To be honest if I could I would give them 0 stars. When they first opened they were a good vets with friendly staff. But they started to go down hill quite rapidly. The prices became ridiculous but... Read More
To be honest if I could I would give them 0 stars. When they first opened they were a good vets with friendly staff. But they started to go down hill quite rapidly. The prices became ridiculous but worst of all I blame them for the death of my beloved 8 year old dog Cassie :( She had a heart murmur which was only minor to start with which by the way they didn't diagnose. Every time I took her to Walton Lodge Hoddesdon, when they checked her heart, I think only once did they notice she had a murmur, the other times I had to tell them! And them they would listen to her heart again and go 'oh yes she has hasn't she' they never told me how bad it was getting or that she needed medication or anything. I was there quite often with her as she had anal gland problems so they checked her heart regularly. She got kennel cough pr so they said, which I thought was weird as she barely went near other dogs. She had a horrible hacking cough. Then earlier this year about March, she suddenly lost the use of her back leg and I could see she was in agony even though she never cried bless her. So I rang them, explained what was wrong and she was in pain and they said to bring her down and hopefully the vet could fit her in! I went straight down with her, the receptionist was rude and unhelpful. Poor Cas could not get comfy and started to whimper which she never does. It was 5.15pm when we arrived and around 7.30pm before the vet looked at her. All he said was he thought it was a sprain and gave her metacam, he said he could try to x-ray to check for a break but I would have to wait until after everyone went home, when I said she had heart murmur, he said she would have to be awake for it! She was trying to hide as in so much pain, he didn't seem bothered. Of course by the time they x-rayed her he couldn't as she wouldn't stay still. Well duh she was in agony! So he said go home and if no better by next day bring her back. I took her home but knew she wasn't right and soon as got in I felt the foot of the leg she couldn't walk on and it was cold compared to her others. Straight away I thought its a blood clot, now I'm no vet but how come I knew this and a vet that is meant to be trained and charges a fortune by the way, didn't even notice this! So rang him back and he said they had a machine to see if there is a pulse in that leg. So back we went, but low and behold it only works on front legs, why he never said that in the first place! He said again we can take her home or he could refer her to the Royal Vets, straight away I said refer her. He rang them to see if they could see her, I wish I just went there in the first place. Finally he said yes we could go, but not before charging us about £80 to refer her that's not including the charge for earlier. By time we got to Royal Vets it was past 9pm. She had been in agony that whole time. The RVC took her straight away and were brilliant. They asked what our vets had given her and I said metacam. He was shocked and said we have put her on morphine as she was clearly in agony and yes it was a blood clot. She had to stay in and when we went back they then told us the awful news that she was in the final stages of heart failure. I was so upset and angry, why had Walton Lodge not noticed her murmur getting so bad and put her on medication! It turns out she never had kennel cough it was her heart murmur symptoms! We started her on medication for her heart and thinners for her blood clot and physio to help her get the use back in her leg. But to be honest it was to late the damage to her heart was irreversible :( I went to Walton Lodge to complain about how long she was left in agony and the heart murmur, one of the nurses was there and started to have a moan back at me saying she was there and it wasn't like that at all on the night! By this time I was livid. I sent a complaint to the owner of Walton Lodge, no surprises I got no response not even a phone call. I changed vets straight away. But by July Cassie was getting worse, barely slept and paced as couldn't get comfy, she lost her energy and looked so sad it was heartbreaking. As I write this i am crying. Me and my family made the hardest decision I have ever made which was to have her put to sleep. I didn't want her to be suffering. I still haven't got over her death she was my baby and the thought of her suffering and me not knowing breaks my heart, I feel so guilty. But the anger I feel about Walton Lodge is unbelievable. I warn you all do not use them. All they care about is money not the well being of your beloved pet. If I could guess my dog has a blood clot with no vet training and a vet can't well there is no hope! They should be closed down. They couldn't even be bothered to apologize. They disgust me. Read Less