Seattle Veterinary Specialists

Reviews 3

LA

Laurie Needer

Took my dog here to get spayed and complete a gastropexy using laparoscopic surgery. I was called in the middle of surgery to say that it wasnt going well and they had to open her abdomen quickly due to excessive bleeding. I was asked if I still wanted to do the gastropexy as it wasnt the primary reason she was there and I had told them to not do it if they couldnt do it via laparscopic. They said the incision was 4 inches long and I said that if the incision they had to make would be any bigger then no, not to do it. After the surgery was complete I tried to get more details on why they had to open her abdomen but couldnt get any details. In an effort to make this not incredibly long... -The incision when we got her back was 8 inches A couple inches more than 4 and I could have understood but based on how the Dr originally made it sound like he couldnt do it without a larger incision and then suddenly he thought he could when I said they could still do the procedure if the incision didnt get bigger... I probably should have taken a clue here. -The only thing I was ever told was that my dog was doing great after surgery When we went to pick her up she started screaming (yes, dogs can apparently do this) and tried to hide behind our legs and under the chairs we were sitting on. She has NEVER been abused or acted this way prior or since (and we found out months later she had cancer and has had a more serious surgery and doctor visits since then where she was completely happy when we picked her up). When we got the bill we noticed that the drugs she was given were insane. Apparently their version of "shes doing great" was "shes miserable so were going to drug her into a stupor because shes so unhappy". I dont know what else they did to her that caused this but as soon as we left the building she stopped screaming and trying to hide at all costs. -It took 3 days to finally get an answer as to what went wrong with her surgery. They unintentionally cut open her spleen as soon as the laparoscopic surgery started. Turns out this is a teaching hospital which may have been part of the reason the incident happened. Im okay with teaching hospitals. Im not okay with not being told that or being lied to over the phone for multiple days regarding what happened. The answer changed every time on the phone regardless of who we spoke with. I already signed a waiver saying theyre not liable... why not just tell me what you did? -We had to drop her off at 7 AM but she didnt go into surgery until 3-ish PM. We were told the surgery would be early in the morning so when called to get an update on how she was doing and were told she wasnt even getting prepped for surgery yet you can imagine our surprise. I would have preferred to drop her off in the afternoon to help keep her routine more normal and her happier in general but apparently its their standard procedure to have pets dropped off in the morning and then they get to them in whatever order they prefer. Again, this should have been made clear to us instead of us finding out after she was already checked in. Overall, while the receptionists here are nice it hardly makes up for the laughable medical care you get especially at the expense. There were so many items that were either blatantly omitted or just flat out lied to us about. I cant even recommend my worst enemy take their pet here.

T.

T.K WA

if you want to kill your pet bring him/her to Seattle Veterinary Specialist. I called SVS to make an appointment to get an ultrasound for my dog. I asked if they had the equipment and what kind of experience their radiologist has. She confirmed that they had the equipment but could not tell me how experienced their radiologist has. after explaining to the receptionis why this was needed and then again to a tech I was told that if i get there soon that they could help me out right away. after entering the busy SVS office and getting through the line, i explained, who I was and why I was there. Nobody knew what I was talking about, the person I spoke with was now out of the office. it was 11am. They offered to admit him on an emergency basis at an extra charge. While standing in line and overhearing why all the people and dogs were here, 90% of what I heard was cancer, chemo treatments and i remember thinking that they were going to tell me that my dog had cancer too. I was adamant about not paying this extra charge, finally the manager came out and basically said that since I did not have an appointment that i needed to pay the additional $107 fee and the additional fee entitled my dog to a complete exam, diagnosis and treatment plan. I agreed. 40min later a girl came in and took his temperature and had me put him on a scale. that was the extent of the "COMPLETE EXAM". an hour later another girl came to get him for the ultrasound. i asked if I could be with him while the ultrasound was done so I could see what was going on. I was told that they do not allow owners to be present.....WTF? they took my dog, shaved his belly, did the ultrasound and was back in 10min. Same girl brought him back and said everything went well and the doctor would be out shortly to talk about what they found. an hour later, the same girl came out and told me that she was now the doctor, that she was present during the ultrasound and that they did not know what was going on "THE DIAGNOSIS", she said she THOUGHT that he had some internal bleeding and most likely it was, you guessed it, CANCER and that if i took him home it would be on a hospice basis. Then she left the room and said she would be right back. I waited for an hour, requested with reception that "doc" come back and help me understand this better. When she returned, I was informed that they could do a CT scan for an additional 1000, every question that was asked, she had no answer. Putting him down was the best "TREATMENT PLAN" they could come up with. I ended up deciding to put my dog to sleep that day. I felt hopeless that I would be able to get competent help for him + I was now out of funds to take him someplace else. These so called Veterinary specialists are more concerned that you are properly seated in their streamlined sales cycle than they are with practicing medicine. I honestly dont even think they did an ultra sound, that would not let me watch, nor did the have anything to show me. They did no blood work, nothing. I regret the decision to use SVSs service. I can only hope that the staff of SVS experiences the same treatment they provide when they need it.

AN

Angie Cairns

SVS emergency room vet overdose our 11 months old miniature schnauzer Lucca during anesthesia and killed him. SVS conveniently blamed the death to Luccas health. We hired an animal lawyer and a medical expert to review all medical records and SVS processes because we knew SVS made big mistakes in treating Lucca and completely ignore our wishes and instructions. The medical experts findings are below: 1. Cause of Death: maladministration of propofol during anesthesia by Garg. 1. According to the record, 4 mL was given to Lucca at 10:20 pm. Lucca weighs 7 kg. The proper rate is 3 mg/kg, or 21 mg. The conversion from mg to mL is 10 mg/mL. Thus, 21 mg = 2.1 mL. Garg gave roughly twice the indicated amount for Lucca ’s weight. 2. What we do not know is how much was given and at what time. 4 mL may have been OK if administered in a small bolus at first and then titrated out over time. This is unknown from the record, but Dr. Kern believes more probably than not that Garg gave the entire 4 mL at once. This is supported by the record which shows that Lucca arrested at the same time the propofol was administered (10:20pm). Dr. Kern said that 4 mL, if given at once, would definitely kill a patient of Lucca ’s weight. 3. The emergency room vet noted that the fact that Lucca recovered from the overdose (still breathing and with a pulse) but was brain dead supports the conclusion of propofol overdose due to hypoxemia (lack of oxygen). After the propofol wore off, Lucca ’s vitals returned to near normal. In summary how badly SVS treated Lucca and his owners? Our animal lawyers stated: First is lack of consent. Lucca went to SVS for night monitor for a surgeon to operate on him the next day. We made the specific request. there was no consent, and the night procedure (unauthorized by owners) killed our miniature schnauzer. Second is lack of informed consent. This turns on the doctor explaining grievous risks. If the vet finds there was a significant risk of a 2nd anesthesia, then the owners should have been given the option to say no. If the procedure killed Lucca , and a reasonable client in your shoes would have rejected the procedure had you known of the risks, this is negligent. Third is malpractice. This turns on whether Garg, SVS emergency vet, made a bad and imprudent decision to catheterize a second time under the circumstances, to the point that he violated the standard of care. No doubt about it, all who reviewed the files know Lucca died in the hands of SVS. We did not pursue the lawsuit against SVS because we decided the painful lawsuit would again consume us without bring Lucca back to life. Yet, everyone should know what SVS did to a beautiful dog and to a family that adored him dearly. We miss you always, Lucca!