I've been going to Dr. Clayton for years. I foster, dog sit and have three dogs of my own. So…read morelong as the care you need is relatively simple and your animals are healthy, the office seemed great. However, when the time came that I had two very sick pets, I had a horrible experience with the care, diagnosis and customer service at this office. I will never recommend somebody go there again.
I took my dog, Sherman, in Monday morning, as I knew something was seriously wrong. Sadly, they misdiagnosed him and sent Sherman home with Pepcid; but offered to keep him for observation. Given that they had just evaluated Sherman, I didn't feel it was in his best interest because he would not be able to get decent rest while they "observe" him in between appointments. They already knew he had been vomiting and not eating.
Two days later, Wednesday, nothing had changed, and Sherman was considerably more ill and with a fever. I brought him in, they took his temperature, did a blood draw and offered to keep him to "observe" again. They had no explanation of what they would do differently other than wait for the blood panel to come back. I knew lying in a cage at the vet office would only cause him additional anxiety when he was already very sick.
By Thursday, my other dog, Maisie, started falling ill. The Clayton vet could not fit me in until Friday later in the morning. I called earlier that Friday and spoke with a technician, to try and understand what they were going to do differently. Suddenly, Dr Anne Clayton came on the phone and started berating me. After remaining silent while she went on a rant for 2 1/2 minutes, she ended the call by telling me to go to another vet. There I was on a Friday morning, now with two very sick dogs, looking for a new vet.
Thank God for All Star Veterinary in Westfield! Absolutely amazing! They fit us in immediately, repeated the appropriate bloodwork and started my dogs on the antibiotics they needed. It was dicey over over the weekend as I had to hydrate both dogs with a syringe until the antibiotics kicked in. My first dog had a much longer road of recovery given that he had gone so long before receiving proper care and medicine.
After the weekend, I texted Clayton Vet to see if they would bare any responsibility for what had taken place. I understand that sometimes we have bad days or mistakes happen. Instead, he responded defensively, stating he listened to the recordings and that he was inactivating my account. I understand his desire to back the other veterinarians at that office. But he could've responded simply with, "We had a lot going on at the time. Sorry if things slipped... how are the dogs doing now?"
After years of a business relationship, and sending them many new clients, it is disappointing to say the least. My dogs almost died as a result. Dr. Clayton told me that he had a recording of the call - I strongly encourage him to post that recording for others to decide for themselves. What's a shows an additional testament to their ignorance and customer service is how they continue to advertise on their Yelp page. They're actually using a picture of MY dogs, standing in MY front door to promote their business. See below.