Well, we ended up staying with SOVG for another 5 years. Unfortunately, their Vetsulin price was a lot cheaper than any other vet we called. But now, 5 years later, we have officially left SOVG.
Our 9 year old dog, Lucy, was not eating. She was lethargic, vomiting, and not pooping. We figured she had an obstruction- that she had eaten something and it was blocking her intestine. (This happened to my first dog years ago, so I was familiar with the symptoms.)
We took Lucy to SOVG on a Tuesday. I was at work, but my partner explained to Dr Dumas that we thought it was an obstruction. He wanted to give her an x-ray. They couldn't see anything on the x-ray for some reason, so my partner was given two options- take her home and monitor her, or leave her there all day so they could try to flush her out with fluids and get an accurate x-ray. We obviously didn't want to just take her home and heal her with positive thoughts, so my partner agreed to leave her there to get a diagnosis.
Hours later, they called my partner and said that they still could not see anything on the x-ray, even after giving her fluids all day and giving her SIX x-rays. They had absolutely no idea what was wrong with her, and their only suggestion was to take her to their partner emergency vet in Pasadena to get an ultrasound. But because they had kept her at SOVG for so long, it would be considered "after hours," so would be significantly more expensive. Mind you, this is at 3:00 in the afternoon.
Because we love our dog, my partner rushed her to Pasadena. He checked the bill SOVG handed him before he left and they had charged us $1500 to keep our dog all day, putting her through various torturous medical procedures with no sedation including shoving a tube down her nose to drain fluid from her abdomen and giving her those 6 x-rays.
In Pasadena, the vet said that Lucy was severely dehydrated (after spending the entire day at SOVG "getting fluids") and they had to hydrate her. The gave her the after-hours ultrasound and lo and behold, she had an obstruction. She needed immediate surgery, which would be $10,000 because it was "after hours" at 3:30pm on a Tuesday. Again, because we love our dog, we immediately applied for a Care Credit card and approved the surgery.
She ended up staying in the hospital for another day because her blood pressure was low after surgery (add another $1000). Once she was safely at home and my partner and I were able to relax and think about what had just happened, we were furious.
SOVG held our dog for 6 hours, keeping her in a high anxiety situation with nothing to calm her, torturing her with tests and tubes and IVs, only to have absolutely no clue what could be wrong with her. Then, only when it was "after hours," they told us that basically if we wanted to help her, we had to go to their partner across the valley and spend $11,000. They took advantage of an extremely scary situation. They acted like they simply could not find out what was wrong with her, and waited so they could get the absolute maximum profit from us for themselves and their Pasadena partners. They put our dog through hell and charged us $1500. When we called to complain, we were told that the doctor "did everything right" and they would offer us no real apology, compensation, or refund.
I have been going to SOVG for 15 years. 4 dogs, multiple surgeries, illnesses, and scary moments. Our beloved dog with diabetes passed away at their facility in February. We have been loyal to this organization because we wanted to believe that they cared. But after this horrible incident, we will never step foot in this facility again. Money, money, money. That's all they want, and they will try to get it by putting you and your beloved pet through hell until you're desperate enough to say yes to anything. read more