Category: | Emergency Veterinarian Service |
Address: | 17701 Cottonwood Dr, Parker, CO 80134, USA |
Phone: | +1 720-842-5050 |
Site: | aescparker.com |
Rating: | 3.6 |
KE
Kevin Dooris
On Wednesday we took our dog Marley into to your facility cause he wouldnt eat or drink water for more than 24hrs. The first vet that we saw was Eyal Sittenfeld, he was amazing. He examined Marley and stated that he was dehydrated and wanted to give him fluids and also gave us options on what we could do about the possible obstruction in his GI track. The options were as followed, Option 1:Give him fluids, send us home with medication (Metronidazole) and for us to pick up Pepcid AC. Option 2: We do blood work (quoted at roughly $50) to see if there is any other underlying issues other than an obstruction. Option 3: An x-ray to identify if there is an obstruction (quoted at roughly 200). Option 4: An ultra-sound to also identify if there is an obstruction, cause sometimes the X-ray will not see everything like the ultra-sound (quoted at roughly $400). We decided to go with option 1 at first and see if we could at least get him to attempt to eat. Eyal also informed us that the price of the visit would be covered for 24hrs so we would not have to pay it again if we had to come back in. As soon as we got home that night, Marley started drinking water. We were hopeful that maybe everything was turning around for the better. On Thursday we woke up and he seemed to be very lethargic. We tried giving him white rice and boiled chicken. He would not even touch it. We gave him his medication to see if that would help the situation but he still refused to eat. We decided to bring him back in and this is where everything went bad. This time Les Shatkin was the Vet on shift. With out running any tests and just by looking at him, she told my wife he needed to be admitted so he could get fluids though the night and needed emergency surgery. She was confused and scared and requested that we first start with the blood work. This process took roughly 2hrs to complete at a cost of $226 (not even close to the $50 quote the day before). The blood work returned normal, so my wife wanted to go with the ultra-sound being that if the x-ray didnt find anything, it would be a waste of money. Les Shatkin refused this option and told her that we had to do the x-ray. Being pressured in to the x-ray my wife agreed (quoted correctly $205). This is where they noticed that his stomach was inflamed and there was an obstruction in his small intestines. Les Shatkin told my wife the surgery needed to be done IMMEDIATELY or else Marley would DIE! We had her give us a quote for home much the surgery would cost. She came back with $7333, this to us seemed to be a really high quote. I requested that they give us Marleys leash and we were going to take him to our primary vet in the morning. She continued to tell us that he would not make it through the night if we left and it would be a very painful death that he would experience. I still requested his leash and that I wanted to leave. She then stated that she wanted to keep him overnight to give him fluids (which were given the day before without having to be admitted) and antibiotics. I again declined and requested his leash. She then asked if there was anything she could do, i requested to give me the antibiotics and I would give them to him. She stated that he would just throw them up. I told her that the medication that Eyal gave us he kept down. She said that it was just Pepcid, I told her that he gave us other stuff too. At this point she pretty much called me a liar and said that he only gave us Pepcid.
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Mary Margaret
I hand delivered a letter to the clinic manager and after 2 weeks I never received a response. My dog was family, not a transaction. I will add excerpts from the letter following; When I arrived, I was assisted by two people who came out to my car and helped me get my dog Kenai out of the back seat as he was no longer strong enough to jump down on his own. They whisked him away to the back without a word. I was then shuffled into a room and was told that someone would check me in, in a moment. After being unceremoniously checked in Dr. Aiello, who never introduced herself (and I only know it was her because I found her picture on the website) asked me about the circumstances surrounding Kenai’s illness....A woman came into the room and again did not introduced themselves, but I assume was a vet tech, she was also one of the woman that helped with Kenai from the car, and gave me a price sheet for care. She was never rude but just very matter of fact. After agreeing to the charges, I asked if I could see Kenai. I was told that it was too busy in the back with everyone providing care for Kenai... Dr. Aiello explained that Kenai was in pain and that he needed to have surgery and possibly chemo. She then explained barring any complications that Kenai would live on average 2 months after surgery, but more than likely would have a good quality of life for that time, again barring any complications. This surgery would cost approximately $5,000-$9,000...After many more tears and feeling like my heart was breaking into a million pieces I decided that I could not put Kenai though all of that and to end his suffering with euthanasia. A short time later the woman whom I assumed was the vet tech came back into the room and I explained to her my decision. She said that she would tell the doctor.... About 10 minutes later the woman came back in and asked if I was ready, she said, “not rushing you, just wanting to know.” I asked for about 15 more minutes. After about 15 minutes Dr. Aiello came into the room with about 4 syringes. She asked if I was ready. I said yes, and she then said, “the first one is just a flush.” At that point she started to pet Kenai’s face and push the drugs. She then stood up, walked over to Kenai’s chest with a stethoscope and said, “he has no heartbeat, he is gone.” As she was walking out the door she said, “it is normal for them to gasp, don’t worry.” That was the last contact I had with anyone from the clinic. Does anything stand out in this story? Well, the part that was missing for me was the empathy. My dog was family, not a transaction.
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Cara
BEWARE! I left a message to discuss these concerns with the office manager, but of course, she never returned my call. We were referred to this place by our vet after our mastiff was diagnosed with GVD, stomach flip, which can only be fixed by emergency surgery. Upon rushing her in we were informed that the surgery would cost $5000+ and complications were likely to follow. Unfortunately we thought it in her best interest to be humanely euthanized. In order to do so, there is paperwork and forms and vet quotes that need to be printed. The tech and eventually very bubbly receptionist spent over 15 minutes trying to figure out where it had printed. The receptionist seemed kind of amused by this, I was however not amused for a second. Thats a lot of time in your head before you sign papers like that. After we signed the papers, they returned with her to say our goodbyes. If the sound of laughing, hollering, giggling, loud vet techs DIRECTLY outside your door is comforting to you, then stop reading here. It was so disrespectful that I popped my head out and asked them to be quiet as we were saying goodbye to our friend. We let them know we were ready and vet didnt return for about 20 agonizing minutes. Again, a lot of time to question your decisions. The vet did however seem compassionate whilst administering the shots. They wanted $601 to cremate our dog and receive her ashes back. After spending over a $1000 that day, we decided to take her to the cremation ourselves, which would cost us only $200and we would receive her ashes back. (Of course we had to be charged a $198 deposit for them to hold the body until we could pick her up). When we returned less than 24 hours later they seemed to be unable to produce her body with little to no explanation. They blamed having a broken wheel on a gurney. (um most expensive vet ever cant afford working printers and gurneys ) And after an hour or more, the same bubbly receptionist turned rude and announced that they are an emergency hospital and get too busy. We finally received her body and made it to the crematorium, they were kind enough to wait 45 minutes past closing, so that we didnt have her body over the weekend. Some details were left out of this story or i couldve written a book. This isnt the first time I have said goodbye to a four legged friend, but it was definitely the worst experience. Bottom line.. Go to VRCC or Alameda East. Save yourself the unnecessary heartache of this money grubby unprofessional operation.