New England Veterinary Center and Cancer Care

Reviews 3

BR

Brett Gardner

Wife and I found a cat that was JUST hit by a car so we stopped to help. The cat was in rough shape - couldnt move, panting, bleeding from the mouth, head trauma, and sounded like it had fluid in its lungs. I always carry an emergency kit in my Jeep so I grabbed a towel and scooped it up as I was only 5 min from NE Vet Center. Brought the cat in and they took it out back right away. The doctor brought us into a room and said he was on pain meds and oxygen, and said that he was most likely a stray as he was an intact male. We couldnt keep him if he survived due to our other pets. I OKd an x-ray (knowing it would cost something) as I am a pet person (and watch too much Vet Ranch) and wanted to try and save the little dude. The doctor came back and said he had a lung contusion (reason for bleeding from mouth and difficulty breathing) and that the x-ray didnt reveal too much more than the other external signs. Come on... this is your profession. The doctor should be able to give a pretty accurate assessment on the animal by the external symptoms and recommend a course of action then let us decide what we wanted to do. Granted we were a bit out of it given the situation but she clearly didnt want to offer any assistance without us agreeing to shell out money. She said it would cost about $1200 to just start to try and save him. We opted to have him euthanized as we couldnt justify spending at least $2k to try and save a stray cat that we had no idea if it would even survive let alone figuring out what to do with him afterwards. The doctor didnt seem to even want to try and save the cat without us saying that we would spend more money. Don’t get me wrong, I understand that animal hospitals would go broke trying to save every injured animal that comes in... But come on, I spent money on an x-ray - at least try to see if you can save him. If someone comes in with an animal that is badly injured and they are trying to do the right thing, there should be a policy where they match the amount spent by the Good Samaritan. Moral of the story - I left with bloody clothes, a sobbing wife and a $250 bill for trying to do the right thing. $250 for an x-ray? X-rays are all electronic and instant these days. How can a 2min procedure cost $250?? Later that night I called in to see if we could have some remains from him being cremated as we were feeling a little down knowing this little guy most likely went through life unloved (if he was indeed a stray) up until I wrapped him in a blanket and loved him until the end. They wanted another $250 for a private cremation... Really? So - if you want to try and save an injured dog or cat that isnt yours and you are being a Good Samaritan, they will gladly help out if you are willing to shell out the money. I called my vet for our cats to ask about the situation and they said that I should have called animal control as the county will usually cover expenses to try and save the animal. However, she said that seeing Bean (we named him bean) was bleeding from the mouth and had blood in his lungs he was probably too badly injured to try and save and would have been euthanized. I feel good knowing that Bean didn’t die on the side of the road and had some loving care on the ride to the vet. But I wish more could have been done. RIP Bean So – the review. If you bring your animal here for an emergency, be prepared to spend a lot of money! It seems as though they are more about being a business (which I understand to some extent) than they are about the animals. I donate all sorts of money to local shelters, animal rescue charities, etc and it really bothers me that the ONE time I try and do the right thing to save an animal that needs help - it ends up like this. To New England Veterinary Center - I recommend you setup a nonprofit organization and start taking donations for situations like this. A little good goes a long way...

CJ

Cj Wilkes

If I could give them negative I would. For the second time now we were roped into coming here by the lies of what the costs would be for what we needed. The first time we just figured it was a simple mistake and the staff and facility are very nice. This time we were told a walk in and an x-ray would cost us $180 (105 for the visit and 75 for the x-ray). So my girlfriend took our dog in who hurt his leg falling off the bed and everything seemed fine until they said everything would cost $728!!!! This is crazy and my girlfriend told them that. They came back and said they would take the price down to about half. Which basically means thats what they can do it for but they wanted to try to squeeze as much money out of us as possible. My girlfriend told them that that is unexceptable. She explained that had they have told us that from the beginning we would have taken our dog elsewhere and due to being led there by the lies of costs over the phone she would not be paying more than the $180 we were led to believe. They told her its not there problem their staff is quoting people incorrect costs because they shouldnt have given quotes over the phone at all due to this being a problem theyve been having for a while now. My girlfriend told them she will be bringing our boy somewhere else and they still wanted her to pay the $105 visit fee! She just left! We will not be paying a fee after being lied to and led in by what is clearly a scam they have going to get people in there. If they want they can take us to court and we will deal with it there. We also plan on contacting the BBB and filing a complaint! This place is out for money and clearly after the same thing happening twice their way of roping you in is by lying about their prices and then wacking you with their crazy bill. Emergency, pets life on the line, no other choice go their but anything other than that RUN!!!!!

BO

Bobbie Taravella

I brought my cat there because he wasnt eating and kept his head between his paws. He was laying like this all day. I brought him in and the vet examined him. He said he would keep him there overnight and give him fluids. The next day the staff called and told me I could pick him up. I arrived to pick him up and inquired about his health. I was told he was walking around and playing. I had brought a friend with me. I asked about the bill. They then told me the total was 2,300.00. I said $2,300.00 for an IV? Then they told me that they had run many tests on him. I asked what they would do if I left without paying the bill. They said then you cant have your cat back. I didnt have $2,300.00 . luckily my friend had the money and paid them. The cat was brought out to me and looked worse than she had been before I brought her to the vet. I questioned the staff and was told just bring him home and he will start playing. Reluctantly I brought him home. Upon getting home I noticed he still had an IV in his paw. I put him down and he just laid there and wouldnt pick up his head. I waited 1 hour. Then I noticed a large purple/yellow area on his side. I immediately brought him back to the vets. I was sobbing. The vet examined him and said he " was near death." I asked why he had released my cat and why the staff said he was playing. He said he didnt know why I was told that. He said the most humane thing to do was to put him down. I agreed. He put him down. As I left the exam room to talk to the staff about his remains they told me it would be another$180.00 for cremation. If I wanted him back I would have to pay. My friend paid the bill once again. That vet trip should have only cost me between $200.00-$300.00. The only thing I authorized was an IV to rehydrate him. I did not authorize any tests. DO NOT BRING YOUR PETS THERE.ALL I RECEIVED FROM THEM WAS A DEAD CAT