I would take my dogs to daycare here and they always did so well. The staff seemed to be really good with my especially difficult poodle so I decided to board my pups here when I left out of town for a weekend. My golden retriever had suffered an injury that was already healed, but we kept bandaged to allow it extra time (it was very deep and took 2-3 months to heal, so the vet wanted to play it safe) and because of such he had to wear a cone to keep him from nibbling at the bandage. I called spa for paws prior to leaving my pets to see if they could handle taking care of my retriever while he had a cone&bandage. Retrievers drool a lot and so his cone needed to be kept dry and he couldn't really participate in any activity that would dirty his bandage. So, after a brief convo, they assured me it was no problem.
I dropped off my pups Thursday morning after having them checked out and cleared by the vet that very same morning. Sunday afternoon I get a call that my retriever is not well at all. They told me he had irritation and swelling in his neck and irritation in his face as well as a swollen paw. I was still out of town but on my way back and asked if it was something I needed to rush him to the ER once I got home or if it was just irritation. They told me one more day wouldn't be an issue, it wasn't THAT bad. Monday morning I pick him up because I got home Sunday after they had already closed.
Monday morning Miki was not okay. He did not even have the energy to greet me when I picked him up. His face was swollen and he had this putrid smell coming from him that you could honestly smell from several feet away. I rushed him to the vet.. He had a horrible fever and what appeared to be a bloody gash on the side of his face. His neck was swollen and bleeding. He had a horrible skin infection that just spread and worsened and became several types of infections (one of them was staph). He was in so much pain that sedation was not enough and so they had to anesthetize him to be able to clean his wounds. He was close to going into shock.
I mentioned this to Julie in an email and she told me she was shocked at how quickly it had progressed. In her email she told me that gash on his face went from irritated to bleeding in a matter of maybe a couple of hours? So, if it had progressed that quickly that she saw it right before her eyes, then why when she called on Sunday did she tell me one more day wouldn't be an issue? Why did she downplay the severity of his condition if it got really bad to where he was BLEEDING?
The other issue.. this could have been avoided if they had kept his cone dry. As simple as that. I signed him up to get walks since he couldn't do daycare because of his bandage.. I am expected to believe that he was totally fine up until Sunday? And according to one story, it wasn't that big of a deal, but when I showed her pictures and the vet bill, I was told it all progressed in one day... If it progressed in one day, right before your eyes, why wouldn't you say so? Why not take him to the vet? Before leaving them, I made it perfectly clear that they had my permission to take my pups to the vet and I would pay over the phone. So if it was THAT bad in one day, why not take care of it? Why tell me it could wait another day???????? Someone dropped the ball. I really don't believe it happened all in one day.. which means no one bothered to pay attention to him Friday or Saturday. Two walks a day and no one noticed anything? That smell did not happen overnight either. And if you want to believe it DID happen overnight, isn't that super alarming? Why tell me he's alright!?
They offered to refund the boarding and walks, which was about $150.. considering I had to pay $460 for a vet bill that was THEIR fault, that was rather insulting. Not only that, but they made my boy go through unnecessary pain. And what if I had waited until Monday afternoon to pick him up? His fever or the staph could have very well killed him. What would have happened if Julia hadn't taken the time to check him out on Sunday? What if the same staff member that supposedly cared for him Friday & Saturday also "took care" of him Sunday? Again: he could have ended up dead.
No thanks to this place. I had not fully processed what was happening that I stupidly left a $60 tip. I'm an idiot and I regret it all. My pup did not deserve any of this. read more