This vet took a very bad, life-threatening situation and responsibly followed it through until it was good again. They saved my cat's life.I took my 9-year old fluff ball Persian here for the first ti... Read More
This vet took a very bad, life-threatening situation and responsibly followed it through until it was good again. They saved my cat's life.I took my 9-year old fluff ball Persian here for the first time to get a checkup and vaccines, since he was past due. I had shared with the girl on the phone who I made the appointment with that I was pretty nervous about coming in, because my parent's cat had recently died unexpectedly after having an allergic reaction to some routine vaccines, and she was very empathetic and spent a few minutes with me on the phone to address my concerns. Apparently she had made a note in my file about my concerns, because when I had actually arrived for the appointment, Dr. Sarah Grier came in the room and asked me more about it. Communication is important to me, so this was a great first impression. The appointment went well, the doctor was kind, personable, and she didn't rush us through the appointment. The price was more affordable than almost every other vet I had been to in the past (I paid $91 for the exam and 2 vaccines,) and they took my budget concerns to heart and didn't push me to spend more. Fast forward 30 minutes after the appointment. I get home and Oscar, my cat, starts vomiting all over the house, panting heavily, and acting very lethargic and loopy. Obviously very worried at this point, I call Dr. Grier and tell her that I've seen him mildly vomit in the past after vaccines, but he has never panted like this before. She tells me to bring him back in right away. His mouth was literally wide open, tongue out, and he couldn't even hold his bowels when I picked him up to put him back in his carrier. I was a scared mama.I arrive at the office again, they take him back, and I wait for about 20 minutes in my calmest form of panic. The nurse comes out and informs me that they have him hooked up to oxygen and gave him some Benadryl and steroid shots, but that he's stabilized and the doctor would be out shortly. Dr. Grier finally comes out and tells me he's doing much better, so much that he's actually started to groom himself (as a pretentious, long-haired Persian, he's very conscious about how he looks, so I knew this was a good sign.) She brings me back to see Oscar, and he's lying in a cage in a quiet room, connected to oxygen, grooming himself like a little king. She says she wants to keep him there for the day to make sure his vitals are stable, but he should be good to go home by the end of the day. This sort of reaction was apparently very uncommon, and the doc expressed how terrible she felt about it, especially after telling her the story about my parents' cat's sudden death. Irony at its worst.Upon our return to the vet in the evening to pick up Oscar, I was pleasantly surprised to learn that Dr. Grier had taken the initiative to call the vaccine company and report the reaction (something my parents' vet had never done, which was mind-blowing to me, given it resulted in a death.) She couldn't be certain what exactly caused the reaction (I was thinking that perhaps the 3-year vaccine was stronger than his previous 1-year vaccine he used to get,) but she told me the vaccine company would be covering the bill for fixing him back up, and that I didn't have to pay anything! What a huge relief!!! Not knowing which vaccine caused the reaction, and knowing he was a 100% indoor cat, she also recommended I steer clear of vaccinating him again, and even offered to write a doctor's note, in the event that I have to show proof of records in the future. I wanted to hug her. I couldn't be more thankful for Dr. Grier and her proactive, calm, and honest approach to a situation that could have ended very badly. She and her staff saved my kitty's life, and I will be forever grateful. Read Less