Columbia Animal Hospital

Reviews 3

A

A Private User

The 30 second version - complete arrogance, no communication, ignores client concerns, staff has no idea what they are doing. I just lost a beautiful seven year old Siamese last Friday and I know this so called compassionate vet had much to do with it. And on top of it, he tried to talk me into spending another $1,000 on a pointless test before I stormed out back in March. Bottom line - if you value your pets and your purse, RUN AWAY. Longer version follows if you are interested. This is the partial text of a letter I wrote to Dr. Bartlett today: Crowley died last Friday from kidney failure. I cannot squarely pin his death on you - not exactly. Having said that, I will tell you what shattered our trust. First, when I brought him in for his checkup in February, you pronounced him the picture of health. The fact that he had lost weight never seemed to concern you despite the fact I brought it up. You didn’t suggest we run any lab work to check why. We talked about getting his bad tooth removed; I expressed deep concerns about putting him under anesthesia because of the sensitivity of Oriental breeds. You led me to believe there were no underlying health problems, so I scheduled the surgery. In March, I brought him in for the surgery. Later that evening when you told me you had discovered CRF, I was absolutely outraged. Not outraged that you had missed it a month before, but because when you discovered it in pre-op blood work, you STILL went ahead and put him under without ever consulting me. Would I have gone ahead with the surgery anyway, knowing he had a bad tooth? I’m not sure. Hindsight is always 20/20, but it would have been nice to at least have been consulted! The fact that you knew he had a problem and still put him under despite my expressions of concern on more than one occasion was inexcusable in my eyes. I am certain it had much to do with hastening his demise. And then to put the absolute nail in the coffin of my trust and faith, when I brought him back for a checkup a week later you wanted to put him BACK under anesthesia again and do a thousand dollar biopsy. How could you even think about putting a cat who was just under anesthesia, diagnosed with CRF and in a weakened state back under in such a short amount of time, or ever? I was so angry when I left your practice the last time I could barely speak to anyone. You’re lucky I paid my last bill. I think you are a fine surgeon. Petey’s hip is a testament to your skill. But your listening skills, and ability to take the concerns (in this case, highly legitimate concerns) of your clients into consideration leaves much to be desired. I don’t know what caused Crowley’s kidneys to start to fail; we’ll never know. I know once CRF starts, it can’t be reversed. However, it can be sped up and I believe that is exactly what happened when he was put under anesthesia in March. Partly I blame myself -- If I had listened to my gut and found another vet when Dr. Frey retired, perhaps I would still have him for a little longer.

A

A Private User

I had a terrible experience with Dr. Bartlett. I had my dog immunized at this location and my dog ended up getting very sick and had to go to the Pet Emergency in Lancaster. This costed around $400.00, the doctor at emergency pets in Lancaster determined there were too many shot give to my small dog. She became very sick with vomitting, diarrhea and dehydration. Then I took my dog that next day to Dr. Bartlett and he ended up charging me another $200.00 for treatment. He never apologized about what happened to my dog. He is the owner of Columbia Animal Hospital and he made that very clear. This was to get ready for a surgery to have my dog fixed. My cat was also getting fixed as well at this location. Dr. Bartlett had no compassion or empathy for animals in my experience. Most of his staff have taken on his same kind of poor attitude and were not very friendly. It was scary to be vulnerable and take your animal to people that you are supposed to trust and that they are there to care and provide a good service. He told me that both of my animals were in heat at the time of the surgery which is an extra charge. I know my dog and cat were not in heat because it was very recent that they were both in heat around the same time. With no way of proving that they were not, I had to pay the extra charge. He gave me no breaks on any charges even though with him giving my dog to many immunizations in one day, it ended up costing me over $600.00 to get my dog better. This was all before the surgery. He as very arrogant, rude, non sympathetic, and does not take responsibility for what mistakes he makes with your animal. The bedside manner was very disappointing. I would not ever recommend Dr. Bartlett to anyone if you want your pet cared for in a compassionate, considerate, and trusting matter. My experience with Columbia Animal Hospital and Dr. Bartlett was very poor and I will tell everyone I know about my experience. Word of mouth is everything in this business. Dr. Barlett and his staff could use a good lesson in Excellent Quality Customer Service Practices and Good Quality Patient Outcomes. Please learn to treat your patients better and have some compassion for what you do, or get out of the business!! Thank you.

A

A Private User

To start off, this place is getting 1 star only because I have to give them at least that to write this review. If i could they would get negative stars. Why? Because Im pretty sure they killed my bearded dragon. I went to "Dr." Robert Bartlett who I was told was able to treat reptiles for a second opinion on my bearded dragons breathing problem. My dragon was active and happy but had to breathe through his mouth as his nose was a little clogged. Very common problem with these guys. Any ways, the "vet" gave him 100mg of Baytril, (an anti biotic) and then said he was going to give him 1% Ivermectin for parasites. First of all, he never tested for parasites and the way he explained this drug to us was that it would prevent them so we agreed. IMMEDIATELY after this was administered, my dragons health plummeted. By the end of the day he was in and out of consciousness and unable to move by himself. I researched what Bartlett had given him and to my dismay found out that Ivermectin is to be used on DOGS not a 3 month old reptile. I then learned he also gave my dragon 3 times the amount of anti biotics that a dragon his size would need. Needless to say after checking my dragon into a different animal vet, he passed away. I went back in to tell the "dr" what had happened and everything that I had learned and all he had to say was "We cant guarantee our work" when I asked for my money back he said he was unable to do that as well. So now Im down 115$ and my sweet baby boy. Please everyone, please take your loved ones elsewhere. This man should not be handling animals.