Unfortunately we had to bring our senior citizen of a dog in on an emergency basis late at night last month. He had fallen and twisted his hip and couldn't get up at all and was in tons of pain - I wa... Read More
Unfortunately we had to bring our senior citizen of a dog in on an emergency basis late at night last month. He had fallen and twisted his hip and couldn't get up at all and was in tons of pain - I was sure he had broken something, and was terrified about what the vet was going to say. We got there and the nurse (vet tech? assistant? Not sure the title, but the vet later referred to him as a nurse) was expecting us. Had to buzz us in as it was after hours. Admittedly, I was already upset because I was scared of the news and how the vet was going to want to proceed with such an old (15+) dog. The nurse looked as if it was an inconvenience we were there. I realize we probably dragged him out of bed, but the vet hospital late at night was the last place I wanted to be either. I asked if they had some sort of cart or something we could bring out to the car, since we have a big dog and he couldn't walk. They had this stretcher like thing he brought out. We got him in the exam room and we waited. (I do realize the vet very likely could have still been driving in.) So waited and waited and the vet finally came in and did his initial exam and left. The nurse came in to have us sign some forms. They wanted to do blood work before they gave him anything for the pain or xrays. I'm sure this is standard procedure, but we declined as they were a few hundred more dollars, and we knew we were already going to have to do the meds and xrays no matter what. Again, not so nice looks from the nurse, but eventually he left it alone. The vet (I couldn't remember his name, but looks like Dr. Lee from the website) was very nice. Sat on the floor with our dog and I. Went through every single xray with us and explained some things. Helped us get out to the car at the end of the night. Besides the injury he also helped us with a few questions we had relating to age with our pup.All in all, besides being an emergency visit, it wasn't all bad. (I think I was more traumatized than the dog was.) Here were my two complaints of why they didn't get the fifth star. 1. The nurse guy was just not warm. I'm not expecting hugs or flowers or a goodie bag to take home. When going into the vet, I wasn't sure we'd be taking our old man home with us, sure I was upset. If he could've maybe cracked half a smile or tried in anyway for me to think we might have been okay, it would've been appreciated. It more seemed like an inconvenience we were even there. 2. There was supposed to be an orthopedic specialist that was going to look at the xrays the next day and give us a call. Waited a day, then two, nothing (we thought maybe the vet wasn't sure on the schedule, so we gave it a few days). Thankfully our old man started to improve, so we didn't follow up ourselves, but would've been nice to receive the call, even if it was just to say they agreed with the vet's original analysis. Hoping to not need any more emergencies visits ever, but at least we know they are there if needed. (Also, I guess Dr. Lee covers a few of the area animal hospitals at night for the emergency line. We had to drive from Wheaton because they didn't have a nurse to assist at the Wheaton hospital.) And in case you were wondering, a few days of drugs for the pup, and I think he's actually a bit better than when we went in (besides still a bit twisty hips). Read Less