Schuylkill Veterinary Hospital

Reviews 3

GO

Private User

As a business professional myself, this veterinary clinic’s weakest link is their owner, Dr. Thornton. I brought two previous dogs here within the past several years and I received fantastic care; however, that is because I never came in contact with Dr. Thornton during this time period. Last year, I brought my completely healthy dog in for an annual check-up and to receive the applicable vaccines. During this time I noticed that the examine room was extremely dirty and smelled like a barn. The previous dog that was in this room was coughing and sneezing profusely and that was the same exact room we took my dog into. Essentially, the clinician had minimal time to clean this room. It is not rocket science to understand that an un-sanitized room would lead to my dog becoming sick. My dog is a house dog and she has no other contact with dogs except when she comes to the veterinarian. The following week, I made another appointment for my dog because she was coughing and sneezing just as the previous dog exhibited when she came in contact with it last week. I explained that my dog was perfectly healthy when she was here last week but that the examine room she was in was unclean with visible signs of drool and that is what I believe consequently resulted in her sickness. The clinician stated that the flea/tick collar was directly responsible for my dog’s cold and not the uncleanliness of the examine room. This was an absolutely ridiculous rationale for why my dog was sick. I waited for the Dr. to come in and I waited for more than an hour; in turn, she never apologized for her tardiness. When she entered the room, she came in with an attitude, and she immediately explained that the reason my dog was sick was due to her flea collar made by Hartz. Of particular relevance, she did not examine my dog at all, she already made up her mind before she entered the room that my dog was sick because of her flea collar and not because she came in contact with another sick dog at her dirty establishment. I would not have been upset if she said it was common for sick dogs to get other dogs sick when they come in contact with one another especially when they come to the vet; it would not have mattered I would have paid my bill no matter what, but she decided to blame it on a flea/tick collar which was complete absurdity. Lastly, I tried to show her a video of the coughing my dog experienced earlier that day but she told me to put my cell phone away, she stated “playing on my phone was rude.” At this moment, I said “We are done here.” I have never been treated so rudely by the owner of a business, she should be ashamed of herself but as narcissistic as she is, she will rationalize her unruly behavior. In closing, I called Hartz corporate office and reiterated to them that my veterinarian stated that my dog was sick because of their flea collars, they asserted this was complete nonsense. In addition, I went to another veterinarian in the local area that had a clean establishment and he also expressed a flea/tick collar would not make my dog cough/sneeze. In fact, he reasoned that my dog caught a cold when she was exposed to other dogs that have colds just as people do with one another—and not from a flea collar. My issue is not that my dog became sick after a visit to the vet, my issue is that Dr. Thornton was abrasive and unprofessional to deal with, and because of her behavior she lost a loyal customer.

A

A Private User

This vet cares more about their paycheck than they do about your animal. If you question their methods of treatment, or have actual concerns, they rudely dismiss it. Instead of taking your concerns into consideration, they become indirectly aggressive towards you and have a huge attitude. They are very vaccine happy (the nurses at least, who should NOT be giving the vaccines in the first place because they are not qualified to determine if your pet is healthy enough for vaccines at the time they do it, until the vet comes in to give the check up and possible ok) regardless if your pet is healthy or sick. Note: it is very dangerous for your pets health to be vaccinated against anything if he is ill or his immune system is suppressed (this includes being put under for any reason, including spay or neutering. This, unfortunately, is a common practice but studies and research is beginning to show the long-term illnesses and problems associated with this. After all the immune system IS suppressed when the animal is put under. To give a dog or cat a vaccine during this time, is like giving a person a smallpox vaccine while they are put under to get their tonsils out. Not a good idea). I also noticed they know very little about good animal nutrition and tend to point you to the food they sell (oddly enough, they get commission for it of course) instead of actually good quality food. I am not happy with the attitude. In all fairness, as far as surgery, etc is concerned, I had not heard of any problems myself. But as far as basic animal care of your pet, they very much lack. And worse yet, they have huge attitude problems if you show any concerns over this. I believe, as a vet and people who love animals, they SHOULD be doing more research, learning all the time, and constantly reading up on new developments, studies, etc in the field. When it comes right down to it, I care more about my pets than I do about their paychecks or their attitudes.

LA

Laura Banks

I read all the good reviews and the bad reviews before adding my input to here. While I agree on some of the good aspects of this veterinarian hospital, I myself have found a lot more bad. I have two dogs, and every time one or both needed a check up or to be seen because something was wrong I absolutely dreaded taking them here. With my boyfriends odd shifts at wok and me being a full time student at the time, it seemed as though it was always me having to take them, alone. I do think the staff is friendly and kind (the vet techs, etc) but the veterinarian herself, was my issue. She is very pushy and it definitely seems that she wants to push the "extras" to get more money out of you. Despite telling the nurse of the things I wanted and needed done, they veterinarian comes in repeating why I need them right now or I am a terrible pet owner. Again I was a full time student, I can not afford to get everything done once. Another thing was the "overweight" aspect. Every time I came in she would claim my dog was extremely overweight and that she needs to be on a diet, she then proceeded to give me a measuring cup and told me one of these a day thats it. I followed exactly what she told me to do, and my dogs lost a total of 1.7 lbs. Once I was done being a student my boyfriend and I moved to a different state where I now work for a non-profit spay-neuter clinic. I brought my "overweight" dog in to for a dental and it turns out she is in the exact range shes supposed to be in, so Im not sure why the doctor at this hospital thinks she needed to lose 20-25lbs. Honestly, I know that this organization I work for now is about 3.5 hours away from this hospital, but if I ever moved back to the area I would make the drive to go this non-profit organization. Friendly staff, excellent prices, happy animals.