Austin Veterinary Emergency and Specialty Center

Reviews 4

TO

Todd Wilson

I recently brought my dog in to AVES because she needed emergency surgery in order to have a chance to survive being attacked by another animal. The attending veterinarian, Lindsay Vaughn, showed enough callous disregard for the life of my dog that I risked taking her to another emergency vet 30 minutes away rather than entrust her to AVES. First, the vet began unnecessary, expensive monitoring that would provide no valuable information for the purposes of saving my dog but would serve to immediately increase the bill. She performed a cursory examination of the wounds (punctures to the chest and abdomen with internal organs hanging out). From there, she quoted an extraordinarily high price based mostly on her assumptions of internal injuries (nothing she actually witnessed and diagnosed). She informed us it was our responsibility to come up with the amount before any lifesaving measures would be taken on our dog. We informed her that was a large amount of money to come up with on the spot; she recommended that, if we cannot pay the bill immediately, we should “humanely euthanize” our dog. Since that was out of the question, we asked what other, less expensive options she could try just to give our dog a shot at living. She stated that she was not comfortable trying anything other than the most expensive option. She never reconciled how it is ethically proper to kill a dog but not alright to give it a less expensive shot at life. Again, she recommended we come up with the money immediately or put our dog down – based on nothing more than a superficial examination of her outer injuries. When we informed her we would be taking our dog elsewhere, she tried to discourage us based on the false premise that other vets would be just as expensive. It was at this time we discovered she had not even provided simple, cheap antibiotics to give our dog a chance to live. Only after specifically asking for antibiotics were they provided. We took our dog to another vet who 1) did a phenomenally better job explaining the injuries and potential complications and 2) performed the necessary surgery and recovery for $4,000 less that AVES’ low-end quote. Our dog not only lived through the surgery, but she is doing very well and is in good spirits. Needless to say, this holiday season, I am thankful I did not put my dog’s life in the hands of Lindsay Vaughn.

---

RY

Ryan Barton

I have taken several pets to this facility for one reason or another: from surgical consults on a 3 pound Chihuahuas Grade 3 and 4 luxating patella to eye trauma on a 4 month old kitten, etc. And this, despite the fact that AVES is nowhere NEAR me (we live in Hays County). In all cases, the reception staff is welcoming (no matter the time of day), and the medical staff is competent. In fact, we even made one of the doctors at AVES our primary vet for a number of our pets because of her caring demeanor and level of knowledge relating to our particularly small animals. No care plan is executed with an estimate (low and high numbers are provided), and Ive found the doctors to be appropriately conservative. In fact, the result of our surgical consult (with board-certified Dr. Kalis) resulted in a recommendation of NO surgery, based on the risk / reward ratio associated with anesthetizing our too-small Chihuahua at this time. Another hospital in the Austin area seems to be quite happy to anesthetize just about anything, downplaying the very real risks associated with anesthesia; one gets the feeling that some surgeons would like to perform procedures just to say they had, or because they want the challenge, rather than considering the health outcomes for the animal...I cant be sure. But I CAN be sure that such is not the case at AVES. The outcome for the pet and owner is considered first and foremost. Are there costs associated with such a thing? Yes. Yes, there are. Are some procedures and recommendations more expensive than others? Yes. But the costs are quite a bit lower at AVES than they were in the Pacific Northwest emergency animal hospital we had previously utilized. Could some of the services provided by AVES be cheaper elsewhere in Austin? Probably. But our experience in at least two other animal hospital locations has shown that AVES is much more genuine, with much more reasonable cost estimates, and an excellent and varied staff. I am so sorry for the other pet owners in these reviews that have not had a good experience at AVES -- an emergency situation with your pet can be a serious trial for even the strongest among us, and unless things exactly your way, the outcomes can be downright traumatic. For me, my wife, and our various little furry ones, AVES will be the first place we turn to in time of need.

---

H

H H

Absolutely Awful. I brought my elderly cat to the overnight ER. He had been collapsing all night, having difficulty breathing, urinating all the time, lost appetite, and was generally declining. The cat had serious asthma, heart problems and had developed diabetes, all of which would obviously just get worse with an elderly cat. I had tried all sorts of treatments over the past year and a half, and now that he was showing obvious signs of misery and decline. I wanted my sweet pet to have a peaceful end, that did not involve painful treatments and a poor quality of life. Although I had a scheduled euthanasia at my regular veterinarian in a couple of days, I wanted to relieve my cat of the obvious suffering it was enduring that night. The vet on duty, Kathryn McCutcheon, after looking at my cat in the back for a few minutes (never talking to me), and having her "vet tech" come back out to ask me a couple of questions, then came to me and refused to do the euthanasia. Of course she recommended with the right emergency care treatment, the cat would be "just fine". I explained to her the extensive history of illness, that he hasnt been "just fine" in years, the extensive treatments we have already done, and the fact that the cat was going to be euthanized in a few days at my regular vet. I reiterated that I wanted to end the suffering tonight due to his poor condition and inability to even walk around without collapsing. She said he looked fine and again refused. When I tearfully said, "This is a declining 15 year old cat who is suffering", she raised her voice and insisted there was a 17 year old cat in the back hooked to up to machines/etc. (who I guess would be "just fine" too?). After that, I told her this was the most inhumane experience I had ever had at a place that was supposedly there to help animals. What she put me and my cat through in the middle of the night was cruel to both myself and my poor, sweet cat. Thank god my regular vet was open at 9am, and put my cat out of its suffering then. I wonder whether the emergency vet would have been nicer if I agreed to expensive, painful, emergency treatment? I have a feeling that would have changed her tone. Awful place.

---

HO

Holly McCarthy

The only way I can describe the experience is to say it felt like extortion. Dr. Lindsey Vaughn told me that if I couldn’t pay her roughly $10,000 I should “humanely euthanize” my dog. I took my dog to another vet, paid a fraction of that amount, and my dog is alive and at 100%. My dog was attacked by a wild boar at a park close to AVES. After I and several helpful strangers struggled for two hours to get her out of the park to an ER, we were seen by Dr. Lindsey Vaughn. Dr. Vaughn said it might be possible to save my dog, but that I needed to be prepared to pay $10,000 before she would agree to treat her. I asked if there was any way to cut out the fancy part of her treatment – blood panels, MRIs, etc., that wouldn’t help save her life if she was too far gone anyway – and Dr. Vaughn said she was uncomfortable doing anything other than a $10,000 surgery or euthanization. After speaking on the phone with two other vets I told AVES to treat my dog for pain, shock, and infection. I took my dog to another board certified emergency vet who successfully treated her for a fraction of what AVES demanded. I cannot understand how it is ethical for a veterinarian to suggest to someone that they either bankrupt themselves to try to keep their dog alive, or just kill their dog. Especially when at least three other vets were willing to do the surgery for several thousands of dollars less. My dog is back to 100% after three weeks and I’m thankful that I found another vet who was willing to save her, leaving me enough money to feed her once she lived. I notice two other reviews here that cite extraordinary expenses or euthanization as the only options given. I shudder to think of the pets that this veterinarian business has “humanely euthanized” because the owners did not know enough to take their pets elsewhere, or because the owner could not afford to pay thousands in clear profits to the vets.

---

---