Riverside Cat Hospital

Reviews 4

A

A Private User

This place was recommended to me as a place that would be knowledgeable & experienced with feline tubal ligation. I spoke with them on the phone & they recommended I make an appointment to just speak in person with Dr.Lumsden about the finer points & details of the procedure. I explained that I lived 2 hrs away but didnt mind driving if their vet was indeed educated & experienced in this procedure. Made appointment. Received phone call to confirm apt. the day before & was told to "go ahead" & bring the cat for a "routine check-up" because I was being charged for it anyways. Ok. So drove the cat 2 hrs only to receive multiple sales pitches from the "assistants" for products we didnt need or want (including flea treatments recently reported toxic by the epa & fda) and pressured to get shots we had already received simply because we forgot to bring our previous vet records. After all, this was supposed to just be a verbal consultation & we were never told we needed to bring shot records. I asked the assistant wouldnt it be harmful to expose the kitten repeatedly & needlessly to repeat doses of the harmful neurotoxic ingredients of vaccinations such as thimerasol etc. when we knew she already had the shots? and she insisted that it would be better for her to have them twice! Honestly, I felt like we were on a used car sales lot! Our "routine check-up" consisted of this, taking rectal temperature & a couple passes with a flea comb. When Lumsden finally appeared she stated she doesnt even do ligation & pushed full ovariohysterectomy. When questioned she became indignant & defensive & revealed that she has never done ligation "nor would she", and it quickly became apparent that the only basic reason she recommended full ovariohysterectomy was because thats what she knew how to do. Upon further questioning she stated that she would not even consider ligation because the fallopian tubes in a post 1st heat cat were "harder to cut" than those of one who had not yet come of age, likening them to the difference between cutting a spaghetti noodle & cutting a pencil. I failed to see the professional merit in such an argument especially since our kitten had actually not yet had her first heat (and I assumed that they use cutting instruments in such a surgical procedure, but she acted as though she were having to cut it with her bare teeth). After pointing this out she then stated that the reason for always removing all of the organs was to decrease the chances of breast, ovarian & uterine cancers & pyometra. I pointed out that statistically speaking pyometra was more common in cats who had actually had their organs removed, then asked her would she cut off her daughters breasts simply to decrease her risk of breast cancer, never mind necessary hormone secreting, immune system regulating organs? She replied, "well no", & I asked why it would be different for our pets? & she replied, "well, because their pets." At this point I decided the conversation was over & we took our kitten & walked out. Apparently they are so desperate for money that they LIED about a procedure they in fact DID NOT do just to get us to come there on the hopes we might spend some money. What a waste of time, gas & breath. If your looking for a holistic minded vet educated on up-to-date information & ongoing research, dont go here - if your looking for a dispensary of profitable pet "products" and cut & dope mentality, by all means do.

---

CH

Cheryl Holtzman

Completely incompetent! On my first (and only) visit, after a 20 minute roundabout conversation with the vet about my cats ibd/food allergies, she decided that the food my cat was on (prescription for food allergies), was fine even though my cat was throwing up every day, and gave me a suggestion for an anti-nausea med, but didnt actually put it on her chart or prescribe it, so I had to push the issue when I came back to pick up my cat later in the day. The anti-nausea meds have been working great at least, but trying to get the prescription for it refilled is a nightmare! First off, they charge more than my last vet, by $8, and they charge more than double the price that I can get it online. Since my cat needs this med every day, online is really the only way to afford it. So after ordering it online, the website cannot get an approval from the vets office. It took 11 days to get it approved, when we called to see what was going on, they said the vet was on vacation. Fair enough, but then they need to let the client know or get it approved by another vet. Hoping this was just a mistake, we ordered the next refill online again. This time it took 8 days, 4 emails from the website, 2 calls from my boyfriend, and two calls from myself. They kept saying it was on the board for approval, well that was a week ago.There is no reason that an approval should wait that long! So I call again, they put me on hold, go consult with the vet, tell me the vet approved it and they will fax it out within 10 minutes. Well 4 hours go by and they still had not faxed it out! This med is vital to my cats well being! This is how they treat peoples pets?! I am never going back there! I cannot believe how incompetent they are! I am lucky this was not a life saving drug I guess, or else my cat would be dead by now. If you love your cat, take them elsewhere and save yourself the headache.

---

A

A Private User

We take our numerous cats in to Dr. Troxel, who is very patient with our cats and handles them with expert, gentle hands. She is quick to give out treats and toys when our cats are less-than-happy to be at the vet. The assistants are also very good, especially Susan. Our only complaint is that one of the usual front desk receptionists is very pushy with recommending treatments and making follow-up appointments even when our cats may not need them. A few times she insisted that we make follow-up appointments that we felt were not needed and that we told her we did not want. We then had to later call over the phone to cancel the appointments. She then threatened us that if we continued to cancel our appointments she would charge us a cancellation fee. When we bring our cats in to the clinic her behavior verges on rude and she often ignores us when we walk in the door. And after exiting the exam room she sometimes makes us wait for ~10 minutes in the lobby before she calls us up to her desk to pay, even when there are no other patients in the clinic! She is obviously on some kind of power trip and we find her behavior overbearing. We especially believe that this not how Dr. Troxel would want her clients to be treated.

---

A

A Private User

This really is the best place to care for your cats health needs. Dr Lumsdens medical expertise is only exceeded by her genuine love of cats. I had been to other vets in Riverside; however, my cats were terrified of the barking dogs and growling that goes on in mixed clinics. So I started asking and looking around and in the early 1990s for another vet. I went to four different places and was never impressed in the least. Thats why I truly feel like I won the lottery when I met Dr. Lumsden and Debbie, her Senior Technician, that assists her. They have earned my respect and my endless thanks for the loving first class care they give our cats. They have always gone the extra mile in making sure they could do everything possible to ensure a stress free experience for both my cats and myself. I tell everyone I can about the Riverside Cat Hospital because it is the very best! Trust your loved ones to no one else! Bill Bell

---

---