Cherokee Animal Clinic

Reviews 3

DU

Dustin Mitchell-Scott

I recently moved to the Highlands from out of state and needed to find a vet that was close by for my 4 dogs and cat, so I looked up Cherokee Animal Clinic as it was the closest one to me. Right before we moved here my 4 year old English Springer had a large lump under her neck that we were concerned about. We took her to our local vet to have it examined. Our vet there told us that it looked to be a swollen lymph node and that it was most likely due to an impacted tooth. When he looked at her teeth you could see where one of her back teeth was infected. So he recommended that we have her teeth cleaned and start her on antibiotics for a week. I respect the opinion of this vet as he has been in the business for over 30 years and is one of the most respected vets for more than 50 miles around. While she was on the antibiotics the lump shrank and was almost gone but there was still a small lump. Also, during the week she was on the antibiotics, we moved here to the Highlands where the lump started getting larger again. This brings me to my experience with Cherokee Animal Clinic. We decided to take our dog to the clinic to see about trying antibiotics again but maybe this time a little longer than a week to help it go away completely. When the vet came in to check the dog he did the whole standard "wellness exam" which included checking her temperature, looking at her teeth and listening to her heart. The first thing he tells me is that she has a heart murmur; now keep in mind she has been seen for years by one of the best vets in Tennessee and I have never heard anything about her having a heart murmur. Then he starts talking about how we need to do a needle biopsy to see exactly what it is to make sure it wasnt anything more serious and that we would need to know what it was before we started doing surgery on her neck. I wasnt really given a choice in the matter as he just started to do the biopsy. He then recommended, after all this, what I originally wanted which was to start her on another round of antibiotics. When I went to check out I was blown away at how astronomical my bill was (see bill amounts below). I paid the bill and left. It was when I got home that I also remembered that the two people being seen before me also had to have things sent off to the lab. Now I do not know anything about those people and their animals, but I do find it suspicious that three people in a row needed to send something off to the lab when I have owned dogs my entire life and have never had to send anything off to the lab before. Office Visit Fee: $10.50 Doctor Exam: $31.00 Needle Biopsy: $21.00 Lab Fee: $119.50 Biohazard Waste Fee: $1.10 Week of Antibiotics: $36.95 Total with tax: $222.27 Two days later the vet calls me only to confirm, what I walked into his office knowing; it was an infection. He said that I should finish the weeks worth of antibiotics and call him when they were done. He also said that if the lump was not really improving that we would have to do another biopsy and do 6 weeks of antibiotics. That would have brought my total bill for this to over $600. So today is a week from when we started the antibiotics and the lump has shrunk a good 75% of what it was when we went in. When I called the vet to give him a report on it, the secretary said that he had written in my chart to continue meds for 6 weeks. He wrote that before he even heard back from me. I told her that I did not want to do 6 weeks but would like to do one more week on the antibiotics and see how that worked. She put me on hold to talk to the vet and came back telling me that the vet would like me to do 3 weeks on the antibiotics and that I could stop by and pick up one weeks worth and that was it. It seems to me that this vet is out to take people for as much money as he can get away with. I would not recommend this vet clinic to anyone, the clinic is not only over priced but will add on unneeded services to pocket even more money.

ST

Stacia Bivens

This is the only place I ever took my cats to and the vet always seemed to do a great job. Until a couple years ago when the vet said one of my cats (Grayley) had hypothyroidism (causes animals to lose massive amounts of weight - opposite for humans). The vet gave me pills to give to him once a day and said it should cure him. I gave him the pills regularly and noticed he had not been getting any better. I waited a couple months and still no change. I then took him back to the vet and they said he was fine and kept the dosage the same. This went on for two more years and still no progress. He never got worse, but never improved. Two weeks ago I took him back for another check up. I told the vet the current dosage was obviously not working and he needed to recommend something else. The vet took a lot of blood and increased his dosage 4X (an increase of one to four pills a day.....) Grayley was 3 pounds at this time and literally all skin and bones. You could look at him and tell how weak he was. The next day after the appointment, I woke up to find Grayley in the same spot as I left him the night before, covered in his poop and pee. He could not move a muscle and could not even make it to his litter box. I had never seen him this bad before. Grayley used to be the friendliest cat even when he was first diagnosed. I would come home and he would meow like he was happy to see me. Now, I hear nothing.. He has lost his entire personality and sits in the same spot all day unless I move him. I called the vet and told them what was going on and they could not offer any suggestions. I found it preposterous to find a "licensed" veterinarian could not recommend a solution for a common disease in animals. This has been going on for three days now and I fear Grayley is near his end. I find it very sketchy that as soon as he came back from the vet he took a drastic turn for the worse. Either they took too much blood (which is entirely possible considering he barely weighs three pounds) or they do not know what the hell they are doing. Most likely both. All I can say is do not take your animal to this veterinarian. They are neither knowledgeable nor caring and basically made my poor Grayleys life a lot shorter. I am in tears over this. DO NOT GO HERE.

MI

Michael C

The experience I received at Cherokee Animal Hospital is far less than satisfactory. Not only are they difficult and rude when it comes to an issue you may have with their service, but they are over-priced when matched with the other animal clinics in the area. There was a similar review that noted how the physician would prescribe medications and perform certain procedures without asking the owner of the pet. I second this statement. They have charged me with medications and services that I have not agreed on in the past. Upon being called to have your pet seen, they will begin their standard protocol of checking your pets temperature, heart, hair, ears, and weight. You will notice that they speed through these tasks and even through the actual issue with the animal with a sense of urgency, despite their waiting room being completely empty. After all this is said and done, you will have your medication and your bill. You will find that regardless of what you have came in for that you will be charged an unnecessary fee of $11.25 listed as an "office visit" and then you will have another fee of $33.00 for the "doctor exam / routine," which sounds almost synonymous to the latter fee. As I mentioned before, you will pay the amount of $44.25 per every visit you make in addition to whatever other services and medications that they may have gave you. The only exception to this is if you have a follow-up visit to your previous appointment to which they only remove the "office visit" fee of $11.25. The point of the matter is that there are many other options in regards to animal clinics and I highly recommend to make the best decision when it comes to your pets. This clinic has not only proved to be expensive but it has not operated to the standard that I would expect from a facility that is responsible for the welfare of my animal.