My family is disappointed with our experience here, especially after being referred to this…read morehospital by multiple other emergency veterinarians. We left feeling like our fear for our dog's condition and our love for her were being leveraged to encourage increasingly expensive treatments, despite there not being a clear diagnosis or certainty that those treatments were actually the right course of action. When we arrived, our dog was taken from us before we had the opportunity to fully explain what had been happening, including what medications she had already received. It was approximately 40 minutes before we were able to provide that information, and we did not see her again for nearly three hours. This was incredibly difficult for us as her owners. We had no way of knowing how she was doing, whether she was acting differently, or what was happening with her.
When we finally saw her after completing the discharge paperwork, she was COMPLETELY different from when we brought her in. She was extremely out of it when we got there but in the car she had her personality back. This change was never clearly communicated to us by the staff, and we obviously could not have communicated it ourselves because we were not allowed to see her for hours. We were also told after having to ask during discharge if anything had been done or administered, which they said no to, that would have explained such a significant change in her behavior. They did however give an IV that they did not administer anything in or use at all.
Our dog was initially acting out of it, had some weakness in her hind legs, and showed discomfort when her stomach was touched. The veterinary team seemed to quickly lean toward this being a typical IVDD case. We were told an ultrasound had been performed and that there was nothing abnormal that should be in her stomach. However, after calling her regualr vet we were told that if she had ingested some type of liquid from our garage, the ultrasound would not have identified it. This left us feeling slightly uncertain about what was actually causing her symptoms. We were strongly encouraged to pursue an MRI, which was verbally quoted to us at around $5,000, followed by surgery at another approximately $5,000. We were seriously considering spending that amount because, of course, we would do everything we reasonably could for our dog. However, when we were presented with the actual estimate, it was nearly $20,000. That was an enormous and unexpected difference from what had been verbally discussed and was extremely upsetting during an already terrifying situation. When we declined the estimate, the recommendation know was to do strict crate rest for six weeks, carrying her outside to use the bathroom, and medication. We were left wondering how such drastically different treatment plans could be presented without a clear diagnosis(MRI) or a transparent explanation of the options, risks, and costs. I also want other pet owners to know something we were not aware of: their neurologist is "on call" on weekends and, according to what we were told, would only come in if a dog was completely unable to walk. Our dog could still walk, although she was wobbly, slow, and having difficulty with her hind legs. We had specifically called beforehand to ask whether they had a neurologist and were not made aware of this limitation. We were told that if we wanted to pursue the MRI and potentially surgery, the neurologist could come in the following day, which we did appreciate as it was the weekend. However, we would've had to leave our dog hospitalized overnight at a cost of about $1,000 per day, when we would have rather put that money to treatment. To be clear, we understand that emergency veterinary care is expensive. This review is not simply about the cost, nor is it about being unwilling to spend money on our dog. We were prepared to consider spending thousands of dollars if we understood why it was necessary and felt confident in the plan. The biggest issue was the lack of trust created by the experience: feeling like there was inconsistent communication, not being allowed to see or adequately communicate about our dog for hours, significant uncertainty surrounding the diagnosis, pressure during an incredibly vulnerable moment, and a major lack of pricing transparency. I strongly feel that the hospital needs to reconsider how cost estimates are communicated to families. If a treatment could ultimately cost close to $20,000, that needs to be clearly communicated before a family is verbally led to believe they are looking at something 1/2 that cost. Families should not have to discover that difference while sitting in an emergency hospital, terrified about whether their pet is going to be okay. Unfortunately, due to the lack of trust it's hard to determine weather or not we would return or recommend them. Everyone wants what is best for their pet, but it felt like their main focus was our checkbook.