Broad Ripple Animal Clinic

Reviews 3

JU

Justin Owens

This is a nice clinic that presents itself well, they seem to have a very knowledgeable staff. Clean facilities, and very convenient hours. Which was the main reason I started taking my dog here. Many other Vets are not open til 7pm. Our 10 year old Huskie was starting to have seizures, they were not frequent but when faced in a scary situation like that the convenience of not having to take off work for a sudden pet illness was great. I did not mind the high prices for this convenience, and yes they are pretty high. My dog Kazf passed away in July 13, I was taking him here for about 6 months. In that time he was placed on Rimadyl to help with a back injury and arthritis. In July he was due for this yearly Vaccines. The vet mentioned to us a vaccine that our dog never had before. The Lepto Vaccine. He explained to us what it was for and that it was recommended. So we said sure why not? Sounded like he needed it, and the Vet was recommending it. That is where everything went wrong for our dog. He did not show any signs of feeling sick or lethargic, and acted his normal happy self, but for the next 5 days our dog showed no interest in his regular dog food, he would only eat easily digestible food like bread or chicken with rice, or treats and even that was a task. In the middle of the week he vomited once, and figured he must have an upset tummy cause there was no food in his stomach. We made a new appointment and took him back to the vet told them in as much detail as we could what has been going on. The vet ran some tests and exams and determined he had acute pancreatitis and he had elevated kidney levels. They admitted him to the hospital hooked him up to IV treatments and anti-nausea. 4days later his kidneys were failing him and he had multiple seizures over night. My wife and I made the decision to give him mercy and the Vet supported that decision. The staff were all very kind to us in those moments. A devastating loss to our family and one that occurred basically without any warning or explanation. We have adopted a new dog now and this has led me to investigate my dogs death in a little more detail to make sure we dont make the same mistakes in the future. My findings. The Lepto Vaccine has been shown to cause severe reaction in some dogs that are older or not physically well. Those reactions can be among other things - kidney damage, pancreatitis, vomiting, loss of appetite. Before receiving this Vaccine my dog was already on a twice daily does of Rimadyl, which has been shown to be hard on the kidneys. Our dog passed his initial tolerance test but who knows how his kidney levels were several months later. I now believe that this vaccine basically toxed out my dogs kidneys and led to a host of problems that ended with him having a severe blood infection. 10 days from his Vaccination to his death. I do not think I can prove any sort of negligence from this Clinic, but if a senior dog has been on Prescription painkillers / anti-inflammatory why introduce a new vaccine that could throw his system out of wack? And they recommended this vaccine for a house dog? It seems un-needed, and it really doesnt make any sense. Who really knows, it could have been a whole host of issues that created a perfect storm inside his system. Granted the Vet has never admitted that his recent Vaccines had anything to do with it. But still 10 days from Vaccine to death, I just think there is too much of a connection there. Reactions to Vaccines are rare, but i feel like in my dogs case this might have been avoided. Not to mention several thousands of dollars to treat him for 4 days in the hospital.

PA

Patrick Tucker

I am starting to see a pattern with several of these reviews (the two star ones). Just a few days ago, My wife and I rushed my dog Duke to the Broad Ripple animal clinic. For several days he had been vomiting constantly and had lost quite a bit of weight. After an x - ray, we were told that my dog MIGHT have pancreatitis. However due to the OUTRAGIOUS charges totaling over 600.00 we were only allotted anti nausea medication and fluids, and charged @ 350.00 just for those services, not having the available finances to able to afford what was being asked in order for the vet to offer any additional assistance to find what was truly wrong with him. This so called anti nausea medication was supposed to keep him from vomiting, but would not, according to the vet herself, "fix the problem." So we ended up leaving the vet office just as ignorant as to what was wrong with him as we were before we got there. So we ended up having to take him home to watch him suffer. We came to the realization that we had to have him put down. We had made arrangements to have friend take us to Animal Care and Control the next day. By morning, his condition had gotten even worse, having lost control of his faculties, waking to find him laying on my kitchen floor, laying in his own urine and feces, unable to stand on his own. He died before we could even get him somewhere to ease his pain. It seems to me that the primary purpose of a vet is to help animals, not just stabilize them or any real help. They charge way to much and have no real compassion for the animals they serve, money their main priority. Surely there should be some programs or plans available to help people who cannot afford your outrageous fees (including a "second eye fee ). I understand that it is a business and that do have to charge something, but what infuriates me is my dogs condition may have been curable, but due to this vets refusal to offer any additional assistance, other than stabilizing him, my dog had to suffer and die. I wasnt asking for it to be free, just offer some type of payment arrangement. Her refusal to do that, in addition to the way overpriced charges just reinforces my belief that compensation will always take priority over the well being and sanctity of the lives of the pets that are seen at this clinic.

LU

Luke Donaldson

I am absolutely disgusted with my experience with this clinic. Our cat was extremely sick so we took her in here because they advertise a free examination for first time visitors. We were seen right away and informed that we need to spend $190 for x-rays to check and see of she ate something that she shouldnt have and had a blockage. The veterinarian then began discussing surgery with us. I asked if there were any alternatives and they told me that we could not pursue other options unless the x-rays were negative and we came back for follow up x-rays as sometimes "things dont always show up unless we give it time". We were then told that if we did not do all of this that our cat would die within the next day or two but that we could spend $60 to allow them to give her fluids amd nausea medicine, which we did. I absolutely refused to believe that my cat ate something. I informed them that i know my cat and she is just not that type of cat. Shes too picky and high maintenance. I was told that I would be surprised. We left and took her to the Face Clinic and informed them of everything. They drew blood, gave her an antibiotic shot for a fever, proscribed us an antibiotic and said they would call us back with the results of the blood work. When they called late that evening they said she had an infection that would clear up with the antibiotic and to come back and get a pill for a parasite. No x-ray or surgery needed! Broad Ripple Animal Clinic was more concerned about making a quick chunk of money than saving our cat. We spent $130 at Face and received answers. Broad Ripple was estimating over $1200 for x-rays and surgery that werent even necessary. By the time they would have found out what was wrong with my cat, she would have been dead. This place disgusts me and if you are looking to come here I would suggest you pursue other options.