This review has taken me quite a while to write, as I truly can't express how upset and heartbroken I was to have lost my cat. I would never under any circumstance recommend that anyone take their p... Read More
This review has taken me quite a while to write, as I truly can't express how upset and heartbroken I was to have lost my cat. I would never under any circumstance recommend that anyone take their pet to Dr. Evans at Soquel Animal Hospital.My cat had initially been seen by Dr. Evans since she was a kitten. Recently, I had brought her in because she started to look rather sickly. Where once my cat was shiny and pristine looking and full of energy, her coat now looked oily, and she appeared to drop some weight, which was really not a good thing since she was a small cat to being with. In addition to this, all she did was lay around most of the time, which was not normal. When I brought her in, I was told that she just looked a little unkempt, but that it was nothing to worry about overall. He said we "could" do blood work, but made it sound as though it was not needed. So I went my merry way, trusting that if it was something serious the veterinarian would advise me that I needed to do something about it.Flash forward and my mom came to visit. She saw my cat and told me that I needed a second opinion as my cat looked "horrible". I promptly took my cat to another veterinarian who examined my cat and at that time told me that my cat had a heart murmur... something I had NEVER been told by Dr. Evans. At that time, she told me similar things to what Dr. Evans said, and that we "could" do a blood sample as well. At this point, I figured that I must be making stuff up since it had been two doctors visits, and I received the same info. My cat then started to eat less (and this cat was a little piggy when it came to wet food), I took her again to Soquel Animal Hospital but opted for a different vet. I saw Dr. Phinn. As soon as she walked in the door she told me my cat looked incredibly sick. FINALLY someone noticed how terrible my cat looked!!! (I feel it important at this time to mention that my cat looked the same for all three visits. There was no major changes in her behavior or physical appearance at this point between vets visits, except for slight change in food consumption). She suggested it was "important" we do blood work and I did so immediately. The reports showed possible anemia, but she wanted to send them to a pathologist to see if there was anything further, so I let her do so. I waited about a week (or so it seemed) and finally had to call the vet myself to inquire of results. Dr. Evans called me back. He told me that the blood coagulated and so they could not get a proper diagnosis (which later in talking with someone else found out it was because they took a bad sample to begin with) so the results were inconclusive. Because they didn't know what was wrong, he suggested I give my cat a Depo Shot and another anti-biotic shot as those two things "may, or may not, help"... and that we'd have to go from there. I scheduled the shots since I was desperate. After I got off then phone I researched Depo shots and decided that was not the route for my cat, since everything I read said it killed their animal.The next day my cat started doing weird things like sitting her her litter box... which she had never done before. I immediately took her to a Pet ER for a 4th opinion! The vet agreed my cat looked ill, and one X-Ray later, they told me my cats organs were enlarged and her lungs were filled with fluids. They suggested an ultra-sound to better see inside. I accepted as honestly, I just wanted to save my cat. I also left her at the Pet ER so she could be monitored. I was called the next day and told in a 4 minute message with what was wrong with my cat. LITERALLY a 4 minute message about how almost all of her organs showed signs of something being wrong. The message even stropped recording and I had to call back to find out the remaining things wrong. Ultimately, the diagnosis was that she was going through heart failure at only 5 years old. Everything else wrong with her may have been treatable, but ultimately the heart failure would take her life. Unfortunately, the Pet ER could not tell me how much longer she had, so with a really heavy heart, I made the choice to let my cat go, because at least I knew that at that very moment she was not in physical pain, and I did not want her to suffer any more then she might have already been. I clearly cannot blame Dr. Evans for my cat going through heart failure... but as a trained veterinarian I can blame him for poor review of my animal. I wondered... Why Dr. Evans never even mention the possibility of an X-Ray? Why did Dr. Evans never tell me my cat had a heart murmur, since she had been going there since she was a kitten? And foremost, why did Dr. Evans not even think my poor cat looked sick to being with, when me and everyone else (friends and family) who saw her did? Had Dr. Evans taken the time to review my animal properly, perhaps the quality of her life may have been better leading up to her death. Read Less