Giving 2 stars because I had great past care for my pet as well as getting an appointment quickly. But unfortunately, thats it for my most recent & my absolutely last experience here.
Here's the jest of it.
After explaining over the phone my concern about my cat needing an extraction-based off his doctor's previous recommendations here at this clinic, and needing to get a ballpark idea of costs due to my possible inability to afford it at the moment, I was offered a free exam to look at his teeth & get an estimate. I explained several times over the phone all I wanted to do was look at the ext of the 1 tooth their veterinarian said would likely need to go in the future. I could not afford to do anything more. This is not the cheapest clinic & I eventually had to make mention of that because the front desk girl didn't seem to understand that financially I was limited this time...unlike our first few appointments where I was able to pay over $1000 for what my kitty needed. No range or rough estimate would be given over the phone for what the typical charges are for the most expensive, complex extraction to the easiest, least expensive simple extraction.
I didn't realize it at the time, but my free check was with a vet tech not the doctor. After 10 min I was handed an estimate for much more than an extraction w/a cost of over $530. I told the lady I couldn't do all this. She proceeded to tell me everything from "this is what he needs" to "he has lesions on his teeth" and finally "I thought you cared about your pet" at which time I was done. And I told her so. I've never been so insulted and made to feel bad because I couldn't afford to do a full dental, bloodwork, etc. .... When I asked her if I could just do the extraction she said no, there wasn't anything they would do if I wouldn't do a full dental.
I am a licensed dental hygienist on people & have been in the human dental field for over 20yrs. I have researched extensively regarding my babies health problems & have participated in multiple online feline stomatitis & juvenile hyperplastic gingivitis chat groups where I've shared many many pictures documenting my kitties walk, as well as sharing my tx experience. I am not a vet, but my career is in oral care & its really not very different from humans. I'm not someone with zero knowledge.
I believe the scope of a vet tech in Idaho does not include diagnosing in their doctors name either..and using their diagnosis to generate a tx plan. But I didn't mention that as I was too upset over being accused of not caring about my pet & just wanted to leave.
I was able to get my kitty in with the vet I use for my dogs today, & he said all he'd recommend was an antibiotic shot & to try a steroid injection, since this had never been done before for him. He also said while his premolar looked iffy, his remaining front teeth looked in decent shape for now-no mobility & no "tooth lesions." In his years of experience he said he would not recommend pulling them.
I was really happy about finding Gem clinic & felt my precious kitty got top notch care when I first brought him in. However, I was embarrassed & insulted, & left feeling hopeless & angry today. I don't believe I was treated right & we won't be back. There are other excellent options for veterinarians in our community who not only give great care to your pets, but also care about the owners & meet them where they are financially. A full dental could've been done at a later date. NEVER suggest a customer doesn't care about their pet due to financial constraints. Shame on you! read more