Westford Veterinary Emergency and Referral Center, LLC

Reviews 3

KI

Kimberly Wang

My husband and I can not rave enough about this facility. Their FIRST concern from the very beginning was always the well-being, pain management, and quality of life for our beloved dog Cleo. On December 9, 2015, our precious Cleo was admitted with fluid and pain in her abdomen accompanied with an extremely high fever. She was 9 years old and never had any major health issues so this was a complete shock. To make a long story short and without going into procedural details, she required immediate surgery. The surgery revealed a life threatening situation that we were completely unaware of inside our Cleo. She never showed any signs of pain or discomfort until the day she was admitted. They saved her life. She wouldn’t have lasted another 12 hours. She had 4 masses removed and was sadly diagnosed with histiocytic sarcoma. Cleo had a rollercoaster of a recovery where, on any given day, we thought she was going to take a turn for the worst. Throughout this painful process, the doctors, techs, and the staff at the hospital were nothing short of amazing. We must’ve called them 10,000 times and they patiently answered every question we had. There was a stretch of time when Cleo had to be readmitted and we decided to stay overnight with her. They were so supportive and understanding while we camped out in one of the visiting rooms. It was during this time that we could really witness how much they care about their patients and their families. Over the course of 2 1/2 weeks, Cleo must’ve seen just about everyone who works there. They all fell in love our our sweet Cleo. They not only did they best to make sure Cleo was comfortable, they also did their best to comfort us through our pain. There are far too many instances to call every single one out so here’s just a sampling: Upon seeing us back for a recheck shortly after the surgery with very worried looks on our faces, Marcelo, despite being there 2 hours past his shift, took the time to sit down with us to calm our fears. Every time we saw Dr. Kircher, she would sit right on the floor with us and Cleo and carefully go through every detail with us while showing us the utmost empathy. Erin spent an entire day yelling at the lab that was running behind on Cleo’s biopsy report and got them to rush results back on that very day. Diane spent forever chatting with us when we stayed overnight. There are FAR too many other examples to list here--they are a special group of people. One day before Cleo was scheduled for her first chemo treatment, her little body gave out and went into renal failure. It was Christmas day. We made the impossibly difficult decision to put an end to her pain. She hung on for us for one more Christmas morning that we will forever treasure. She passed away peacefully in our arms. After Cleo passed away, they showed us even more compassion, if that’s even possible. They took her away gently on a stretcher and talked to her as they did so, calling her a sweet girl. They sent us a bouquet of flowers at home and a card with personal messages from everyone there. Marcelo and Shannon made a donation to a charity in Cleo’s memory and bought her a citrus tree to plant on top of Cleo’s ashes. The humanity that they showed us was truly overwhelming and made a cruel time just a little bit kinder. We will forever be grateful to the staff for the extra 2 1/2 weeks that they gave us with our sweet Cleo. Even though we would’ve wanted longer (forever), we can’t imagine how much more painful it would’ve been had we not had that additional time. We treasured every minute of that time. Thank you Westford Vet Emergency and everyone there. You are the best.

TH

Thomas Gagnon

On this past April 29th, my wife and I took our beloved male 17 year old cat named Hobbes to our normal vet as a follow up to a diagnosed urinary tract infection as we observed Hobbes walking around our house, squatting and trying to urinate. Our poor boy was unable to do so. We immediately drove to Westford and brought our boy into the emergency area and informed them that our vet had referred us for emergency services and what our vet had told us might be the cause of Hobbes emergency. Additionally, both my wife and I informed both the technician and attending Veterinarian of what our Vet had told us regarding the obstruction AND the concern she had regarding Hobbes breathing, especially due to his advanced age. After taking Hobbes in for evaluation, my wife was told by the attending vet (I had stepped out to grab an iced coffee and was not present at this time) that Hobbes did indeed have a blockage that required surgery. Both the vet and the technician involved mentioned that it was unusual for a cat the age of our Hobbes to have a blockage, but that there was a 90% chance that he could recover from surgery. Neither the attending vet or the technician mentioned anything about the breathing diagnosis, other than it was most likely related to the obstruction. Due to our emotional state, neither my wife or I asked about the breathing issue and chest x-ray recommended by our vet. Myself, personally, thought that the x-ray had already been done or would be done prior to surgery. After we signed the appropriate documents, Hobbes was taken into surgery and we left Westford Emergency Veterinary Hospital. Approximately 1 hour later, I received a phone call from the attending Veterinarian, Dr Hughes, that the surgery was successful, however, during a post operative examination and some sort of scan/test, they discovered that our boy had a mass in his lung that they felt most likely was a cancerous tumor. The news was devastating to me and I was completely shocked. I did not understand why the chest e-ray had not been conducted prior to surgery. I realize that the obstruction was very serious, but clearing the obstruction through surgery is a very expensive procedure with no guarantees, and if the hospital had conducted the chest x-ray prior to surgery as requested by our vet (and us); we would have at least had the proper information and data to make what would have been the most wise course of action, euthanasia. That morning we went and picked up our boy....we took him home for about an hour, just to spend a few moments together as a family. We then took Hobbes to our preferred vet to be euthanized. The issue that I have with Westford Veterinary Hospital is that they did not follow ours or our vets instructions. Had we known about the tumor, we would never have put our poor boy through a procedure which was both costly and invasive, and eventually led to needless pain and suffering for our boy.....and needless emotional distress for me and my wife. When I complained about the service provided, I was told that it is was not standard procedure to check into any underlying conditions other than the obstruction until after surgery had been performed. Personally, I feel that, as the Westford Hospital tech and doctor both stated it was not usual for a cat the age of Hobbes to be experiencing such a blockage, it was malpractice to not have performed a chest x-ray. As consumers, we rely on the expertise of professionals, and I feel as though we were cheated and that unnecessary additional emotional pain and suffering resulted from this malpractice.

MA

Mary Sawyer

Too long; Didnt read: they were better than I could have imagined for a such difficult time. In October of 2015 I ended up bring my French Lop (rabbit) named Bun-bunz there because she wasnt eating or moving around a lot and it happened kind of suddenly. We went here because I couldnt find a vet near me that could see her right away. After an X-ray we saw a mass that was most likely a tumor in her uterus. Considering she was 11 (they live till 5-7 on average), and not fixed we decided to just make her life as comfortable as possible because she started eating again and didnt show signs of pain. Unfortunately we were back 2 days later because blood was coming from her back end, we think the tumor had ruptured. We did end up having to put her down. During this entire time the staff was so absolutely amazing, bringing plenty of tissues and they gave us the time we needed. They even notified our regular vet of what happened. A few weeks later we got a hand written card from the vet saying how she was so sad to see such a sweet bunny go, but how she could tell how much she was loved and cared for and how happy she was. Now I dont know if thats standard practice or not, but they did it with such compassion that I still tear up today thinking about how kind they were in such a hard time. Flash forward to today, and I have 2 scary-smart Dwarf rabbits (a cashmire and a lionshead), and I sleep a little better at night knowing great care is there for them 24/7. I cant thank them enough for their kindness and professionalism.