In late summer of 2021, my barn owner's husband informed me that my horse had cancer in his face. You might wonder why I learned this from him and not my veterinarian. I received this awful news from him because Iowa Equine *forgot* to give me the results of the biopsy they'd performed a couple weeks earlier. Since I received this news on a Saturday, I had to sit with my worry and questions until the following Monday. I should have taken that experience as a sign, but ultimately I stuck with Iowa Equine throughout my horse's treatment that year. The tumor was surgically removed and then the area was treated with chemotherapy by a different clinic.
In late summer of 2022, I noticed several new lumps adjacent to the location of the original tumor. Some small lumps closer to the mouth, and some larger lumps in the lower jaw area. Dr. White performed the initial examination. Due to my horse's history and the almost certain likelihood of cancer, she recommended that the lumps be debulked (cut out as throughly as possible) and sent in for testing. It is common practice to cut out as much of the tumor as possible before beginning chemotherapy treatment. This is why debulking was recommended as opposed to a simple biopsy.
A different vet, Dr. Isberner, was sent to perform the debulking procedure. I showed her where the tumors in question were located, however she did not mark the location of the tumors prior to injecting the area with anesthetic, which caused immediate swelling of the surrounding tissue. As a result, Dr. Isberner struggled to locate the tumors before making her incisions. She made a comment to that effect in front of me, but she pressed on and I trusted her judgement. The cost for the procedure came to over $800.
It wasn't until weeks later, after the swelling had resolved and stitches were nearly gone, that I realized nearly all of the tumors I had pointed out had either been missed entirely, or only partially removed. Rather than debulking the specific tumors by the mouth and lower jaw, Dr. Isberner cut away two random pieces of tissue from those areas. Test results found that those samples did have tiny (0.2cm-0.5cm) tumors in them, the presence of which is not unexpected given the type of cancer my horse has, however that does not change the fact that the larger, more significant tumors that needed debulked, remained either fully or mostly intact.
When I sent an email explaining the situation and expressing my frustration, I received an incredibly patronizing response from Dr. Stay, flat-out denying any wrongdoing while accusing me of being "frustrated with my horse's condition" rather than being frustrated by the fact that I did not receive the service I explicitly requested, and paid over $800 for.
Dr. Stay's response showcased a severe lack of accountability within this clinic, and a blatant disregard of the additional stress this experience created for both myself and my horse. For obvious reasons I am no longer comfortable having my horse in Iowa Equine's care and I would not recommend them for anything beyond routine services. read more
