I have had three golden retrievers over 39 years. That is how long I had been going to Silver Maple. Although I rarely had the same vet twice my three boys generally seemed to receive good care. (Note: The veterinary doctor turnover here is regular.) Things changed recently.
The owner of the business was the attending vet when my pup needed care. My current golden is the gentlest friendliest dog on the planet. Due to virus circumstances, I had to drop him off rather than take him in.
Three different vets prescribed hundreds of dollars in meds over the better part of a month. A special dog food was also prescribed. The limitations of the virus were significant but I paid what they asked. The canned food prescribed gave him diarrhea on top of the symptoms for which I took him in. I was concerned that we kept throwing expensive drugs and food at the problem with no success.
When I called for information, the vet was often not in. He would respond via his cell. His caller i.d. was disabled so when my cell rang with an incoming call from "unknown" the first time, I didn't answer. When we finally talked, he had no notes and relied on me to tell him what we had done so far. As I attempted to fill him in, he would cut me off, rarely letting me finish a sentence. I took my pup in for a battery of tests. They kept him for an afternoon. When he got home he had a hairless patch just under his left eye that he didn't have before he went in. I was concerned. I called about it. They had just closed so I left a message with the answering service. Another vet returned my call. I was told no one knew anything about it. They said he must have rubbed the hair off on the cage in which he was confined. I voiced my concern.
Dr. Sam eventually felt an endoscopy was required. They wanted to keep him for a day again. Due to the virus, the office was communicating in various ways. I emailed to ask they please take good care of him. Dr. Sam called to tell me he thought I was being "irritable" with his staff. HE was irritable and had an angry tone. I was never once voiced my concern in an unprofessional way. I told him I was shocked by this. He finally admitted that I had always been respectful and professional dealing with him. The day of the procedure, I emailed again to request they keep an eye on my little buddy. Dr. Sam called me and once again, in a very agitated voice told me "come get your dog." He was not going to do the endoscopy. He added angrily there would be no charge. No charge? Since they didn't do anything, I considered this to be an acerbic remark.
One never knows what is going on in someone's life. Everyone is stressed during these times. Maybe this doctor is undergoing some extreme stress. That is NO excuse for this level of unprofessionalism. Given the circumstances, I feel the need to let others know what happened to us. We found another vet with less stress. read more