Teaneck Animal Clinic and Spa

Reviews 4

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Christine Villaverde

Dr. Rybak, who has treated two of my family dogs prior to the latest one, has disappointed me this time around. I referred my husband and his newly adopted assistive dog to her, as our earlier encounters went without incident. We were concerned about our 2 year old pits hind legs, as he sometimes exhibited a limp and appeared to be significantly weaker in his hind legs than in the front. Upon examining him, she made the same observations, and said she would need x-rays to make a proper diagnosis, but her best guess was that he had suffered an ACL tear at some point. Now, we are far from rich, but would do anything in our power to get our dogs the treatment they need. The immediate reaction was to find out the worst case and best case scenarios and to ask for our next steps. Our dog would need x-rays definitely, but she wanted to focus on an ear infection, heart worm meds, shots, and flea & tick. All understandable for a new pet. Dr. Rybak was even nice enough to offer a discount on some services, because he is a retired officer, and our dog was adopted at the suggestion of his physician to help alleviate anxiety and stress. This is where my praise for Rybak ends. After taking care of these other issues, an appointment was scheduled for two weeks later. We assumed that at this appointment, theyd get the ball rolling on diagnosis to confirm the suspected injury, and to begin planning a course of treatment which would most likely include an expensive but necessary surgery. This was not so: rather than plan for x-rays, she said that we should immediately begin laser therapy for the injury, lower his caloric intake, and place the dog on medication. My husband was confused about why we were going to begin a course of treatment without even confirming the diagnosis, but desperate to help his beloved pet, he allowed himself to be convinced that this would help. That day, he returned home with two prescriptions and a receipt for services totaling over $400. At this time, there was no plan to take x-rays (which we were told were "very expensive" at $700), and when he asked he was basically told that they could go on with conservative therapies and treatments rather than just jump into a surgical plan. We found this odd, considering that we had already stated we were ready and willing to go this route, and because the $400 spent couldve gone towards those x-rays. But we decided the doctor must know best, and so we began administering the Rimadyl and Tramadol. As the days wore on, we started to second guess ourselves, which led to conversations with family members and internet research. Of course, one cannot accept everything read online as fact, but we were extremely concerned to learn about the risks associated with Rimadyl that are well documented on many reputable sites. While this medication is certainly the best option for some pets who might otherwise be living in extreme pain or needing to be put down, we cant really accept that a risky medication is the best first choice for an injury that hasnt even been officially diagnosed! Our worry grew when we learned from family that this exact medication was prescribed to an earlier family pet and that his vet had given my in-laws a lengthy talk on the pros and cons as well as the necessary warnings of possible side effects - a conversation we never got to have. Armed with this information, we began to be very wary of submitting our dog to Dr. Rybaks care, and so we made an appointment with a specialist at Oradell Animal Hospital at the relatively modest fee of $185. However, this specialist was able to confirm that our dog has a severe soft tissue tear on one side with a less advanced tear on the other. He also went on to say that a responsible vet would insist on surgery because while some dogs benefit from conservative treatments in the short term, most will have a much lower quality of life due to the stress long term medications and unresolved injuries have on the body. We regret not having gone straight to Oradell and certainly wont return to Dr. Rybak again.

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Hafsa & Bilal Saleem

Horrible experience, avoid this doctor! Dr. Rybak caused my cat more pain than healing. We brought our outdoor cat here because he was limping and had a swollen paw. Dr. Rybak said he had an abscess on his paw and put a bandage on it. A week later the condition hadnt changed, they said they had to operate by inserting a drain tube into his paw to drain the abscess. After another week he was still in a lot of pain and quivering. When we saw his paw without bandage covering it, it was clear he was not healing because his paw was more swollen and now bleeding too. Dr. Rybak wanted to re-bandage him on third visit, without diagnosing what was causing the swelling. After seeing he was still in pain at that point and the swelling had grown, we immediately took him to another vet who thankfully did an x-ray FIRST. Turned out his paw was swollen because of a FRACTURE, it was not an abscess! One toe was separated from the paw and Dr. Rybaks staff stuck a tube in that area causing him way more pain! Imagine if you had a tube driven through the gap of a broken bone! When we brought him in to Teaneck Animal Clinic they should have done an X-ray first to properly diagnose the issue before charging $600 for two procedures he absolutely did not need! After we realized their error, we called Dr. Rybak to let her know, left a detailed message with an employee, and I never even got a call back. They honestly made us feel like they DO NOT CARE about an animals health and only about making money. This doctor does not know how to tell the difference between swelling from an abscess and swelling due to a broken bone. If it was difficult to differentiate she should have had the awareness to use diagnostic tools like a simple x-ray especially when its an injured extremity. After not hearing back from her office, we sent her a detailed letter of the whole experience. She replied, insisted she did things correctly. She wouldn’t own up to the fact that she delayed our cat’s healing by a few weeks by not conducting an x-ray first as well as improperly charging us for services that our cat did not need nor helped him.

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Mary Fisher

My puppy and I both love Dr Rybak! After several visits with another vet and a kennel cough that just wouldnt go away, our breeder finally sent us to Dr. Rybak. She saw us last minute, spent tons of time examining him, explaining things to me, and had his month long kennel cough cured 4 days later! She is such a compassionate vet who really took lots of time examining (and pampering) my puppy AND explaining things to me. She and her staff are all extremely friendly and knowledgeable. They answer all my 10,000 first time dog owner questions and always call to check up on my puppy. Best of all... my puppy actually gets EXCITED to go see her! :) Anyone who is looking for a great vet... this is the place to go.

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Diane Levy

I can not even put a star how bad is this place … The minute you step inside the office they are so un pleasant, rude, unprofessional, they make you feel uncomfortable … we are already sad and stressed for our pet who had a terrible surgery there. Whenever we asked a question regarding our dog, they took few seconds and asked us to repeat the question like we annoying them ! My dog was in so much pain for few weeks and they didnt give us any pain medication. I asked a 3rd appointement and they refused me to come again???!!! How bad is that. An advice, DONT GO THERE !!!!! The worse place we ever been

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