Lakeshore Veterinary Specialists

Reviews 3

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Ryan Hammetter

Lakeshore is an asset to the community. A true gem that deserves an endorsement from me after our experience there. I’ll start by saying our dog, Mia, had Addison’s disease (we didn’t know at the time). I’ll spare the details surrounding the signs, symptoms and condition, but an Addisonian crisis ultimately brought us to Lakeshore at 1:30am on a cold winter night. All we knew was she was clearly experiencing a life-threatening emergency. The doctors and nurses focused on stabilizing her immediately. They communicated with me regarding her status and progress over the next several hours. They obviously appreciated how stressful it was for me as her owner and respectfully kept me abreast of her situation. Once Mia was well enough for them to try figuring out what happened, the doctor used my description – a very nondescript, layperson explanation of some vague signs and symptoms observed over the last few months – and took a methodical, intuitive approach to do an ACTH test to see if it was Addison’s. Mind you, this is a very rare disease that is notoriously hard to diagnose. We could tell something wasn’t quite right for several weeks. Her regular vet told us nothing was wrong. The positive results from this test and Addison’s diagnosis finally made sense. To say I was impressed with their knowledge, understanding and ability to conclude that it was such a rare disease is an understatement. After two days of recovery, Mia was ready to come home to her new life. Addison’s involves a lifetime of medication and doctor care. We continued under the care of Lakeshore having been so completely satisfied with their service to date. For many months, every month, Mia and I went to Lakeshore to get our DOCP, and picked up our prescription of prednisone at Pet Apothecary. Both places loved seeing her. I think Mia started liking our visits too. Some days were good. Others were more of a struggle. Mia never adjusted perfectly to the medication. We could tell she maintained some discomfort. I’m afraid her small stature made it hard to optimize the dosage. We made the hardest decision of our life (to date) to relieve her of her pain and put her to sleep. Yes, we went to Lakeshore for that too, the only place she was comfortable visiting with her Addison’s (its paramount to minimize anxiety for Addisonians). That was a sad day. One of the worst of our life. Lakeshore made it peaceful. I cherish the last minutes I spent with Mia. Its important to remember that Lakeshore are specialists. These are vets trained in internal medicine, emergency care and a host of other serious, chronic conditions. You can assume their fees are proportionate to their high level of specialty care. In my opinion, Lakeshore did not charge much more than our normal vet, who by the way, could do little more than administer vaccines/boosters and annual physicals. Every time I drive past Lakeshore, I’m reminded of our girl Mia, and the disease she fought so hard. Lakeshore is a reminder of the pain and sadness, but also, the beacon of hope and appreciation for saving her life. They provided and guided us through a few last good months to enjoy with her. For that, I’m grateful. I doubt they will ever know how much they mean to me. They’re knowledgeable. They’re compassionate. They’re trustworthy. They will help you and your pet if you ever need it. They certainly helped Mia and me.

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J Eddie

I give credit where credit is due. Pros: They saved our cats life and thankful for that. He had a blockage in the urinary. So he needed to be unblocked. They were the only ones open within distance and time was not on our side. I appreciated the constant care and informing us on his condition. Cons: The cost, more money and lack of empathy. To keep your cat 24 hours with all the needed treatment to get him unblocked $1600. Which we figured was ok because he would have died but it then got worse after that. My wife and I were scheduled to pick up our cat yesterday afternoon at 5:30 pm. We were just ready to leave when the vet called us. Dr. Hanson informed us that our cat was re-blocked and he needs to do another unblocking procedure because his bladder was full again and not expressing. Since we didnt do the urinalysis, blood-work and x-ray they thought it was kidney stone. I asked how much for those procedures, another $300. However, Dr. Hanson insisted that we needed to get unblocked again. Which run another $800. I asked Dr. Hanson about a procedure in which you can make a slit in their urethra and minimizes the chances of re-blocking. Since it was later on in the afternoon (there 24/7) it would run $2500 to $3500. I said we dont have that kind of money. Mind you we still would have to pay for him to get unblocked before the surgery. Then the unthinkable, she said it is costly and maybe we should think about euthanizing our cat. At this point I was severely upset. I told her she was playing on emotions, either the cat dies or we pay thousands of more dollars, those are options. I explained I will talk to my wife. I consulted my wife, very upset. Then we called St. Pauls Vet Clinic on 27th. They said we can transfer Darth Vader there (not even 2) and could unblock him, do the surgery, an x-ray, blood-work, and everything else for a fraction of the cost and could get it done that night. I called back and talked to Dr. Hanson (explaining our financial strains and if there was a cheaper route) she told me the same thing. If we didnt get unblocked they would need to euthanize him and chances are that even with the surgery he could re-block and have issues. So if we want to spend thousands we can and save him but we should think about other options. There are no other options Dr. Hansen. At this point I was so sickened with the lever of unprofessional-ism, empathy and playing on our emotions, I said we are having transferred. To a place who can do the procedure and not charge us thousands. Well good news, our Darth Vader is healthy and the vet was great. Never go to Lakeshore Vet unless it is a last option, try anywhere but here. They will play on your emotions, guilt trip you, bad mouth other vets (because their vets are board certified) and you will pay thousands for any thing.

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Betsy M

January, 2017 our 8-yr old Schnauzer mix (with us only 4 years) was diagnosed with melanoma of his left front paw, outside toe pad. He had his toe removed. Prior to the surgery he was x-rayed and all looked clear. When test results came back on the cancerous toe we met with the oncologist to discuss treatment. Based on the numbers returned we elected to go the route of immunization therapy. This required 4 doses, 2 weeks apart and thereafter, if all was clear, a shot every 6 months beginning in October, 2017. Our initial interaction with Lakeshore Veterinary Clinic had been positive. This unfortunately took a dramatic turn for the worse. In late April, 2017 our pup lost interest in food. Several attempts at changing his diet would last a couple days and then he would not eat again. We went the rice/chicken route to no avail. Original diagnosis from his regular vet was pancreatitis. After meds and a bland diet his appetite did not return. We had an x-ray done at the suggestion of his regular vet. On Tuesday May 16 the devastating results from the x-ray was that the cancer had spread to both lungs with multiple tumors in each lung. That afternoon we reached out to our oncologist at Lakeshore Veterinary Clinic and asked for a call back. On Wednesday morning we called again and again requested that the oncologist look at the reports sent from the vet and to call us. We wanted/needed confirmation of the x-ray diagnosis. We did finally get a call – from the technician. The tech stated ‘our oncologist confirms the diagnosis’. Then proceeded to offer up prednisone to ease his discomfort for a week or two. Where was the professional courtesy and compassion to give us 5 minutes of the oncologists’ time? We were faced with a heartbreaking decision and wanted the reassurance of the direction we needed to go. To say this was shocking is an understatement. Our pup was put to rest and we are heartbroken. Then to make matters worse, we had to cancel the future appointments we had scheduled and in doing so notified them of our loss. We have not received any follow-up courtesy call. Six years ago we had the opportunity to work with WVRC in Grafton regarding our Wheaton Terrier. We recently reached out to them with the news that we had lost our Schnauzer. We wanted an urn that would match the one holding the remains of our Wheaton. Without hesitation they were happy to help us out. They even sent us a card and extended their sympathies, even though they had only met our Schnauzer once, and never treated him. They are truly remarkable professionals at WVRC, caring for animals and their owners.