Emergency Veterinary Clinic

Reviews 3

A

A Private User

(I have copied and pasted this from my review on yellowpages on 12/2/09.) I recently took my basset hound to them when I discovered that his broken leg had an infection. They informed me that his foot was dead, he had no feeling in it, had lost all of its hair, had gangrene, and would need to be amputated. They sent me home and told me to take him to my vets office the next morning. I left their office in tears feeling like the worst pet owner in the world. They had told me that his wrappings had gotten too tight and cut off his circulation. So I felt that it was my fault. I was up all night crying I felt so horrible. When I took him to me vets office the next day they took his cast and wrappings off in front of me. My vet was shocked. He had VERY LITTLE hair loss, he obviously still had feeling in it since he was whining while the vet was examining his leg. The vet trimmed his nail back a little too far to see if it would bleed to make sure their was still blood flow to the foot. There was. And the gangrene? Yea a minor infection which cleared up in just a few days with antibiotics. I dont know if they had my dog mixed up with another or they just dont know what they are doing. Im not sure which I would rather it be either. I just hope they didnt get us mixed up with another dog. I would hate to think that a family took their dog home thinking everything was fine and it wasnt. I wouldnt recommend this place to anyone unless it was a true after hours life or death situation. More recently I went in to feed my daughters hamster to find it barely breathing and its eyes covered with pus. I knew he was dying and there was no way to save him. It was 8pm on a Friday night so all the other vet offices were closed. I called the Evet to see if they would be willing to put my daughters hamster to sleep so he wouldnt suffer. The girl told me they could but they would charge me the $65 vet fee plus $30 to put him down. I told her there was no way I could afford to pay the $65 and that it would be unnecessary as he didnt need to be seen. Anyone could plainly see he was dying. Keep in mind I am crying the whole time I am on the phone. The girl just says no. Seems to me that if you actually cared for animals you would want to end the suffering of one and not worry about making money off its death. I was more than willing to pay the $30. Just makes me sick. Dirty blood suckers...

A

A Private User

Going there is like playing roulette.There are some DVMs on staff who are excellent.If you call ahead and Dr.Massey or Dr. Toner are working you will be extremely pleased with their care.They are two of the best in the business-both extremely knowledgeable clinically,both have a great bedside manner,and the fee for their services will be fair and as reasonable as possible. On the other hand there is at least one doctor on their staff who is so rude that he doesnt even listen as you try to tell him whats going on with your beloved pet-he will keep interrupting you so that he couldnt possibly know what is going on with the patient.He was rough with my dying 15 year old cat and to top things off knew that she had two medical issues going on that needed attention and was going to supposedly treat one of them but flat out ignore the fact that she had hyperthyroidism and hadnt been able to take her thyroid medicine in three days.When I asked him if he knew that would be grounds for disciplinary action by the State Veterinary Board,instead of then agreeing to treat my cats hyperthyroidism as would have been the standard,he became belligerant and verbally combative,falsely misrepresented on the record that I was the one who had become agitated and caused me to leave without receiving treatment with my dying cat in my arms and no where else to go that night.And he pocketed the money that I had paid upfront even though we left without him doing anything for my cat. The office manager later refused to give appropriate attention to my formal complaint about the situation,and a receptionist "Megan" even took it upon herself to retaliate by initiating a letter to my cats attending veterinarian telling him that he needed to be warned that I have a horribly bad attitude(for going through the proper channels with my grievance at the emergency clinic) It was straight out of "Deliverance" The only thing missing was a little Dueling Banjos in the background. So yes, you may be okay there if you know who youre dealing with.If your gut instinct is telling you something is wrong there though, it probably is.They may be the only game in Springfield but there is another 24 hour veterinary clinic 1.5 hours away in northwest Arkansas, and another in KC 3 hours away but great roads all the way. Go there only if you are sure you will be dealing with one of the good doctors.

A

A Private User

Unbelievably disgusting lack of urgency, sense of compassion and overall behavior displayed by Dr. Whittington at EVC. At 5:30 I found Dr. Whittington just entering the building, and explained our emergency, already having been to my vet, and being directed to EVC with pre-arrangements being made by my vet since EVC doesn’t open until 6 pm. She advised me to pull around to the other side of the building, and when her assistant arrived, who had just pulled up as we were speaking, shed be out to get him (my cat.) Twenty minutes later, at 5:50 p.m. I found myself beating on the door for assistance. My cat had stopped breathing. The vet assistant/tech drove to where I was told to park and explained they were not open for another 10 minutes. I told her what I was told 20 minutes earlier by Dr. Whittington and, briefed her on the state of my cat (fixed and dilated, not breathing.) She rushed him into the clinic. It was clear Dr. Whittington chose to ignore the seriousness of the situation, and had not even told the vet tech of our presence. My pet was pronounced dead, less than five minutes later, after an epinephrine (?) shot. Dr. Whittington assured me that even if shed seen him 20 minutes earlier, when we arrived and his tongue was still pink (showing decent oxygen level,) it would not have been of any use. Really? How did she know that when she didnt even look at him 20 minutes before, and she wasnt able to tell me what he died from? Was it cardiac arrest? What was it? She didnt know, but would be willing to send him for a necropsy service for a ‘small fee.’ All she knew was that he was dead, and it wouldnt have helped to see him any sooner when his condition was much better. Is this because she doubts her abilities and dislikes her job? Or, was it because she was trying to cover her mistake? I was charged $96 for the care and service EVC provided. Id have gladly paid for the shot that was administered, but I cant imagine charging a grief stricken client an emergency office fee when I knowingly allowed their pet to die in their arms, even though their vet called to make arrangements, just because I wasnt on the clock, yet.