VCA Jordan River Animal Hospital

Reviews 3

BU

Bud Chew

Jordan River Animal Hospital is an outstanding veterinary care facility, staffed by dedicated, compassionate, and highly skilled professionals. Dr. Terry Silkman is the finest veterinarian I have ever known. I trust him completely with the care of my dogs and have had nothing but positive experiences with him. We have entrusted the care of 5 different dogs with him, over a period of ten years. I have never known a vet as dedicated to providing the highest quality care to animals as Dr. Silkman. A number of years ago, our Siberian Husky/Rhodesian Ridgeback mix developed a tumor on the central lobe of her liver. We discovered the liver problem via routine blood work, and the tumor was confirmed by ultrasound. Dr. Silkman discussed all options with us, and we decided that surgical removal of the affected liver lobe was the correct treatment. We all expected the surgery to be brief and uneventful, but that was not to be. Every time Dr. Silkman would attempt to surgically remove the tumor, our dog would stop breathing. 15 times over a period of 1.5 hours, Dr. Silkman revived our beloved dog, and he came out of the operating room drenched in his sweat from his heroic efforts to save our dog. To make a long story short, two days later, we took our friend home, and we had several wonderful years with her before she ultimately succumbed to bone cancer. I have absolutely no doubt that, in the hands of any ordinary veterinarian, our dog would not have survived that surgery. It is only through the advanced veterinary equipment, well-trained surgical assistants, and Dr. Silkman’s incredible skill and determination, that our Husky survived that surgery. We will forever be grateful to him. More recently, our French Spaniel had an epileptic seizure. This happened at midnight, and we live a three hour drive from Salt Lake City. We called Jordan River Animal Hospital’s 24 hour emergency service, and since we had very limited options at our home, they advised us to bring our Spaniel to the hospital. When we arrived at the hospital at 4AM, Dr. Silkman was there to greet us at the door. He examined our dog, gave him medication, and monitored him for hours. Again, his caring was matched only by his expertise. Later, we found out that Dr. Silkman was supposed to be off that day, and he came in just to treat our dog – at 4AM. I could go on and on about the high quality of this practice, but I intend to keep this review brief. Suffice it to say that my wife and I are incredibly picky about the care of our dogs, as they are valuable members of our family, and not just pets. We consider ourselves very lucky to be able to patronize a practice as outstanding as Jordan River Animal Hospital. Dr. Silkman is, quite simply, the best. I am really shocked to read a couple of negative reviews of Jordan River Animal Hospital, and Dr. Silkman in particular. I can only tell you that, in ten years of patronizing this practice, I have never been dissatisfied with the quality of care, and the compassion demonstrated by Dr. Silkman. It’s true that Jordan River Animal Hospital is not the least expensive practice in the Salt Lake area. But, in my opinion, they are the best. I highly recommend them to anyone who truly cares about their pet.

TR

Tracey Wayne

I took my 7 1/2 year old pure bred Basset in because we noticed he had a growth (tumor) by his back leg in October. Our normal vet, Dr. Gillespie was not there, so I spoke with Dr. Terry Silkman. When I spoke with Dr. Silkman, I advised him numerous of times that we see Dr. Gillespie and Dr. Silkman NEVER advised me that he was no longer there. He advised that my Basset needed surgery and gave us a list of expenses. One of the expenses was a biopsy of the tumor. When I asked Dr. Silkman what they all do concerning the biopsy, all he told me was it was to insure that he got all of the tumor. Dr. Silkman did not tell me that the biopsy of the tumor tells them what stage it is in or what kind of tumor it was. Our bill/statement list of expenses ranged from $1,000.00 to $1600.00. When my husband took our dog in for the surgery, the cost was the high of $1600.00 when he came and picked him up. When my husband asked for more detail of the bill, the front desk person advised that she would need to get the doctor. Dr. Silkman came out and yelled at my husband for even asking for him to explain the expenses. My husband advised Dr. Silkman that we usually have Dr. Gillespie look at our dogs and that is when we found out that our vet, Dr. Gillespie was no longer there. Because of the unprofessionalism, we decided to take our dog to another vet after the staples were removed from the surgery. We took our dog back in 2 weeks later, got the staples removed and all Dr. Silkman said was he looked good. He did not advise us of anything to look for within the next few weeks. Within a week, our basset got an infection and we noticed that there was fluid around the incision. We then took him to a new vet and they looked at him and gave us some medication for the inflammation and the infection. A week later, our basset for 7 1/2 years died within a month from getting his surgery from Dr. Silkman. I cannot believe that Dr. Silkman is even in business still, the way he treats his customers. His professionalism and care for the pet owners and the pets are despicable. I spoke to our new vet and asked why our basset died and he advised that it was tumor related. If we knew what we knew now, we would have gotten the biopsy done and made a decision on what to do from that biopsy. We really did not have the information needed to make an educated decision. It just seems all they wanted was our money and nothing else. Dr. Silkman as no compassion, no professionalism and all he cared about was how much money to soak us with. DO NOT TAKE YOUR PET HERE!!

DE

Deana Lundin

My cat Lucky was diagnosed with kidney disease in July 2013 by a vet in another facility who did not tell me what stage it was in, what to look for or anything else helpful with that condition. When Lucky started vomiting and I didnt know what to do for him on a Sunday, I decided to take him to Jordan River for an emergency visit because it was the closest place that was open. I was very glad I made that decision. Dr. Thatcher was working that day, and he took the time to care for my cat in the way that I expected. He told me that the disease was very advanced, which the other vet did not tell me, and what I could expect for Luckys future. Because of his care and attention to detail, I moved all of my pet records over to JRAH. Unfortunately Luckys disease was too advanced, and he got more sick and had to be put down, but through all of it, Dr. Thatcher and the JRAH staff was there to lend support and care to me and to Lucky. I have recommended Dr. Thatcher and JRAH to many people since. Another positive experience I had was in August of 2013. I went out of town and had to board my 15-year-old dog in a facility. After two days, they called to tell me that he wasnt eating or doing very well at all, and advised for me to have someone pick him up. I had a friend take him to JRAH, and Dr. Silkman was working that day. He assessed BJ and called me to tell me of the costs. Yes, they were higher than I was used to, having gone to a less expensive but less caring veterinary office over the years, but after talking with Dr. Silkman about the options, I understood that the care BJ would receive would be 100% worth the cost. At first, because he wasnt eating on his own, BJ had to be hand fed wet food twice per day by the vet or his staff. During the first three days, Dr. Silkman called me promptly at 8 a.m. every single day to give me an update on how BJ was doing and what the previous days outcomes were for him. By the fourth day, BJ was finally eating on his own, and I think that the personal care that he received is what helped him to get better. Even though I had talked with Dr. Silkman every day while I was gone, when I picked BJ up after a week, the staff member that brought him out to me went over everything again to make sure I knew every detail of BJs stay. I havent yet met Dr. Silkman in person, but I truly feel that he is a very thorough veterinarian that cares for the animals that come to his office. I recommend him, Dr. Thatcher and JRAH to anyone I know of that has pets.