Dogs & Cats Veterinary Referral and ER

Reviews 3

LE

Leslie Somerville

I brought my cat in because he had trouble breathing. I told them all of his symptoms point to a lung infection. I have worked in vet clinics in the past and I did some research on my own. The customer service was pleasant and efficient from the front desk. They saw him immediately. They put him on oxygen and they told me that they wanted to run some tests, but it will cost 540 dollars on top of the 150 dollar visit fee. I asked what that included and she really couldnt explain it and fumbled to explain the necessity of the tests. She trailed off on most of her responses, never fully answering the question.I said "fine, do whatever you need to do. I think he has fluid in his lungs,"she calmy dismissed my idea, asked us to sign paperwork and then left the room.The doctor eventually comes out and asks us to confirm a procedure to remove fluid from his lungs by inserting a syringe in and drawing out the fluid to test the fuid to see what it is.She recommended another test to see if it was something else. "I said do the fluid procedure and testing first"We confirmed a 230 dollar fee and off the vet went. The doctor returns 20 minutes later and tells us its an infection in his lungs and the infection has caused puss in his lungs, hence the fluid. I ask her what the treatment is to save him. The doctor said all they have to do is stick two tubes in there and they can pull the fluid right out, then he would be fine after some antibiotics and some fluids. Great. Then the doctor informs us that the procedure not including the antibiotic treatment is 4,000 dollars.We obviously didnt have that on hand, which is why the doctor didnt miss a beat in saying, "even if we dont do the procedure we can still save him by doing the antibiotic and IV treatment, but that costs a little over two grand to start so hes suffering so I recommend euthanasia." I informed her that I would take my cat home and give him the antibiotic treatment myself. The doctor looked annoyed at this and told me that Id be forcing the cat to suffer. I said its an infection, not cancer and Im not going to give up if antibiotics can do the trick. She recommended the euthanasia several times and told me that I would be killing him if we left there tonight.I insisted at least I was going to try something. They said that he would be right out and well discharge you.We waited an hour and a half and then someone came out and explained how to administer the antibiotics and the pain killers. The doctor came out and explained our 900 dollar bill which resulted in them not doing anything to help my cat. While looking at me pointedly she explained that she only gave us a weeks worth of antibiotics because she didnt think hed make it that long. They brought out my cat and he was gross and coated in something. They didnt even clean the infected black grime from his teeth and maw. They shaved out an awakward patch of hair in his chest and he looked worse than when I brought him in.He was lethargic from the drugs they used to calm him while they drained out the fluid.We took him home and he was responsive again.We gave him the first antibiotic successfully.When we opened up his favorite food he looked up, but couldnt move.We tried giving him the second pill and he took it and snuggled his head into the crook of my elbow and breathed quietly. We sat there for a minute and a half after he took that pill, but as I was petting him he just silently died in my arms as if he had fallen asleep. The hospital did nothing for my cat except take my money and try to instantly recommend euthanasia instead of actually solving the problem.928 dollars should have gotten me more logical effort. Less insistence on euthanasia would have been nice.Telling owners that they are going to cause their cat to suffer if they take him home and try to save him with antibiotics is pretty vile. I get that its a business but I didnt get anything from this experience that made any reasonable sense. They let my cat die. They knew how to save him and chose to let him die.

NA

Natalie Kramer

I have mixed feelings about this practice. I have seen some very good veterinary care from its doctors and staff and some not-so-good care. My little terrier, Dewey, received very adequate care from Dr. Simmerson for his polyarthritis, thanks to which hes been able to maintain a good quality of life for a long time. I do believe, however, that Dr. Simmersons bedside manner and people skills could use some improvement. My 13 year-old collie, Josie, on the other hand, did not, in my opinion, receive exceptionally good care from Dr. Guma. I believe that Josies atypical Addisons disease was missed, and the opportunity to test for it was also missed, causing Josie unnecessary suffering, which could have been minimized or avoided, not to mention anguish on the humans part and extra expense. Dr. Gumas treatment part of the care was adequate, but the diagnostic component of it, I believe, was not up to the level I would expect of a good internist at an expensive specialty practice; she said to me that Josie is "enigmatic." Well, thats why we seek specialty services: to solve the "enigma." Dr. Guma also got defensive when I expressed a suspicion that Josies Addisons may have been missed and asked questions about testing for it. She told me she didnt test for Addisons because on ultrasound Josies adrenals didnt look small, but apparently normal sized adrenals are not an absolute factor in ruling out this disease. I believe Josie had enough signs and symptoms (vomiting undigested food, weakness in the back legs, the waxing and waning nature of the symptoms, abnormal BUN/Creatinine, and others) to at least consider Addisons as a possibility and to discuss it with me. In February Dr. Guma discharged Josie after a hospitalization for an acute crisis as a probable "hospice care case," but as of late May, she is doing well on a low dose of prednisone and supportive care. I am very happy about the wrong prediction of hospice care for Josie but do believe she was short-changed as far as the quality of care received at Dogs and Cats. I hope something is learned from this experience, so Josies suffering and the familys angst were not in vain.

RS

RSJ

I was very impressed with the staff and service I received after taking my 7-year-old baby, Maggie, in for emergency treatment. Maggie was in a lot of pain and was obviously distressed about something which I couldnt figure out until I lifted her tail to see blood around her anal area. Since this was close to 7 pm, my typical vet was closed and I scrambled to find somewhere she could be seen as soon as possible. I found Dogs and Cat via a Google search and made a quick call to a friendly person from the clinic who told me to bring her in right away. Not long after arriving we were seen by a Vet Tech who was very nice and told me she was pretty sure Maggie had a ruptured anal gland. Even though this is not the greatest news you want to hear, you typically fear for the worse any time you see blood coming from your beloved pet. The Dr. Schnabel came in soon after and confirmed that this was indeed a ruptured anal gland and then explained what services were required. She told me the expected wait time, which was accurate and I took Maggie back home with pain pills, antibiotics and the next day received a detailed treatments summary in my email which I could give to my regular Vet as well as add to Maggies health records. Overall I was extremely impressed with Dogs and Cat Veterinary Referral and Emergency. The entire staff was extremely friendly, polite and caring and not just to me, but everyone who was there, who came into the clinic and to everyone who called. I highly recommend Dogs and Cats Veterinary Referral and Emergency which is open 24 hours a day 365 days a week. Thank you so much for taking care of Maggie!