The Cat Hospital of Orlando

Reviews 3

JA

Jamie L

So, after visiting another cat hospital in the Orlando area and getting nowhere, I decided to take Mr. Mean Overbite elsewhere for a second opinion. My first visit to the Cat Hospital of Orlando was descent, I felt as though they made an effort to keep my financial woes in mind as I’m unemployed with a BA Degree. That and they gave me a few donated pills for free and were able to help assist in running some tests which was greatly appreciated at the time. Not knowing what the test results would yield, they gave me some pain meds and some antibiotics which seemed to do a world of good. Then a week or so later they called to let me know the test results, E-coli it was. So, they told me to bring him back in. Now, here’s where things spiral downhill nothing nice!!! I asked if they had another medicine that wasn’t in pill form to help treat E-coli. They injected my cat with some medicine and at the time I didn’t even know the name of it. As soon as I brought him home, I could tell that something was wrong. Long story short, he had an adverse reaction to it which caused him to have diarrhea for two weeks straight. Meanwhile I called them to fill them in and I asked them what the name of the injection was because I knew something wasn’t right. ***They gave my cat Convenia, but Convenia is to treat skin infections not E-coli according to the drug manufacturer!!! (Though could’ve been studied by a third party but still.) Oh and Convenia is known to cause adverse reactions and death in animals, they even have a Facebook page dedicated to it. Granted there are a lot of variables to each unique equation, but it’s pretty clear Convenia should be taken off the market! ***They told me to give my cat Imodium for his diarrhea then prescribed Orbax for the E-coli. Well, after the first mishap I decided to do some research. While Orbax is intended to treat E-coli, it can be ineffective if given with magnesium, Imodium has magnesium in it. ***So, I emailed them my concerns and questions and heard back a week or so later…”don’t trust Dr. Google”, down talking me like I some kind of idiot when clearly they’re the ones who need to brush up on knowledge and skills at that! ***After talking with the Doctor, I decided to give them one more chance and that sure as heck wasn’t charm! I asked for a tech visit to avoid an office visit charge, I get there and I had a couple of basic questions about anal gland expression and a Brazilian shave for my cat’s rump. After two weeks of diarrhea, and seemed as though he was getting it again, issues with dingle berry syndrome and so forth, I just wanted them to check out his back side…DO NOT BRING YOUR ANIMAL TO THIS SORRY EXCUSE FOR A CAT HOSPITAL!!! ***One of the other vets walked in the room, was so forceful with a rectal exam on my cat, you should see my cats poor little rear end. That and he has been leaking poop ever since, from the moment they put him in his carrier. Now, there’s no way to gracefully preform a rectal exam but I saw it myself and if I could go back and cause that sorry excuse for a vet the pain she inflicted upon my cat, too bad it’s illegal or else I’d do it in a heartbeat! Plus, they charged me an office visit when I went in for a tech visit, female dog! “Don’t trust Dr. Google” no, no, no, don’t trust these incompetent, ignorant, donkeys! All of the above is sadly true, I am $650.00 deep in vet bills, and they’re not getting another dime out of me for certain! So, if you care about the wellbeing of your animal, I’d heed my advice and take your cat elsewhere!

TR

Travis Belk

My first experience with The Cat Hospital was bringing one of my cats in for a lion cut. They were the only place with ways to deal with a tempermental cat and it went great. So when my other cat started displaying abnormal behavior, we brought him here. It turns out he had hyperthyroidism. They prescribed some medicine for him. What they neglected to do was warn me of side-effects. A few days after taking it, he started to shut down. He wouldnt eat, drink, or even move. I rushed him back here on a Saturday and they took him in for the weekend. They had to give him antibiotics, appetite stimulants, and push fluids into him. It turns out it was a reaction to the medication, that we ended up having to tell them about after Googling. We immediately took him off the meds and he was fine. This bill for all this was around $450. Since then, we got a dog and took her to the Altamonte Veterinary Hospital down the road, with Dr. Larkin. This is relevant as my hyperthyroid cat got ill about 4 weeks back. His hind legs seemed to stop working. He could barely walk and it was at an angle. I decided to take him back to the Cat Hospital of Orlando as they already had him on file. They did an exam and only determined he was dehydrated. They would need to send off for labs. They also wanted to keep him for two days and push fluids and insert a catheter. They brought me an estimate for OVER $1000 for all this. I inquired how come it was so much given his two day stay a year earlier was half that. They gave some fast talk, but nothing really substantial. I started looking through the charges and found double charges. They would charge things like a catheter insertion in a bundle charge and then enter it again as its own separate line item. When I mentioned this, they brought in the office manager who tried to fast talk and showed me a new estimate for around the same amount with the double charges removed, but now a third day added to it. At this point, I said enough was enough and paid them $60 for the exam and left. I took my cat to Dr. Larkin instead. He looked at my cat and charged only $45 for the exam. He didnt want to keep him for any days and said he would get back to me with the results of the blood work. He also prescribed a steroid for his balance. All said, the bill was only $300. A few hours later, they called and said my cat was diabetic and had me come in for a sharp box, syringes,and insulin. That was another $100. All said, this was around $400, less than half as much as the Cat Hospital estimate. It is now 4 weeks later of insulin shots and my cat is doing great. He seems to be doing better than ever and he is 17 years old. My experience was that the Cat Hospital is more concerned about making money. Dr. Larkin at the Veterinary Hospital of Altamonte, has better rates, only charges what is necessary, and will discuss all details of the illnesses and treatments with you. Id recommend to avoid the Cat Hospital and go to Dr, Larkin instead.

SH

sherilorin

This is the best place Ive ever taken my cat! I called one morning and I had no problem getting through, someone answered the phone promptly and they were able to schedule me that same day. They put me with Dr. Basso and I was blown away by her thoroughness, her kindness, and her love of cats! She was fantastic. I would love to switch from my regular vet and bring my cats here. From the time I walked in until the time I left it was a fantastic experience. The doctor must have spent about an hour with me. She examined my cat, was very gentle with him, she watched him walk (I brought him in because of a leg issue), and she explained to me along the way everything she was doing and why. She even had diagrams and pictures of the cat anatomy to show me. I dont get care like this from my own doctor. The other thing I really loved was they examined my cat in front of me. Some places now take the pets away and do an examine elsewhere. I loved that you could see what they were doing and could stay in the room so my pet was reassured. Needless to say I kept thinking this was going to cost a fortune. When I checked out the bill was less than I usually pay for my cats annual check up at the vet. Dr. Basso spent an hour of her time with us, gave the cat a shot, some sample cat food, and some medicine and it still was less than what they charge me at my regular vet. I was so impressed with this place - wish I had known about it sooner. Patty at the front desk was wonderful too. She just went out of her way to make sure we had what we needed before we left. You can tell these people love animals, especially cats, and really care about them. All I can say is I would not hesitate in taking my cat here - I felt they were great to deal with and more importantly great with my cat. Dont even think twice about taking your cats here - they are wonderful!