I took my Chow here when I first moved to town. The Chow had allergies, so I brought her to Dr. English for a shot. Dr. English gave the shot but also recommended shaving her. I've had two Chows, and ... Read More
I took my Chow here when I first moved to town. The Chow had allergies, so I brought her to Dr. English for a shot. Dr. English gave the shot but also recommended shaving her. I've had two Chows, and although I didn't say anything, I knew that you don't shave Chows. Even the Chow Welfare website states, "The Chow's thick coat is designed to protect him from heat as well as cold. The undercoat helps insulate the skin. Shaving your Chow may not help him feel cooler and in some cases, may contribute to skin problems as well as sunburn." This is pretty universal knowledge about Chows. Another time, I came home at night to find that my dog was having a seizure, so I called to see if I could get her in that day. I was told there were no openings. So, I took her to another vet, who discovered that my Chow had a very large cyst that was pressing against her organs, and that this was causing discomfort and could have caused the seizure-like reaction. Since there were risks involved with draining the cyst, we decided to wait and see. For convenience sake, I took her back to Dr. English for another shot for allergies. When I explained to him what the other vet said about the cyst, he seemed dubious. He felt her belly and said, "I don't feel anything." (Side-note: I did end up taking the Chow back to the other vet to get the cyst drained. I sat there and watched 2 liters of liquid -- seriously: 2 liters! -- drained from a cyst that the vet said was the largest cyst he'd ever seen. I could also see the cyst on the unltrasound.) After this, I decided to go to Dr. English only for medicine for my cats. One of my cats is on Felimazole for her thyroid. Two months ago, the price of the medicine was about $28 before tax, which is what it normally is. Last month, the price jumped up to about $34. When I asked if the price was correct, I was told that the price of the pills had gone up. I paid it. Today, the price jumped again to $50! Again, I was told the price had gone up. (The wholesale price for this exact bottle of medicine for veterinarians is $16 through Medi-Vet in Mandeville, Louisiana. Either Dr. English is getting his meds at the wrong place, or he's seriously inflating the price.) Anyway: no more. I'll move all my business elsewhere. (Oh, and my Chow dog did eventually die -- she was old -- but when I told the Dr. English's office, for their records, that she died, they said, "Okay, we'll let the doctor know." Not, "I'm sorry." Every other vet I've gone to has sent a condolence card as a courtesy, but I received nothing from this doctor's office. No surprise there.) Read Less