I would generally say 5stars as my experiences at black river vet have always been exceptional and exactly what I've needed for my pup. But yesterday I witnessed something quite careless from Dr. Gordon and staff in the examining room, hence the 2 stars and my loss of trust.
tl;dr i brought my dog (with a recent spinal cord injury already) in for the vet to diagnose what looked like a rash between one of his back paw's toes. Per routine, Dr. Gordon asked to get dog's weight but during the process my dog landed on his butt from the examining room's elevated scale while both the vet Dr. Gordon and accompanying staff were in the room with me. This was my first interaction with this particular vet.
For context, my dog sustained a lower spinal cord injury about 3 months ago and with PT and care at home, he has been able to get back on all four limbs but is not fully recovered. So, in knowing this (Dr Gordon and black river were forwarded all my dogs medical records during his accident and my dog has a visible limp in his hind legs and wears a help em up harness), one would think a vet would be careful to handle a dog who is not completely stable on all four limbs, and in this particular case, the back limbs are still weak. But this was not the case when trying to measure my dog's weight today at the start of the appointment. Dr. Gordon asked to get my dog on the scale and so I obliged thinking Dr Gordon would raise the scale just high enough and her accompanying staff would assist me in ensuring my dog was safe on the raised and shiny surface of the scale. Dr. Gordon eventually raised the scale to several feet, as the scale is generally intended to be used, but keep in mind I was by myself handling my dog on the scale's surface as she raised it and my dog's apprehension was expressed as the scale was raised, trying to sit from his standing position as the scale moved below him. Eventually the scale came to a halt, my dog was sitting, and i had a tight grip on his leash and harness ensuring that he couldn't move as I noticed he tried to look over the edge of the scale. And by sitting i mean he was facing the examining room's side walls, away from the back door where the staff comes in from, meaning the width of the raised platform he was sitting on was much shorter than its length as it is rectangular. Dr gordon realized the weight was a bit lower than expected since i was tugging up on my dog's harness to counteract his pulling away to the scale's edge. So at her recommendation, i let go and in the blink of an eye my dog launched over the edge of the raised scale, falling to the floor, landing on his butt. Standing at the position i was next to the scale, all i could do was react with pulling up on my dog's leash.
Knowing my dog's apprehension, in retrospect, should i have ignored Dr gordon's directions and suggested her or her staff should come help me and stand to the side of the scale that prevented my dog from jumping straight out, absolutely. But what really left me speechless was the fact that Dr Gordon did not acknowledge the fall after it happened (given the sensitivity of a dog with a spinal cord injury in recovery) and then after the fact , It was mentioned that there was a floor scale in the other room that could be used instead...so then why did they not suggest using that scale in the first place? That seems like a safer option for dogs altogether.
I've been to black river vet more times than i can count with 2 hands and i've been coming with my dog since he was about 10weeks (he's now almost 3), so i know the weight scale process and have never had an issue before with other staff. Looking back, i can always remember staff proactively being at my dogs side, keeping him comfortable and stable on a raised scale. But today the professional staff lacked foresight and I don't think I can entrust them with my dog in the same way.
In the same way that Dr. Gordon took precautions to ensure her own safety such that she couldn't get bitten by my dog (after the fall had taken place) while examining his ears by putting on a muzzle, similar thinking could be used to ensure the safety of a dog and not just the staff in the room.
Regardless of my own poor handling, I don't think vetmed staff should ever be in a situation where an already injured dog falls off a raised platform in their care so I hope the staff takes time to retrospect on this experience and can discuss and take proper precautions in the future.
Given the state of vetmed these days, perhaps this also a call to management to ensure staff are getting the care and work/life balance they need to stay on top of their game. read more