Applecross Veterinary Hospital

This is only a 1 star rating as I cannot give no stars! Steve is rude, arrogant and talks to his patients like they are stupid. I took my extremely sick puppy to see him for Steve to turn him away saying he has nothing more than food allergies and to change his diet. NO testing was done and I was talked to like a stupid idiot who has never owned a poodle before... Bogart presented with black mucous filled blood dripping diarrhoea, all over body scratching but particularly at the right ear, mid length of tail, eyes, armpits, groin, both his carpal pads were raw and something looked to be 'eating away' at his paw pads.. His tail was chewed hairless in an area and his eyes were losing fur and the skin was going red and crusty.. We had started him on a raw food diet two weeks earlier and used chicken as our starter protein.. I had asked if he also had a yeast infection as the paws looked mouldy and his white fur was stained rust.. He said no it's because Bogart "is licking".. well yes he is licking but WHY??? I was sent away and told to change his food to the kibble they sell in-house - ummm yeah doubt that will change things but will give it a try... Almost a week later on new food - no changes at all if anything he is more itchy due to the binders and fillers in the kibble.. now Bogart was just looking sickly and miserable.. I was sold neospin for his carpal pad and oatmeal wash (now know that was the worst thing for yeast infection).. At this point I was demanding a faecal test pot for a full PCR screen. Receptionist looked at me like an idiot but handed over the pot. Steve called that night "Ah, yeah Bogart has Giardia come in for a course of Panacur". no other advice on avoiding contact with other dogs/parks or my own children - we ALL got sick plus my girlfriends dog who I was obligated to pay $500 for him to be treated for everything Bogart had.. PLUS $150 for prescriptions for my family of five.. I had asked what else did the tests show and was told that the full PCR was NOT done "as it's cheaper to test in house" and as Steve had just put the sample under a scope in-house and found Giardia he decided to NOT test for anything else despite I specifically asked a FULL test was done - price was not an object to get the puppy better......... Two days later (two doses of Panacur in...) I took Bogart to another vet where a full PCR was done. Giardia was not detected but according to this vet that did not mean Bogart didn't have Giardia or that Steve did not see it on the scope (or maybe he didn't as I was never given the results to see for myself )... hopefully it just meant the Panacur was working... The PCR returned that Bogart also had Campylobacter and Clostridium perfringens! Bogart was also confirmed to have a yeast overgrowth - particularly in his paws - the other body rashes were due to the infections and his body trying to detox.. To finish.. Steve's incompetencies left me with a very very sick puppy which not only cost me emotionally/mentally (going nuts over why my puppy is so sick) but also more than x4 $$$ than what it should have cost had he did his job properly! He is extremely arrogant and has a strong condescending attitude. We come to you to help and instead you made him sicker longer than he needed to be!! Steve really should realise that he does not 'know it all'... At the end of the day I gave him the facts which were all vetoed onto a non-existing food allergy whilst he pushed his packaged dog 'food'. You do not send a PUPPY away when they have violent blood-filled mucous diarrhoea for weeks on end!!! Happy to report that almost 12 months later under the care of Dr Clare Middle, Bogart is a happy, healthy, 40kg Standard Poodle who has successfully been on a 100% species appropriate RAW food diet, it took a good six months for him to get better through antibiotic/antiparasite treatments and then to heal his gut and immune system from those treatments, this yeast infection was the last to go. What a mission all because apparently there was nothing wrong with him... Read Less

What an absolutely brilliant company. When I called, I was told that they apparently they do not release your pets vet history to you OR anyone unless decided upon by "the owner" of the company, whom you apparently need to email directly. The young lady then went on to say that she does not recommend purchasing insurance at all for your pet. Almost making it sound like they are evil scammers out for our money. I guess "the owner" would just rather people pay tens of thousands of dollars for expensive procedures straight out of pocket than claim it through an insurance company. God forbid they have to send out your pets history out. Oh no. Read Less

I suspect it would be easier to make an appointment to see the Prime Minister than to see Mr Metcalf. There is a serious need for some masculine balance in this practice. I hope Metcalf has the foresight to employ a few men in the future. Read Less

Steve is an ethical, highly competent, knowledgeable, confident and skilled vet surrounded by friendly, capable, efficient staff. Highly recommended and trusted to act in the very best interests of all his furry patients. Read Less