Ribbonwood Animal Hospital

Reviews 4

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Brock B

My family and I have been taking our dogs to Ribbonwood for a number of years and, until recently, have had wonderful experiences. The location is clean, safe, convenient, and even has a bathing service next door. Unfortunately, the customer service has deteriorated severely to the point that we dont feel like the staff cares about us or our beloved pets. One of our dogs, who is 9 years old, has been receiving monthly steroid shots to treat arthritis. For these shots, weve always been able to show up and get them done in a timely manner. However, a few weeks ago we were turned away because there is a new policy that requires an appointment and vet consultation for all visits. From our perspective, the policy is silly because some procedures, such as the arthritis shots, are so minor and quick that the receptionist has done them! Moreover, its not easy going to the vet because we have to take time off work and because our dogs suffer from car anxiety. We practically begged to be "squeezed in" (there were no other patients or customers at the time) since we had already made the trip. The receptionist, unmoved and quite rude, refused to make any accommodation. The hospital is certainly within its rights to change its policy, and we would have been happy to schedule appointments in the future. But given the fact that we had made the trip, panicky dogs and all, and that the shot was so minor, it was quite disappointing that the staff would not make an exception for good customer service. Not to mention the fact that we never received any kind of notice of said policy change. It felt like they didnt care about us at all. This new policy accomplishes nothing other than allow Ribbonwood to charge a vet consultation fee even for services that shouldnt need one. This hospitals core strength was its convenience and efficiency. Unfortunately, a quick visit when a free moment arises, or the ability to have the dog get bathed and get his shot in a single day, are apparently no longer possible. Oh, and when we did return a couple weeks later for our appointment, we found out that prices for the medicine had inexplicably jumped by 40%. Isnt that great? We hate to lose this hospital, but well be looking elsewhere where our business is appreciated.

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Kaycee Bassett

Whatever you do, do not take your pets to this place. We unfortunately had to put our beloved cat to sleep because he was sick and old. When we got there they treated us like they were super happy to see us even though we were bawling and cradling our cat. They were loudly chatting and laughing next to us about going to a concert and playing computer games. Very insensitive to our situation. When they called us back at least 20 minutes later they already had the casket cardboard box sitting on the counter waiting for him. It made me sick. The vet tech with red curly hair was super perky and happy the whole time. We waiting for a long time in the waiting room again. When Dr. DeGering arrived he made jokes about my brother and I and had a smile on his face. My cat was scared to death and he asked if we wanted to muzzle him after we told him he was fine over and over. He gave him a shot and disappeared. When he came back in to administer the final medication he made me move and let go of him, which was unnecessary. He twisted his body in an unnatural position and not with any sensitivity. He poked and prodded at his front leg over and over again to find a vein and made jokes about it. He had to give him 3 doses of the medication. In the middle of him ending my cats life he yelled out into the hall "have a good weekend!" It took about 10 minutes for my dear cat to pass and I was absolutely devastated! He offered no support or sympathy and left the room as fast as he possibly could after. The box they gave us was way too small which was really hard emotionally after I tried to put him in and had to take him out again. It was seriously the worst day of my life. They are all terrible and insensitive. This vet needs to retire right away because if he ever liked animals, he obviously sees them as objects and money now. These vets techs (the blonde one in the room with us was nice) should be ashamed of themselves for losing their drive to care about animals and for letting this vet wear off on them. In the end I am absolutely devistated, because after reading these other reviews I question if he was even sick enough to be put to sleep at all. He was my best friend, and I had him for 16 years, he deserved better.

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Sean Hennessey

Dr. Degering has been taking care of my familys pets for 21 years. If you need ANYTHING done for your animals, go to Ribbonwood Animal Hospital. If your pets are suffering in any way, if you have a small job or a big job, Dr. Degering has seen it all and I feel so relaxed and trusting when with him. This example says a lot: (and conveys what I am trying to convey) I took my dog in because she got something in her ear, and it was bothering her. So... one clinic said "well, wed better take x-rays first, to make sure whats in there, and so we can know if were going to get it all." That is your REGULAR vet. But no, Dr. Degering with all of his care and experience, he says to me "Well, I will try. If i cant see anything or solve her problem, I might need to sedate her or take an x-ray, but hopefully it wont get to that point." and then, after ten full minutes, he brings my dog back along with a piece of barbed wheat-grass, and he says "Well, once I got in there, I could see something deep in her ear canal, and I was able to snag it right out." Heres why this is significant, because, its no different than a car-mechanic, or any situation where you trust a professional. He could have just as easily told me it would require MORE care and MORE costs. But, in his 30+ years experience, he probably also had CONFIDENCE that he could see and fix the problem. AND SO HE DOES, AND THEN CHARGES YOU $42 OR $59 instead of charging you some exorbitant fee. THE SERVICES OF DR. DEGERING ARE WORTH MUCH, MUCH MORE THAN HE CHARGES ME, BECAUSE TO ME I AM PAYING FOR 30+ YRS OF EXPERIENCE, AND HE IS COMPLETELY CARING, genuine, he remembers you and your animals, Listen to what I leave you with and really ponder its simplicity, because it summarizes why I drive 45miles to Ribbonwood: "Dr. Degering genuinely cares about me, myself, and my animals. He remembers us by name, and he makes you think hes happy to see you again." Oh i love my vet (Ill stop gushing now)

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Tayler Miller

The staff wasnt very friendly at all! And the Male vet didnt seem to know what he was talking about. I have a 5 month old cocker spaniel and my fiance and I have done EVERYTHING we can to make her more social with other people and dogs; like take her everywhere we go, go to dog parks, take her to family functions, but she is just very timid AT FIRST, she just needs to warm up to you. The vet assistant went to pick her up and my dog peed all over (I warned her that she would do that, because she sometimes does that when shes AFRAID). She got mad and told me that I dont socialize my dog enough. This really irritated me, because as I was cleaning up my dogs mess, she proceeds to tell me how unsocialized she is. I apologized and tried to explain why she was like that and how I have been trying to work with her and she shot me down and continued on with what she was saying. I understand that she knows more than I do about animal behavior, but she could have gave me her ADVICE instead of her criticism. As for the vet; my dog had an issue with eating rocks and I didnt know this until she started throwing little pebbles up. I waited a few days to see if she would stop and after about 3 days she did, but I wanted to make sure that she got them all out and why she started eating them in the first place. He wasnt even going to give her an xray until I requested it (which costed 70 freaken dollars! Im not sure what the normal price goes for, but that to me just seemed ridiculous). The xray showed that she was okay, so I asked him why she started eating them in the first place, and all he said was "I dont know, she probably doesnt like her dog food." But I guess he did alright with giving her her final shots. So here I am, 170 dollars short just to find out that "my dog is unsocialized" and doesnt like her food. Im pretty pissed off, I would NOT go here.

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