My 6 year old American Staffordshire Terrier, Floyd and I visited Advanced Vetcare on August 23. I was immediately taken back about the fact there is no onsite parking, only parking on the street if y... Read More
My 6 year old American Staffordshire Terrier, Floyd and I visited Advanced Vetcare on August 23. I was immediately taken back about the fact there is no onsite parking, only parking on the street if you are lucky enough to find a spot. Also the practice is on the first floor, so you must go in the lift. The lack of parking and lift and quite inconvenient if you have a very sick pet or one that does not like to, or is unable to walk. It was revealed during an ultrasound that Floyd was suffering from right sided congestive heart failure. The vet could not give a definite prognosis but said he guessed somewhere between 6 months and a couple of years that Floyd would have to live. I agreed to allow some of the fluid to be drained from Floyd's abdomen for his comfort. I was told that they were only able to drain around 400ml of fluid because Floyd started to get restless and was moving a lot. I was not offered the option of paying the extra $50 to have him sedated. I paid $960 for a consult, ultrasound, drainage and medication. Of this cost, $195 was for the drainage of the fluid. After calling back four days later to say that the medication was having no effect, I was offered to take Floyd back there to have the fluid drained again, this time under sedation for another $400, this is including $150 for another consultation. I was also unhappy with the dosage of medication that was prescribed for Floyd. I thought it was quite low for the size of dog that he is. I had to give him three times the medication that was initially prescribed before I saw any effect. I was extremely unhappy with them telling me to pay another $400 for the sedation and drainage, as I believe the option of sedation should have been offered to me when Floyd had the fluid drained initially and I spoke to the practice manager about it eventually, when she did call me back. I cannot recall her name. After telling her version of events, she listened to mine, and said that she could tell I was very upset and frustrated and would speak to the vet involved and call me back. This was 2 months ago and she still has not bothered to follow up my complaint. I ended up taking Floyd to my own vet who managed to drain around 650ml of fluid, without sedation for $120 and they said Floyd did not move. Also, when my vet read the report sent to her by Advanced Vetcare, she told me that she does not think Floyd will have 6 months to live. She said it would be lucky if it was another month. And she was correct, we had to have Floyd put to sleep exactly a month and a day after our visit to Advanced Vetcare. So, in my experience at Advanced Vetcare, I found that they only seem to be after money instead of putting pets interests first, they gave a too low dosage of medication, Floyd's prognosis was way off and they do not take customer complaints seriously. I wish I never brought Floyd here and that I'd taken him elsewhere.Read Less