Leighow Veterinary Hospital

Reviews 6

A

A Private User

** WITHOUT COMPASSION FOR ANIMALS AND OUTRAGEOUSLY OVERPRICED ** I had planned on adopting a stray cat so I took him to Leighow Vet Hospital for a full physical. Upon checking in I asked the intake nurse that in addition to standard testing for diseases that the cats ears be checked as he was having alot of pain with them and the inside of both his ears were caked with black soot and whatever else was in there and he also had strange bumps behind his ears. I also specifically pointed these problems out to the doctor during our one-on-one meeting. After leaving the animal there for the day they called me to let me know that the cat was ready to be picked up and unfortunately he had feline leukemia. The first thing I did once I returned home was to check the cats ears only to find that both ears were still filthy. The doctor did not even so much as look in his ears even though I specifically asked both her and the intake nurse to do so. Youd think that would be one of the first things that the vet would check when doing a physical on an animal. Not so at Leighow. How they could release him with his ears in that condition is beyond me. I believe that once they found the cat had leukemia they just wrote him off and didnt even bother doing anything else with him. Pretty cold right? At that point I didnt believe that they did anything that they billed me for so I made an appointment at Anthracite Animal Clinic to get the entire physical and tests redone. They found the cat did in fact have leukemia and also had a bacterial infection and some red blood cells in both ears and the bumps behind his ears were scabs from him scratching at his ears so much. The doctor gave me medicine and explained to me how to apply it and also took the time to personally advise me on where I could find a good outdoor shelter and heater for this stray. This young doctor has the rare combination of being both an expert in her field and also just a compassionate human being who really cares for the well-being of your animal. Her staff is likewise very friendly and professional. The icing on the cake was that the exact same procedures cost TWICE AS MUCH at Leighow than they did at Anthracite. To summarize, Leighow Veterinary Hospital is night and day compared to a good vet like Anthracite Animal Clinic. The folks at Leighow are concerned with one thing and one thing only and thats the money in your pocket. Releasing an animal back to its owner with its ears in the condition mine had is in a word DISGUSTING. Leighow is all-business and thats the feeling I got the entire time I was there.. just cold and without any real compassion for your animal. Anthracite is exactly what you want in a care-taking operation. Their first priority is caring for your animal and not what type of credit card youll be using to pay them. If youre looking for a great vet in the Northumberland / Schuylkill / Montour County areas of PA where the service is caring and professionally expert AND is very reasonably priced go to Anthracite Animal Clinic. If youre looking to pay twice as much only to have to go somewhere else to pay again to have everything redone anyway then go to Leighow. Thats what I did. At the end of the day I ended up paying ALMOST $500 FOR A SINGLE CAT PHYSICAL AND DISEASE TESTS! I will never make that mistake again and I hope that this review will help other people not make that mistake either. Thanks for a hard lesson learned Leighow!

---

BR

Brittany Lambert

I waited over half an hour for an appointment I scheduled almost 3 weeks prior. I had to get up and leave because there is barely any AC and my dog was stressed. The front desk was rude when I mentioned how long Id been waiting. No apology for it, just some excuse about emergencies. Then call me ahead of time and reschedule. Dont traumatize my dog and make him sit in an 80 degree waiting room. I am disgusted with this service. While I waited I scheduled an appointment with a different vet. Not 3 weeks out either, less than a week. The customer service is atrocious and as a local vet they should be more concerned about word of mouth. I can understand waiting, but over half an hour and not even any effort made by staff to apologize or reschedule. I chose Leighow based on reviews. Had I known this I never would have. Theyre over priced and lack basic customer service. I can only imagine how awful the kennel service is. Since their clientele is Geisinger employees maybe you should take a que from them on patient satisfaction and caring. I wouldnt tolerate this treatment at a hospital and I certainly will not subject my animals to it.

---

NI

Nicholas Lillo

My problems with this vet started when we had to travel with our puppy earlier this year. After confirming with our airline that all we need is our puppies vaccination records, the vet was originally unwilling to release them. Instead they insisted that he get a full "travel" work up that would require a chip implant and another phyisical exam. The cost would have been several hundred dollars. Our puppy had already been seen at the clinic twice in the previous three months. When I explained the airline policy they basically told me the airline is wrong and they have no idea what they are talking about. After literally pulling teeth they finally agreed to release his vaccination records but told me that we were "playing Russian Roulette". The airline was right, they were wrong. Now today I recieved a rejection letter for our puppies heart worm medication from 1800 pet meds. Since there was a two month lapse in his heart worm meds, they are refusing to refill the script until they see him again for another 50 dollar visit. Crooks!!!! Stay away. Run far and fast. These vets are not good people.

---

DA

David F

Dr. Kitchen is the most caring individual I have worked with when it comes to vets. We have moved out of the area, but continue to return with our pets to Leighow because of the excellent care our pets receive. As for comments on price, others must not have compared to other vets, especially those in metropolitan areas. City vets, and we have researched it, are 3 times the price. We have been going to Leighow for over 15 years and will continue.

---

A

A Private User

This vet hospital is extremely overpriced for the inconsistent service and care Ive received. The one emergency care our dog received was pretty good. Routine visits though, have been less than pleasant. My latest visit included an hour wait past the scheduled appointment time and a vet telling me we should do blood tests and an x-ray for what looks to be a simple and obvious sprain. 60$ for a visit and some anti-inflammatory. Sheesh!

---

KI

Kim Brown

Dr Kitchen is the best, most caring ver Ive ever dealt with. Ive had dogs for 30 years and two with major health problems and she was super with both. I even needed help after hours and she didnt hesitate to help. I highly rrecommend Dr Kitchen. As for the person that commented about a heartworm re-test, it absolutely needed to be redone after 2 months!

---

---