STAY AWAY!! I have worked in the veterinary industry for 15 years and never dealt with such incompetence.
TL; DR: I paid $2000+ for Columbia Pet ER to NOT do the two things I brought my cat there for.
I made it very clear to the doctors and staff that my cat was at this ER to A) Have his abdominal fluid tapped so he could be more comfortable, and be observed overnight for this; and B) Consult with an oncologist in the morning re: his ultrasound because his primary vet believed he had cancer. I tried to get him into AVIM oncology but they were booked for over a month, so they suggested I go through the Pet ER (which shares a facility with AVIM). This route obviously costs a LOT more money but I was desperate to get my cat seen as soon as possible.
Since it is an ER, I expected a wait but we established early on that my cat was staying the night for observation post-fluid tap; so I did not understand why after 2 hours of waiting in the car and hearing absolutely NOTHING, I was told that I could not leave. After 3 hours, they finally said my cat had not yet been seen by a doctor, but still refused to let me leave for some unknown reason. After 3.5 hours, I was finally given permission to go home, though literally nothing had changed.
Later that night, I spoke to Dr. Perez who said she would tap 1/3 of the abdominal fluid and next day the radiologist would get an ultrasound needle aspirate of the suspect lesions which would be sent to the vet lab where I work. I reiterated to her how I wanted him to get an internal consult with the oncologist, too. I felt like we were on the same page and he was in good hands - until the next day....
Next day, Friday, I spoke with Dr. D'Aurora. She had taken a sample of his abdominal fluid and asked if was already analyzed elsewhere. His fluid analysis was actually done 3 days prior by his regular vet and the cytology report was right there in his records. Clearly, she hadn't even looked at it! This was very unsettling.
As for the fluid tap? It was never done. She tried to excuse it by saying "if his protein is low..." but Dr. Perez looked at his protein levels on the phone with me and said it was safe to remove 1/3 of fluid. D'Aurora could not explain why it wasn't done; she just asked if I wanted them to do it now. I said, no, the whole point of the overnight drop-off was so he could be observed for hours after just in case he bottomed out!
Finally, I asked her about oncology to which D'Aurora first tried to tell me something to the effect of "we don't do that", then kinda stalled and eventually informed me that the specialists do not work on Fridays. I was FURIOUS. Why did NOBODY tell me this fact the many times I said I specifically brought him there for this? All she could say to me was "It's unfortunate when someone else makes false promises" and I'm thinking: YOUR people said this was the fastest way and I literally told Dr. Perez, the triage tech, and front desk staff!
What a complete waste of time and money. I came to pick up my cat, who they claimed was eating great and ready to leave. I was repeatedly put on hold and hung up on by the staff. After leaving, I called to ask for the itemized invoice, and it took me calling and asking THREE TIMES to finally get the right thing. And the girl was rude with me when I called back, as if I'm the jerk when she did not do it right the first two times.
Once home, my cat was worse and would not eat anything despite the ER claiming he was eating great. His abdomen was still distended and painful from never getting the fluid tapped. I considered taking him to a second ER elsewhere except I could not afford to drop another couple thousand dollars.
That night at the lab, his sample never came. It did not show up that Saturday night either. After many frantic calls to the ER, I found out why: it went to a different lab, despite them having repeatedly told me they would be sending it to the lab where I work. They also confirmed the sample wasn't sent out until Saturday, despite it being done Friday afternoon. If the sample had come to my lab when it was supposed to, I could have had results much sooner.
$2000+ later, my cat was still full of fluid, in pain, and not eating. No oncologist, no diagnosis, no pain meds. His cytology results came back Sunday but it was too late. He was declining such that I was forced to have him euthanized. I know his ultimate fate was not likely to have changed but I still deeply regret taking him to the Columbia Pet ER and causing him such stress for absolutely nothing.
I understand the pandemic re-opening is putting a lot of stress on vet hospitals, especially ERs but I cannot forgive the constant incompetence at every turn and the complete absence of communication between shifts and staff, especially when it loses precious time and risks my animal's life.
PS: I e-mailed them my complaints directly and got nothing but a "sorry" and another copy of the invoice. read more