Sadly, my one experience with one ER doctor was poor, and soured me on this vet hospital. My cat was denied the bloodwork and care that may have saved her life. She died 3 days later. My experience with everyone else at Pieper was good.
My cat was seen by the Pieper ER on 7/9/23 and seen by a good ER doctor. He admitted my cat Pebbles because of jaundice and weight loss. The next day Pebbles was given an ultrasound,bloodwork and 2 biopsies. The internal medicine doctor diagnosed cholangiohepatitis,pancreatitis and IBD. On 7/12/23 Pebbles was discharged with jaundice that they believed was getting better. In hindsight, I wish she had stayed longer. When she was discharged they scheduled a follow up appointment on 7/26/23.
The internal medicine team was good and they always responded to my email questions by calling me. On 7/17, they sent me an email that my cat also had hyperthyroidism. I didn't read the email until the next day and couldn't get the medicine until 7/20. At this point my cat was down to just above 5 pounds. No matter how much she ate, she was losing weight. I don't know why there was such a delay in that diagnosis.
I was told by internal medicine that if I had any concerns over the weekend to go to the ER. On Sunday 7/23 , I was very concerned that my cat was extremely dehydrated and worried about kidney failure. I was also worried about her glucose, and the very yellow color of her urine. I brought my cat to the Pieper ER, which is an hour and 20 minutes away. However, it took longer as my cat pooped and urinated in the carrier. Her breathing was almost labored, so I had to keep stopping to calm her down.
I arrived at the Pieper ER at about 10 PM. The triage vet was good and even gave my cat a little food as the appetite stimulant I had given her had kicked in. I was told it would be a 5 to 6 hour wait. I could either wait in my car, the waiting room or leave the cat and go home. I opted to stay in the waiting room. As I was in the ER waiting room, I became aware that I was on the bottom of the triage list. I asked another person who arrived just before me if they gave her an estimated wait time and they did not. I saw her come and go home with her cat. At about 1:45 AM, another person came in with a dog who had diarrhea. Her dog was brought right back for examination. I asked if she had been waiting in the parking lot, and she said she just arrived at Pieper.
At 2:05 AM (4 hour wait), my cat Pebbles was finally brought in for examination. A few minutes laterI was called in to talk to the ER vet. She first asked why I was there. She had read the discharge report from 7/12/23 on my cat. She noted that my cat had 4 serious chronic conditions and we already know what is wrong with my cat, and she has an upcoming appointment already. It was as if I shouldn't have bothered the ER.
She asked why I was giving Cisapride to my cat, since it wasn' t on the discharge instructions. I meekly said that she had been receiving Cisapride for a while. She told me that it was wrong to give to a hyperthyroid cat. I did not know this, and agreed to stop the Cisapride. I was feeling that the doctor didn't think I should be there. I found her to be rather cold and intimidating. There was no apology for my long wait.
Then I asked this doctor if she could do bloodwork on my cat for kidney function, glusose and liver. She said that from an emergency medicine viewpoint, there was no reason to do bloodwork on my cat since she has known kidney disease and jaundice. I was stunned and said nothing. As a former lab tech, I should have noted that labwork is also done to monitor changes with known chronic diseases. I felt that she schooled me on the ER physicians role. Thus, NO BLOODWORK WAS DONE which I will regret for the rest of my life.
Then I told the doctor about Pebbles distress on the long car ride. I asked if Pebbles could stay and be looked at by Internal Medicine in the AM. She told me this was impossible since they have scheduled appointments.
I left after paying the $189 dollar bill for nothing. I felt the doctor was rude and cold. She could have at least done bloodwork to make sure my cat was okay. She asked me to look at it from the ER doctor perspective. She didn't consider my perspective as I was worried about my cat. She did nothing except scold me for giving my cat Cisapride.
I ended up taking my cat to a local vet on 7/25/23. She did bloodwork to find my cat was extremely dehydrated and jaundiced. We discussed euthanasia, but I chose to have my cat given subcutaneous fluid and bring my cat home. On 7/26/23 (the day of the scheduled Pieper appointment), the jaundice had gotten even worse. Her paw pads were yellow! She had to be euthanized. On her death bed the vet noted she was full of poop. Due to IBD, her body was used to receiving Cisapride to move things along. read more