Freeport Veterinary Hospital

Reviews 3

AM

Amanda Brown

My husbands and my animals (2 cats and our beloved dog), have been patients at Freeport Veterinary Hospital for just over a year now. In that time Ben and I have been very happy with Dr. Radding and the hospital as a whole. However, it wasnt until recently that I was inclined to write a review. A few months ago, Linus, our 3 year old ornery male cat, starting having blood in his urine. Hes an indoor cat, neutered, eats a natural high-quality diet, and wasnt showing any other symptoms of illness. So when I took him to Dr. Radding, I was a little nervous of what it could be and that medicine would be my only option. After a day of tests and observations (and waiting for a pee sample) I picked Linus up on my lunch break and told her that I was slightly pressed for time, but I wanted to discuss any natural remedies that might be available to keep him off prescriptions forever. (He was prescribed an initial course on antibiotics for 10 days). Dr. Radding immediately sat down with me in the lobby and discussed all the changes I could make at home that might help the problem. She was also clear that it would probably take a couple months and more than just one of the changes suggested. I ended up taking a few notes to make sure I remembered everything to tell my husband. We starting making the changes right away, which included a higher water content of canned food (think chicken soup), less kibble in the diet, closer attention to litter boxes (including adding a 3rd), etc. A couple weeks later, Freeport Vet followed up on my progress to make sure Linus was improving (slowly but surely), and we decided to continue our routine. So, after a few months, Linus is still a little chubby and definitely ornery, but his "pee problems" are fixed! Another reason Im writing this now is that Penny, our lovely, 5 year old mutt, slipped on the snow and hurt her leg a couple weeks back. She was favoring it on Christmas and limped pitifully the day after. We kept her relaxed and limited her use of the stairs in the house. Dr. Radding fit us in 2 days after Christmas following a worried call from me after I had put Penny in bed with my husband that morning, where she limped to the pillow, curled up and didnt move. She did a thorough work-up, including lyme and other tick-borne illness tests, a full physical with bloodwork, and updated Pennys vaccines so we could save a trip if we didnt have to come back for her leg. She spent about an hour with Ben and I, discussing any and all possibilities, but without making us panic. We left happy and treated Pennys leg as a regular strain/sprain. Again, the hospital was diligent about following up with us and making sure Penny didnt need additional treatment. A few weeks later, after some prescribed R & R (and after a 2nd follow up call from Dr. Radding to check on her), shes as good as new! Not to mention she tested negative for all the other illnesses! For anyone in the Freeport/Brunswick/Pownal area, I highly recommend Freeport Veterinary Hospital and Dr. Radding. They have always done right by my four legged children and have also been very supportive of our chosen holistic approach to diet and medicine for our critters.

JE

Jessica St. Clair

I would not recommend Freeport Vet to anyone. We had several negative experiences and one that has led me to actually write this review to alert the public about their practice. First and foremost we never felt welcome bringing our dog in. We were rushed and felt like the staff looked down on us for no reason at all. We adopted an adult yellow lab mix from a rescue group and she came with some issues and scars from things we have no idea about, one was a chipped tooth. It did not appear to bother her and our previous Vet in Vermont had suggested we wait to have it taken out since it wasnt an issue and being a rescue dog it may be more traumatizing than it was worth. We moved to Maine and went to the Freeport Vet as it was near by. They suggested we take it out because it was "cruel to leave it in". We clearly felt bad hearing this and agreed to have it out. We dropped her off early in the morning, they took it out and kept her for the day. We picked her up and brought her home but she never bounced back. We followed all directions and 36 hours later we called them becuase she was still very drousy. They said it was OK, so we just kept an eye on her. The next morning it was clear she was worse so we rushed her back to the vet and before they could do anything she passed away. They took no responsiblity and basically told us it wasnt their fault and it was "just a coinsidence that she died 48 hours after her surgery". Really? I had a perfectly healthy dog on Tuesday morning, you put her under anethesia and she died 48 hours later? I find it very hard to believe that something didnt go wrong. They even told me that "she took the anethesia harder than they thought she would." I understand that all surgery poses a risk and that they did not intentionally kill my dog, however their attitude and clear lack of caring made a terrible situation worse. We were shocked, saddened and after speaking with them very angry. We never had a great feeling about them, but kept going anyways and I will regret that every day. I know several years back under Dr. Bourassa it was a reputable Vet but now it is not. I do hope other people have had better experiences than we did, but I thought I would share our story as a courtesy to those looking for a new vet. The front desk staff was friendly and cordial and for yearly check ups Im sure they are fine, but you may want to look elsewhere if your pet requires more serious care.

JE

Jeannette Gallagher

Our dog Katy had her annual exam* yesterday at Freeport Veterinary Hospital. It was not her first visit there -- shed been there a few times since we transferred from another clinic -- but it was her second visit since they began their "fear-free" program. Katy being who she is, she wasnt exactly a poster child for a relaxed patient, but the difference between this visit and previous ones was enormous. She got up on the scale easily, figured out what we wanted her to do, and sat there long enough for us to get a weight. When we went into the exam room, it wasnt long before she noticed -- and told us about -- the still-clean Kong on the counter, and the jar of peanut butter next to it. After a couple Kongs-full of peanut butter, while all the staff people were out of the room doing stuff, she sat against the wall and grinned happily. I did a doubletake, because grinning happily is something Katy doesnt do a whole lot. She woofs, she begs, she pleads, but she doesnt grin happily. I reached for my phone to snap her picture, but somebody returned to the room and the moment was lost. Kudos to you guys for doing this -- to Mim, for starting it, and to the vets, for listening and acting on it. Its the kind of thing ALL clinics should be doing. Thank you.