Tampa Bay Veterinary Emergency

Reviews 3

LA

Larry Bennett

I wish I could give less than 1 star......We took our little dog in for treatment and it turned into a nightmare. First they prepped her to be put down without any authorization. They took a little dog in distress having hard time breathing and held her down, shaved her leg, and shoved an I.V. into her leg and then lied to us about it! One of their Techs then argued with us about it saying we ask for it, which later another Tech and one of the doctors apologized about it, but the damage was done. At that point you could tell they all had an attitude. They were very uncooperative, cold and demanding about getting their money before going forward with any help for our little girl. We were then lied to on two occasions as we were told Ally was being put in an oxygen cage. Then they had conflicting stories from 3 different doctors about what was wrong with Ally and what they were doing to help her. "Our little dog was considered critical, why wasnt she being watched?" They had no idea that she had died in their Critical Care unit or for how long? What were their Techs doing? That weekend of horrors with this pitiful excuse of Veterinary Specialists not only cost us our little dog but almost $2,000.00! Its sad but I saw "no sign" of empathy or real heart felt care about the animals that came and went while we were there. We did see two ladies that were basically told to come up with money or leave with their poor dog, which by the way is the same way we were treated. It is very obvious that it is all about the money with Tampa Bay Veterinary Specialists and Emergency Care Center. I have been in business nationally and internationally for about 45 years and I have never seen such a poor excuse of a company, much less a Veterinary Office. If you think we are just sad or mad about losing our little girl, research us. We have always been business owners and avid animal lovers and regular backers of Puppymill Rescue as well as the Humane Society and many other animal rights organizations. We are known for not only caring, loving and doing whatever we can to give our pets the best possible lives that we can, but others pets as well. Believe me if I shared all the details of this entire deplorable experience this letter would be twice as long. We are for real and will do whatever it takes to make sure everyone knows our personal thoughts, and feelings about your company. We work with several attorneys who all want to go after this "business" but all we want is to protect other true animal lovers from making the same terrible mistake that we did! I am posting this letter everywhere that I can find on the Internet and publishing in all the Gulf Coast Newspapers. I will be more than happy to discuss with anyone who loves their pet. (Everything and more that is in this letter is documented as proof) In Allys memory. Larry Bennett (I have a complete letter with details if anyone would like to see)

JO

jonnathan ibarra

I advise people to NEVER take their animals to this place, they claim theyll help you, but they are only there for the MONEY! I took my 10 month old dog there today she was having seizures my fiancee told the nurse over the phone we did not had any money at the time for any exams, but that we could pay them back on Friday for their services, the nurse told us they can work with us financially. When we got there they told us the rates were from $655 to $995 and they needed at least $500 up front, we did not had that kind of money the only amount we had was $100 in cash. They asked us to apply for credit (which we did we applied for Care credit and got declined at the first emergency vet we took our dog) then the nurse asked if we could call someone who might be able to loan us money (we did that and I only got the $100 from my mother, no one else could come up with $500 for us) we told her there was no one else to help us with the amount. They told us that unfortunately they could not help us and they recommended us to go take our dog to the Humane Society the nurse told us they would check us out and we can take her with us. They charged us $145 dollars for the shot to stop the seizure (which the first dosed she got on the first emergency vet we took her at 4am was done FREE due to our financial situation.) Now we owe them $45 dollars which they will take on Friday when we get paid. What is more upsetting is the letter they wrote to Dr. NRV stating that we took her home against their medical advise, that we declined all their services offered (when they were the ones who said they cannot help us if we dont have MONEY), they wrote that we declined to make phone calls asking our family for money or taking a loan stating we did not made any "physical efforts" (when we specifically TOLD them we got declined for credit care and we made phone calls to EVERYONE before we arrived there and we only received $100 which they took at the time of checkout). After taking our dog to three different dog hospitals we ended at the Humane Society in Tampa Bay, they were able to work with us and they will take the money we owe them on our payday Friday, they were VERY kind and understood our financial situation, I love my dog more than anything in the world and when people are really working to save dogs the first priority should be taking care of the dog before any money. I recommend the humane society 10 times more than this greedy money interesting place, they will only help you if you have money, if you dont, dont even bother going there is a waste of your time!

AS

Ash LB

Whenever one is faced with a pet emergency, it is full of stress and fear. At 3:45a.m. we arrived at TBVE, with my 8 year old Chocolate Lab experiencing bloat. Dr. Davison and her only vet tech acted quickly and efficiently, explaining the risks of the surgery and in no way leading us to one decision or the other. That was the hardest part, I wanted someone to tell me what I should do. Nevertheless, my husband and I decided to go forward with the surgery and it was successful. Following surgery, we spent two days driving our sweet boy back and forth between our regular vet, and TBVE (due to his need to be monitored 24/7). The stress of post surgery care was so immense (for our dog and us), but the staff at TBVE was very compassionate and attentive, and although they are an emergency facility, they took the time to answer all of our questions and field all of the phone calls we made to check in (and in fact, encouraged us to call as much as we wanted). Additionally, their interactions and transfers of paperwork between their office and our normal vet was very thorough. Their estimates were on the high side, but each time we arrived, we either had to pay the lowest estimate quoted, or even less than the estimate. This was a great relief, as the cost of this "emergency" procedure was not anticipated and will weigh on our budget for a very long time. With that said, my husband and I are so very thankful for the staff at TBVE and the work you do. Just like with people, you meet families and their animals during the most stressful moments, and your bedside manner and expertise is very much appreciated. Two weeks post surgery, our 8.5 year old pup has healed very well, his surgery site looks great, his spirit has returned, and he is happy to be rid of the "cone"! I hate to think what could have been, but am really looking forward to many more years with my (puppy) kid! Again, Dr. Davison and her staff on January 21st, 2016 were a godsend to our dog and family. Thank You! ** If there is one piece of constructive feedback, have your younger or less experienced techs/office staff shadow/partner your more experienced ones. On one of my visits, I got a lot of, "I dont knows" and standing around chatting with fellow employees. During stressful times, nonchalance or being dismissive is disconcerting.