her back to me until I asked them four times, after my checkout and my bill was paid, and finally said "weird she should have been out by now". They ushered me into a room away from the waiting room afterwards when I was paying my bill because I politely asked for all the test results because I would be taking her anywhere else but here. I also voiced how unprofessional and unclean the building was and told them they have very little understanding of compassion for others.

ME

Megan Ferraro

My mom got a puppy for her birthday last month as a gift from my father, and he was always active and by her side. She only had him for a month before they killed him with the simplest procedure. Do NOT trust them with anesthesia or sedatives, the dog went in for a simple procedure to get its bandages removed and replaced and they put him to sleep for it. Why? I have no idea. He wasnt vicious and never growled at anyone. He was just a puppy. Im a vet assistant myself, and anywhere will tell you that is malpractice. Not only did they overdose him and kill a perfectly healthy, active, and happy family member; they put him to sleep the day before for the same reason. Again, anywhere else will tell you not to sedate a puppy or any small animal within 24 hours of a previous dose of anesthesia. It was Dr. Ahrabi. He didnt even have the nerve to apologize to my father who went in and picked up the puppys collar and say goodbye. My whole family is heartbroken, the puppy really brightened everyones day with his happy and active attitude. My mom hasnt eaten or slept much, she is heartbroken beyond belief. She treats every animal like a child of her own, and I inherited that from her. They killed her puppy, our family member, and then called her shortly after; asking her to come in to fill out forms to cremate him. She had to send my father in, and we answered the phone for her, as she couldnt bare to talk to them after what they did. We heard them changing stories on what had happened each time they attempted to explain it. We are pursuing legal action for this malpractice and emotional distress and damage this has caused our family, especially to my mom. BEWARE. BE CAUTIOUS. Dont just assume that because they have a high average of reviews, they wont do the same to your family member. No animal should be sedated for a simple procedure just because the vet is scared to get bitten, thats part of the job you signed up for. If you know how to properly restrain an animal, you dont need drugs to get something done. I want to inform others of what theyve done to prevent this from happening any other companions.

SH

Shana Lengyel

Pros are: + Dr. Sahai is wonderful and absolutely amazing at diagnosis while being practical about cost (aka without going into debt) + If you are upfront in a polite manner or are like me and super stressed when you pet is sick (and have a million questions), the nurses will do whatever they can to help + No appointments needed on weekends for shots, its a quick and easy + (Most) of the staff seem to really love pets and care about their well-being! Our pets love people and bond with the staff when they are in for treatment, which we really love and puts us at ease Cons: - There is a sarcastic doctor here that we do not jive well with, we feel she is not as straightforward when we ask her questions and she will often joke to us about how she never brings in her pets to the vet and just lets stuff in their bodies "work out on their own" (how is that professional). - There are some nurses that we really don’t reach out to when asking questions as we know we won’t get a straightforward answer from them, or they will give us the opposite advice from the doctor..? Sort of confusing. We have our fav nurses there though, but it was a bit of a hassle when we were new to Cottage - They never remember my pet insurance covers flea medicine! Every time I come in and buy it, I have to pay full price and then get my insurance to work with Cottage Pet Hospital on proactively applying my discount and refunding me the rest. This has happened more then once, I dont understand how it keeps happening. If the insurance covers it, cant we just get the discount applied up front? Or a simple note in our file to fix this? So why the 2 star review then? We had a heartbreaking, bad experience here and have not been back yet. I hope to update and change this review to 5 stars when/if we go back, but as of yet what happened really bothered us. I will update my review if the situation improves with service next time.