Banfield Pet Hospital

Reviews 3

JE

Jeffery Anderson

We have been using banfield ever since moving to Tampa almost 2 years ago for our english bulldog and our golden retriever. This weekend was the saddest in our lives. Our beloved golden had a loss of appetite for a week or so. Then on Friday he began vomiting and bad blood tinged diarreha. We called and they got us right in. For that I am thankful. They had to take him out of our car on a gurney because he was too weak to walk. The Dr. examined him and after a short time said be needed to keep him and run some bloodwork and xray and for us to return in a few hours for results. In the meantime they put him on fluid and antibiotic IV. We returned for the results. The diagnosis we were given is that be was anemic and had a distended abdomen which COULD be a mass but that the xray hadnt been read yet so they were not sure. They wanted us to take him home and return Saturday morning and leave him for the day so they could give him fluids again. We took him home and he seemed a very slight bit better, but very weak and tired. He slept in the same spot all night. We returned yesterday morning with him and left him for the day. We returned at 6:30pm to get him and the results. The Dr. then told us he had fluid in his abdomen and an ultrsound was needed to see better as a mass was not detected in the xray due to too much fat in the way (nice excuse). We were reffered to blue pearl because they said they didnt have ultrasound equipment there. We took our boy and left. Once in the car my wife made a call to a friend in the vet industry for more than 25 years. She asked a few questions about bloodwork, and asked if they did an abdomen tap to see the fluid. We told her that they did not. She pretty much knew from a few simple questions, and bloodwork numbers what the dianosis was and that the outcome was very poor. She hung up with us and made a call, then called us right back and directed us to Tampa emergency vet clinic. We arrived there about 20 minutes later. They came out and carried our boy in. The Dr. there examined our boy and came back in after a few minutes. She had performed an abdomen tap,(which should have been done as soon as they suspected fluid at banfield), and showed us that his abdomen was full of pure blood. This meant he was bleeding out internally. It was then that she told us that he had hemangiosarcoma, which is a cancerous spleenic mass that bleeding and could rupture at anytime and he would bleedout. The only loving and humane thing to do was for us to let our boy go in peace and no pain. We spent time with him and he ate chicken and loved on us. His breathing became labored and we decided it was time. They came and gave him a sedative, and then a few moments later an injection. Our boy left us knowing he was very loved and the best friend we ever had. Now that you know, this is where I become very angry. Money is no object when it comes to my family (my boys), however I feel that banfield milked us for almost $2000 and made my boy suffer longer than needed. So, I caution you, ask questions, do some research, make calls to WELL KNOWN AND RECOMMENDED VETS IN YOUR AREA Personnally we will never use banfield again. I feel that the doctors there should be more knowledgable especially in different pet breeds. For gods sake I googled "golden retriever with distended abdomen and blood", the first search result was hemangiasarcoma, and I am not a doctor. Please be vigilant with your pets care and search out GOOD vets in your area. It was a great loss for us, but I hope this experience helps someone else. God bless all of us and our special friends.

TR

Tracy Scott

BEWARE!!! Do not consider Banfield Wesley Chapel as your veterinary of choice! This has been the worst experience with any veterinarian I have ever dealt with. We were told by a Petsmart associate that the 2 sister Guinea Pigs that were medically cleared by the Banfield vet, were ready to be adopted. I took time off work to take my daughter to adopt them. My daughter saved her money over several months to purchase the Guinea pigs and all the necessities needed to provide the warmest welcome to their new home & family. Upon arrival to collect the little babies, we were told that one of the girls had a very cloudy eye by the PetSmart associate. (This should have been caught, considering the Banfield vet supposedly medically cleared them that morning) We decided to adopt the one sister and were told the other one would be seen by Banfields vet again that day. This was 3/11/16. I was also promised a call back from a petsmart associate that evening. We never received a call. I called PetSmart to check and was told they were too busy to evaluate her and to call back the next day. When I finally got someone to confirm, 4 days later; they advised she was on medication drops and would be reevaluated on Friday morning 3/18 and they would contact me to confirm. Again no call. I contacted them Saturday 3/19 and they said they were too busy and would re-evaluate her on Sunday morning. Once again no call, I went into the store and to the Banfield desk where I was told they are "slammed" and the front desk associate stated the vet said he was going to evaluate her and to come back at 5:00 near closing time. My daughter and I hung around the area for almost 2 hours to be told. "He said hes too busy and will get to her when all the other pets were done." I was promised a call by the front desk associate as soon as he was done with his evaluation. Surprise surprise...no call. I called petsmart the next day 3/21, asked for a manager. The manager then transfers me to an associate that didnt know anything and was told the manager for Banfield was gone for the day. A little over an hour went by and that same associate (not a manager) called me and said Im sorry but the Guinea pig now has developed a cough and wheezing and needs another week of antibiotics. Im confident this is a result of her being held for almost 2 weeks in a shoe box sized plastic container. In my opinion her well being was compromised due to the negligence of Banfield veterinarians and Petsmarts inability to have a reputable reliable veterinary affiliate. Needless to say, I will be taking my business elsewhere and can only hope the little guinea pig, my daughter planned to name "Angel" will survive and be adopted by a loving family.

AN

Andrew Caven

I had to bring my dog to be put down today 7-23-17 and the doctor staff had zero compassion. My dog was visibly terrified. I was distraught and the doctors and staff was talkin loudly outside my door about how bad their life was. After all was said and done they literally dragged my dog out on a blanket like she was nothing stating "well just drag her all the way down the hall and then throw her in the freezer". Thoroughly disgusted. If this didnt need to happen today Id have exploded in the middle of PetSmart and walked out.