Southern California Veterinary Specialty Hospital

Reviews 4

JA

Jake Johnson

Fatal Mistake at Southern California Veterinary Specialty. For the sake of your beloved pet, I urge you to avoid Southern California Veterinary Specialty Hospital/Irvine Regional Animal Emergency Hospital, and to please read this warning. I took my dog to this hospital for a routine examination by Dr. Christopher Eich, in which he subsequently recommended x-rays, ultra-sound and prostate tissue aspiration, which are routine tests. I gave authorization to proceed and gave Dr. Eich specific instructions, telling him 3 times for emphasis, to please be very gentle with my elderly dog as he was old and fragile. I left my dog in his and his assistants "care" for approximately 5 hours for what I was assured were routine tests, and returned to the clinic later that day to pick him up and take him home. Later that evening, he developed stomach "bloat" as a result of being mistreated and mishandled while at this clinic. I had no idea what "bloat" was, and during our consultation, Dr. Eich never mentioned that this could potentially occur during his tests. I rushed my dog back to the hospital where Dr. Lara Ashbran "de-bloated" him (another traumatic procedure). Dr. Ashbran released him to me and failed to instruct me as to the seriousness and lethality of stomach bloat, and that he would likely "re-bloat" and die if he was not close to the clinic to be "de-bloated" again. Well, he re-bloated early the next morning and was rushed back to the hospital where hours later my dog suffered several heart attacks and died a very painful and traumatic death as a direct result of the bloating due to the traumatization he received at this hospital the previous day. I was devastated and very disappointed with the treatment my dog received by this hospitals staff, specifically Dr.s Christopher Eich and Lara Ashbran, and urge anyone who cares for the wellbeing of their pet to seek testing and treatment elsewhere. When you bring your pet to a veterinary hospital, you assume that your pet will be handled gently, and will receive expert care. That is after all what youre paying them for and their professional duty as well. Ive learned now that this should never be automatically assumed. Because of the errors, mistreatment and mishandling done by Dr. Eich, Dr. Ashbran, and the staff at this hospital, my dog suffered an unimaginably horrific, drawn-out and painful death. Im still grieving more than 2 years later. Dr. Eich even later admitted to me that elderly, large-breed dogs such as my Chow are susceptible to bloating if flipped on their back as would occur during an x-ray or other type of exam, and that he should have recalled this prior to performing these tests on my dog. Still, he never apologized for this lethally catastrophic error of his. I wouldnt mind his arrogance if he had the competency to back it up. However, in Dr. Eichs case, its just arrogance masking gross incompetence. Oh, and dont be swayed by your general practitioner vet recommending this hospital for specialty treatment. Be aware that various forms of kickbacks and "quid pro quo" are most likely pervasive. I urge everyone to take their pet elsewhere for veterinary care. I only wish I had known this before it was too late.

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MI

Michele French

Visited here with my English bulldog to be treated for a UTI. They took my dog in back and I had warned them she had anxiety at hospital visits , and also they may have to give her water. After meeting with Dr Zimmers and going over treatment , i was waiting in the front waiting area for over an hour for my dog to be discharged. I asked three times during that hour why i could not have my dog . The response was that they were busy with emergencies and there was not a vet tech to discharge her. Finally, once they brought her out to me she was gasping for air and overheated. They had left her to get so severely distressed that she could no longer get air into her airways and breath properly. Never in the 12 years that Ive been blessed to have her with me has she ever been in such a state. They released her to me in a critical condition that could have cost her her life. Obviously they neither listed to me initially and also are not knowledgeable about the bulldog breed and that they are susceptible to brachycephalic respitory issues. My dog suffered damage to her trachea and had to be fed through a syringe for a week before she started to eat on her own again. After this horrific visit she began having a host of other symptoms and I had to bring her again to a hospital. There was no way i was bringing her here again so we went this time to the Central Orange County Emergency in Newport Beach. Turns out she was having a bad reaction to the antibiotic that was prescribed initially for her UTI. They also had to administer a hydration IV due to her not being able to eat or drink. So I paid another $400.00 for that visit. When i contacted the Southern California Specialty Hospital about my dogs condition due to their neglect I spoke with Gilbert, the hospitals administrator . Sounded more like a PR employee to me. His response was he had to check with the staff that were working that evening and hed get back to me. Well, he never did get back to me. Im disgusted with this place and their protocols .Inexcusable! It is run like an operation and an incompetent one at that. If you can avoid this place , do!

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Angela maberry

I usually dont feel the need to write reviews unless I really feel in my heart strongly about it. I just went to this vet hospital today in tears because it seems like my dog was having some kind of head trauma. I was referred to come here to see the neurologist. When I get there the staff at the front desk her unfriendly and rude. They brought us back to a room and made us sit there for over an hour and a half only for the doctor to come in and tell me nothing. She said non of his signs indicated anything that jumped out at her but there was obviously something wrong. Really?? I could have diagnosed that! She offered to do some blood work and keep in to watch him and I was so worried that I agreed. When I got to the paperwork they wanted $750 up front and just for blood work they wanted $1800 total. I told them I needed some financial assistance and she rolled her eyes at me and basically said they needed it up front in order to keep him. I told her I couldnt and she basically made me feel super guilty. She told me I was agreeing to no care for him and made me sign a paper saying I was threatening his life by not taking their advice for care. What advice?? You didnt give me any! I even asked for a cup for water because my head hurt and the girl ignored me why she chatted. I dont think this place cares at all about the animals they treat and are only after money. As I was leaving I heard another angry couple storm out as well. Dont go to this place. They are careless and I wouldnt trust them with your pet!

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MI

Mike L

Like any new dog parents, we attempted to cut the nails of our one year old corgi. And like new parents, we cut too deep and he was bleeding profusely (at least that’s how we felt). So we went on a full panic mode and took him to emergency room of SCVSH 9pm on a Saturday night. My wife was holding him crying when we arrived so Sheena, one of their staff, calm us down first then hold him and brought him into a room while we were left outside filling out paperwork. Not 10 minutes later, here comes running out our little corgi. He was happy and smiling, like nothing happened. And Sheena told us that she stopped the bleeding and cleaned up. Wow, that was amazingly fast and painless. So I whip out my wallet and ready to pay the damages for our stupidity. That’s when Sheena told us – NO CHARGE. What? Aren’t we in the emergency room? And don’t we look like two stupid parents that will pay anything, 9pm on a Saturday night? It could be a scam, so I asked again. She said - NO CHANGE, don’t worry about it. It was not too difficult (yeah, her entire cloth was covered with corgi’s hair so I can imagine the struggle). With disbelieve, we walked out of the emergency with our jaws dropped. Unbelievable, I wish all human hospital’s emergency room was this nice. So we marked this hospital on our cars’ GPS, on our phones google map, and told our kids and friends to do the same.

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