I'd like to preface this review by stating that I'm an Emergency Veterinary Technician going on 11 years now. I work in a very advanced Emergency and Specialty vet hospital in the Bay Area as a critic... Read More
I'd like to preface this review by stating that I'm an Emergency Veterinary Technician going on 11 years now. I work in a very advanced Emergency and Specialty vet hospital in the Bay Area as a critical care unit tech. I would normally take my furbabies to my own hospital when they're sick but when my older female cat started showing signs of urinary problems, I didn't want to drive the 1.5 hours to get to my hospital (also, because it's an emergency hospital, we'd likely have a wait).I called Animal Veterinary Hospital because they're very close to my house and well-reviewed. The plus side for me was the tech on the phone was nice, he got me in within a half hour, and the hospital looked clean. That's about where my compliments end.I was pretty sure my kitty had a urinary tract infection. She was still acting completely normal except there was a little urine on the floor and she was going to the litter box noticeably more than usual. I already knew what I needed: they needed to send out urine for a urinalysis and culture and she needed broad spectrum antibiotics for at least a week or until the cultures came back.The tech was nice as he checked us in and gathered history. The doctor, Dr. Toor, wasn't rude or anything but he was extremely difficult to hear. He doesn't speak very loud or very clearly. We talked about the possibilities of what she could have after his exam, and opted to get urine from her and start her on liquid Clavamox. We discussed if she didn't get better, more diagnostics may need to be done: radiographs, bloodwork, ultrasound, etc. That was supposed to be the second step. On the estimate they handed me, however, it said I declined those steps...which I did not decline them. That's probably a small, nit-picky detail, but it was important to me. They kept my cat for an hour after giving her subcutaneous fluids and they got her urine. I opted to save it and bring it to my hospital because we, as veterinary staff, get the tests at cost. I took her home on liquid Clavamox which was supposed to last me one week.It didn't last me a week. It only lasted me 9 doses instead of 14...which means someone reconstituted it incorrectly. As a tech, I'm sure I've done this before, mistakes do happen...but I called today to let them know and to ask for a refill. They said yes...but they were going to charge me. I asked why, since it wasn't my error that lead to the shortage. I know how to medicate a cat and there wasn't enough liquid in the bottle for the full 14 doses. Cue: many hours of phone tag and frustration while I talked to everyone from the front desk to multiple techs to the hospital...manager? Nurse manager? Someone. I got multiple excuses; I was told the doctor said he personally filled the medication so it couldn't be wrong...except docs rarely fill scripts in my experience and the name of the person who signed and initialed filling my Rx was the tech who had taken care of us the night we brought our girl in. Ultimately, I was told I could be given tablets to get me to the full length of treatment, and they wouldn't charge me for those. I was still made to feel like the error couldn't POSSIBLY come from their end, but whatever. Okay. I went to go pick up the tablets.The final straw: instead of giving me enough of the appropriate-sized doses for her (62.5mg tablets), they went the cheap route and gave me 125mg tabs to break in half, which taste awful for the cats. And she still wasn't given enough to give her the full course of antibiotics. So now she's short...again.I can understand making a mistake. I've been there. What I don't appreciate is a complete unwillingness to admit said mistake and making the client and the patient pay for it. I really wanted this clinic to work out for me because of how close it is to my home and my babies need a close daytime vet for general care. I liked the techs I spoke with but I'm not going back and I'm not recommending them to anyone. Lots of the people in my apartment community know what I do for a living and my pet sitting clients out in the valley ask me for recommendations for veterinarians all the time. I will be making a different recommendation now.Edit: Also, even more upset now and feeling like I was price-gouged...their website states new clients get a free exam ($39 value) but I was most certainly a new client but was charged anyway. So they made me pay for something I should have gotten for free and they tried to make me pay for medications they messed up on. Read Less