We took our dog in Monday Morning very sick, worried that she may have gotten into some poison that the neighbors had been putting on their fence to kill the squirrels, much to our protest. Our 8 year old Chocolate Cocker Spaniel was listless and drooling heavily, so we took her to the very first vet's office that we came across.
They wanted us to wait a few minutes so they could have a staff meeting. After having to convince them that our dog was in distress, they half heatedly took her back for blood tests. While the results came back with only a few indicators for poison and just as many indicators for gall bladder problems (which we did not know at the time) they began giving her fluids and treating her for poison.
They refused to do an ultrasound after many requests by my wife - who is a PhD in Biochemistry, and an Endocrinologist - but they refused, even after we explained that she was insured, and that cost was not a consideration. Stressed and tired, and still not aware of the results of the blood test, they kept her all day and had her transfer to the ER on Summer. There, the Vet said he didn't think it was poison, and mentioned that it was likely liver cancer. My wife read the tests and immediately diagnosed her with Gall Bladder problems. The vet said that she needed an ultrasound but they did not have one. He did not mention that there was another Pet hospital nearby that did.
We were with her during the night while they kept pumping her with fluid, and took her back to Cloverleaf as soon as they were open. We gave the recommendation from the ER vet that she needed an ultrasound, and the attending vet told us in a very condescending way "that I'm not going to just change my treatment based on what another Doctor tells me to do..." After insisting that she have an ultrasound or we were taking her somewhere else, they met with the lead Vet (who I guess needed to give her permission to use the ultrasound) and finally gave in to do one. Instead of handling her carefully, they rolled her over, and all the fluid they had pumped into her - which was residing in her abdomen caused her to drown within minutes.
A necropsy performed by a friend who is an hour away proved my wife was right, and that her gall bladder was the size of a small tangerine. Had this vet done what my wife insisted she do 24 hours earlier, the Vet would likely have seen the enlarged gall bladder and perhaps given our baby a chance, instead of pumping her full of fluids adding to the pain she was likely already in.
I don't know what was worse, the inept way they handled the situation, or the fact that they were worried about performing services they might not be able to collect on, as I overheard a couple of the employees discuss another pet worried about how they were going to pay.
We will never take our animals to this clinic again, even if we have to drive 20 miles out of the way. read more