Let me start off with two disclaimers: 1) I wanted to like this place - close by, simple, had good reviews and 2) the wellbeing of my cat is more important than price.
The clinic was quite run-down, ... Read More
Let me start off with two disclaimers: 1) I wanted to like this place - close by, simple, had good reviews and 2) the wellbeing of my cat is more important than price.
The clinic was quite run-down, basic, verging on uncomfortable (to wait in the waiting room), but I can overlook this if the quality of care was good. The receptionist/nurse was lovely, the vet seemed pleasant and knowledgeable. I took my cat in because she uncharacteristically peed outside of her litterbox twice and I was worried she might have a urinary tract infection. The consultation cost $40 and I paid another $120 for the two injections and two lots of pills we were prescribed. I was told that she had a UTI and one set of pills was an antibiotic while the other was to reduce crystals in her urine.
We tried to give her the pills, even watched videos on YouTube to find the easiest least traumatic way to do so, but she wouldn't have any of it. Especially the antibiotic pill, which had to be cut in half, and caused her to drool uncontrollably and eventually regurgitate it back out. It got so traumatic trying to give her these pills. On top of that, she became sick with the cold/flu and was just so much worse than when I took her in. After about a week, we took her to Lort Smith's (they open late) and the vet there was surprised the first vet didn't try to take a urine sample to confirm a UTI (and the Lort Smith vet couldn't find any evidence of a UTI or any crystals in her urine), and he told us the antibiotic pills prescribed is really bitter hence her reaction to it, while the other pills that are meant to reduce crystals in her urine were unnecessary and quite old fashioned (apparently they don't work well and aren't really used by vets anymore). He told us our cat's possibly a carrier for the flu and that can be triggered by stress (after all the pill popping trauma, I wouldn't be surprised). He also said that UTIs in female cats aren't usually serious and would go away by itself, and her peeing outside the litterbox is more likely due to an unclean litterbox than illness.
I am quite mad about this whole situation because the vet could have confirmed the UTI before prescribing expensive and unnecessary drugs. This whole experience was horrible for us and we will not be returning to this practice. We would rather pay an extra $20 to go to Lort Smith, who has better facilities, better hours and seemingly better vets. Giving this 2 stars because the staff were pleasant. Read Less