Reading the other two reviews for Dr. Lewis Hanks and the West Lynn Vet, I'm flabergasted at how completely opposite my experience was. Let me just say 1) I've never in my life had such a shockingly bad (and outright bizarre) experience with a vet, and 2) I've also never written a scathing review - I'm not someone who likes to rant online. I am writing this review only because I am so shaken by the experience and, as I frequently use yelp recommendations, I want others to have this information.
My husband and I recently moved to Austin from Boston and we don't yet have a regular vet (when we adopted our dog from Cause for Paws they had recommended a vet that's way up north, which we've taken the dog and cats to for shots, and he was fine, but we were looking for a vet closer to downtown). Our neighbor recommended West Lynn Vet, so when I woke up yesterday morning to find blood in the stool of my 12-year-old cat, we decided to try it out.
Like other reviewers said, the clinic is very nice and clean, the receptionist was friendly, and we were initially excited at the prospect of having a much more conveniently located vet.
Tosca had gotten sick in her carrier during the car ride over and Dr. Hanks asked his assistant to take her into the other room and clean her up. Meanwhile he grilled us on all sorts of details - which I was fine with, because although his manner was very abrupt, he seemed to be asking thorough questions. However, a few minutes later he left to see what was taking the assistant so long, and this is when things got really strange.
Dr. Hanks and the assistant came back into the exam room with the assistant holding Tosca by her throat with one hand, the other hand holding her paws tightly crossed across her chest. I have never seen my gentle, docile cat look so terrified. She wasn't struggling, but her eyes were huge and she looked utterly panicked.
When the assistant put her down on the table she did struggle (weakly) to get free and she winced in pain, at which point I moved to try to comfort her. Dr. Hanks then became visibly aggitated, saying that he was NOT going to get bit and the cat would have to be held down; I suggested that I could hold her in a way that would calm her down but he said no, that was not going to work - and kept repeating adamently that he was not going to get bit. (Mind you, the cat had scarcely opened her mouth except to wince.)
He went on to say that elderly cats tend to be arthritic which causes them to bite, and again, kept insisting that he was not going to get bit. It was truly surreal because the cat showed no evidence that she was going to bite anyone, only that she was in pain (the assistant was still gripping her by the throat with her front legs tightly crossed across her body, and Dr. Hanks was correct, she is arthritic and the assistant was clearly causing her pain).
Dr. Hanks took a cursury look at her teeth - said they looked terrible - mentioned that she had old eyes, and then put her back in her carrier and said "I'm sorry, but I'm not going to do this. It sounds like your other vet is close to having this figured out and he's worked with the cat before, so I suggest you just keep going to him. I'm sorry I can't help you." I kid you not - he truly was that abrupt, and he actually turned us away. Didn't take blood samples, didn't examine her beyond looking at her teeth - basically wanted nothing to do with our cat. It was downright insulting.
We left - confirming witht he receptionist that we would NOT be charged for this visit. And several hours later are still completely perplexed and stunned.
Perhaps Dr. Hanks prefers working with dogs? Perhaps he had a bad day? Perhaps he has had bad experiences with older cats? Who knows. But based on my experience I think Dr. Hanks is in the wrong profession. Getting bitten should be the least of a vet's worries; and what's more, if you don't manhandle and abuse gentle animals, the chances of getting bitten are vastly reduced. No vet has ever been bitten by any cat I've ever owned.
Very, very weird.
Suffice to say we will not be going back to West Lynn Vet. Dr. Hardy at Best Vet is good - we would recommend him if you live up north. And since Tosca's issue still has not been diagnosed, we have made an appointment with Dr. Michael Mullen - who appears to be very well reviewed, and who makes house calls, alleviating some of the stress for our cat. read more