Medivet 24 Hour Woodstock

I must start by saying that a review cannot incorporate the horror that I experienced with Medivet Woodstock. The six-page letter, literally documenting point-by-point what happened while my cat was in their care, was the only thing that could really encompass the severity of the situation, as well as the incompetence of the practice. I should note here that Medivet did respond to that letter, and they did remove the £1400 bill they tried to charge us for nearly killing our cat. So, the short of it is that my cat was poorly and I took her to the out-of-hours on a Sunday evening. She remained in their care for 30 hours, during which time, they pumped her full of fluids for dehydration. No clinical diagnosis was made and I had to press the second of three vets that treated her for information regarding the diagnosis and any potential tests that could be used in finding a diagnosis. I am not a veterinarian and yet, I felt like I suddenly had to research to help my cat. It was shocking. I was told that "as she was insured," they could run additional tests, but that, if she wasn't insured, the vet would just send her home. At this point, my 7-year-old cat's legs kept coming out from under her and her belly was sore upon palpation, but this vet insisted that treatment would be the same--fluids--regardless of a diagnosis. There was absolutely no sense of urgency in what I knew was a dire situation based on her usual nature. After an inconclusive ultrasound, the third vet, on a night shift, suggested that our cat have a very expensive, emergency surgery at 10pm (after our girl had been with them, again, for 30 hours) for a potential blockage--though she insisted she couldn't be sure a blockage was there as she "didn't perform the ultrasound". When I asked about the imaging, she said she could only go on what the other vet had told her and she hadn't seen the images herself. (What is this nonsense??) At this point, I ended up phoning another practice that had out-of-hours care as my intuition told me everything about the situation was wrong--and it's good I did. Within hours at the other practice, our cat was diagnosed with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. The fluids Medivet Woodstock pumped into her were actually filling her lungs and gradually drowning her. By the time she was with the new vet, she could hardly breathe. Let me reiterate that THREE Medivet vets saw her--all saying no diagnosis was achievable, all while they were killing her. Again, Medivet tried to charge me £1400 for this initially, but after the letter I sent them, documenting point-by-point what happened, they removed this charge. They also informed me that the third vet was no longer part of their practice as a result of this and other complaints. Nonetheless, they did not address any of the additional points about their handover procedures, the attitude of the second veterinarian, etc. (presumably because it would legally implicate them). We, unsurprisingly, have switched all our animals over to a different practice now.... Read Less