Emergency Veterinary Hospital

Reviews 4

JA

James Oden

See, this is complicated. A couple of years ago we had to put down one of our cats due to a blood clot, and the staff at this emergency vet was exemplar in how that happened. Very kind, gentle with our boy in his last few hours, and wonderful with us. Tonight though, I had to bring in my other boy. He has been a part of our lives for 6 years. When we got him he was borderline completely feral, but through a lot of patience and care and love you wouldnt know that today. Anyway, he showed up late tonight at the house after lazing about outside in the warmth. When he came in we noticed he had a large injury on the side of his stomach that looked like a pellet gun injury. I called them and explained that I had no available funds at hand (the reason for this was unexpected, and beyond that the kids come before any of us for school and their needs). I also explained that my credit was not good enough to get the care credit line going. I was told that the initial basic check on vitals did not cost, and that there "were options" that might be available to me for anything else. I got there and they brought him back while I filled out the check in information. While I was filling this out, one of the staff came out and asked me about the initial fee of $98 and some change. I was appalled, but explained what I had been told. Not long after they brought him back out and explained that, and I quote: "We are a business and we cant do anything without payment." I was LIVID. I firmly, but cordially explained what I had been told, again. I also explained that having experience in an animal rescue taught me that you do NOT put undue stress on any animals, and in particular felines, when they are injured. If I had known that those "options" basically boiled down to trying to "gently" press me for payment, I wouldnt have put my boy through that. That kind of stress lower immune system efficacy for days and potentially for over a week. The end result of this useless visit that wouldnt have happened if I had not been told that there were "options" when I called that were in fact non-existent could be my boy getting an infection and dying painfully. Thank you EVH for an important life lesson that I honestly should have already known. I feel now like the only reason our first visit went the say it did was because it was an end of life moment and we hag cash to pay up front.

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KH

Khrys Noir

We took our 6-7 week old kitten in on a Friday night last month due to her temperature dropping dramatically and not raising. She became sluggish and we rushed her in. They immediately set to work at raising her temperature. It was a busy time, but a few hours and a few updates later the vet said she was doing alright and could go home or we could leave her overnight. It was thought due to our baby being very underweight that she just couldnt warm up herself. (We had received her this way and had been doing everything we could to try to get her weight up) Of course we opted to take her home since the vet said it should be perfectly fine and to just make sure she was warm and eating. She was back to her old self and so we didnt think anything of it. The next morning (Saturday) she crashed. Within minutes she just seemed to go limp and give up and had uncontrollable diarhea. We thought she had just fallen asleep until we realized she was weak. Setting her down we realized she was too weak to stand. We rushed her back to the vet. It was empty and they took her back immediately. I saw no hesitation in getting her some care. We were informed she might not make it in what I feel was the gentlest way they could without giving false hope. We told them to do everything they possibly could and also explained we only had a small amount of money to work with. Student loans had killed any other option. They did what they could with our budget and assured us that even if we spent more there was likely not going to be another outcome. Our darling girl never recovered despite all of our efforts and we made the difficult decision to let her go peacefully. The vets allowed us to go back and say our goodbyes and respectfully allowed us time enough to do so. I myself could not watch her be put to sleep. We each got a paw print and two weeks later have received a personalized sympathy card with her name. Despite our loss I am thankful to the staff for all they did for us.

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DE

Debi Brooks

We were waken up early Sunday morning by our little dachshund that was obviously in some pretty serious pain. After trying to figure out her problem and not sure if she was going to make it until Monday morning to go to our regular vet, we called this emergency animal hospital. They ask a few questions and then said, "bring her in." We bundled her up and made the 30 minute trip to town. There were several people ahead of us, (what is it with animals getting sick on weekends?) but they did an initial triage to determine if she was in any immediate danger. She did not appear to be so. Considering what was going on there, I feel the wait was quite reasonable. Once we got into the exam room, the Technician took her vitals and then let the on duty vet know she was ready. With the information we provided and an examination, the vet was able to diagnose exactly what was wrong with her -- a strained or ruptured disc in her back. This is pretty common in her breed, but the vet, w/o x-rays, was able to pinpoint its exact location. Melanie Blystone, the vet, was very friendly and professional. Additionally, she set us at ease while explaining our pets treatment and future options. Overall, we found the entire staff to demonstrate professionalism, while showing compassion toward our little girls plight. Finally, I fully expected to have a huge bill when all was said and done, but we left there for just over $150, including three prescriptions. I consider that an excellent bargain for any veterinarian visit, let alone an emergency pet hospital early on a Sunday morning. I would not hesitate for one minute to recommend them to anyone or to return ourselves. I just hope it is never necessary.

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ME

Mercier Roberta

We drove for over two hours to take our elderly toy poodle to this clinic once night this past August. We are from out of town. Our dog appeared to have suffered some type of stroke like event that left him unable to move his hind legs. The veterinary staff was kind and very polite. Unfortunately there a knowledge deficit when it came to identifying and implementing an appropriate plan of care. Being a registered nurse myself and with some understanding after 35 years, of what might be helpful, I was horrified when the best that was offered was "keep him over night to see if he gets worse" (worse in this case meant dead). I asked about steroids and pain meds and was told no for both. I can appreciate that the vet can only provide what he is comfortable with however these were basic responses to the event my dog had suffered and in any case would not have been harmful if the diagnosis was wrong. The dog was returned to me in his blanket soaked with urine- which as he had lost the use of his back legs was a sign highlighting an emergency in of itself. We drove the two hours back to Florence and sat up with our pet till the morning. Luckily the vet clinic in Florence was able to see us right away and they were, after assessing our pet, able to determine the best course of action for his care. Interestingly enough the care notes from the emergency vet were not complete by the next afternoon for the second vet to have. I am appalled that a facility advertising emergency care does not 1. recognize an emergency and 2. does not have sufficient knowledge to devise a plan of care to treat the animal. If your pet is sick do not go here.

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