I took my dog, Pixie, to New Market Animal Hospital probably 8 or 10 times. At first I was pretty happy with them, when treating Pixie for her hip pain from arthritis. The only real negative was ine... Read More
I took my dog, Pixie, to New Market Animal Hospital probably 8 or 10 times. At first I was pretty happy with them, when treating Pixie for her hip pain from arthritis. The only real negative was inexplicably long wait times.But after having had several VERY bad experiences there in recent months, I have now switched to another animal hospital, in Frederick. I'd have to write a novel to fully cover why I am upset with New Market Animal Hospital, but I'll try to encapsulate the worst problems:* One time we showed up for our appointment and an unfamiliar vet just waltzed into the treatment room when we were expecting to see Dr. Chand as usual. He was clearly not up to speed on Pixie's medical history, and even when referring to her file, misread or misinterpreted basic facts. I asked to see Dr. Chand and was told he wasn't there, so we left. I complained, and the practice manager was apologetic. I was not happy with having to waste time driving from Frederick for no reason, but I decided to give them another chance.* When Pixie developed inexplicable weight loss despite eating well, I didn't feel like Dr. Chand was taking this issue seriously enough. He focused on things that were not life-threatening and shouldn't have been a priority, like her very slightly out-of-range thyroid results (in the hypO direction), or her mild diarrhea that she happened to have one day when we went in, which I clearly conveyed was unusual and could not be the cause of her weight loss. I felt like I continually had to remind him that her weight loss was the #1 priority. The last time I talked to Dr. Chand, with my dog wasting away before my eyes, his plan was to take the new meds he had prescribed, "wait a month" and see how she was. But if she had kept losing weight, SHE WOULD HAVE BEEN DEAD IN A MONTH. * Dr. Chand was casual about prescribing my dog medications. He was very difficult to get by phone for explanations. He apparently just expected me to come pick up meds and give them to my dog. The meds were NOT appropriately labeled--very important directions for giving them, such as with/without food, or 2 hours away from other meds, were not indicated on the labels and I only found these things out from searching online. I was never verbally told by anyone at New Market Animal Hospital, nor did I get a direction sheet like the ones that accompany human medications when you go to a pharmacy.The first medication Pixie was given was antibiotics for a supposed Clostridium infection. But later her test results came back negative, so why was I not told to discontinue the antibiotics? Hmmm...The last time I went there, I picked up FOUR new meds. Two of those meds were for ulcers, which it was later determined by ultrasound Pixie did not have. I really question giving a dog FOUR new meds all at once. If she has a reaction, we wouldn't know what was causing it. Instead, I took it upon myself to give her one at a time. She did not react well to one of the ulcer meds; it caused vomiting. * Since switching vets, I had to pay AGAIN to have x-rays taken because the ones from New Market were unacceptable. I had wondered at the time Dr. Chand reviewed them with me why a big part of the lungs was not imaged. I should have asked why that was at the time. I don't know whether the staff who took them was incompetent, they don't have sufficient equipment, or what. * After doing my own research, I found that the occult blood fecal test that was done at New Market that supposedly diagnosed Pixie with ulcers was the kind that has a VERY HIGH false positive rate for dogs who eat raw food. Pixie eats raw food, and that was not only in her records, but the vet techs generally ask each time what she's been eating. I resent paying $68 for that SINGLE test alone, which was worse than useless for her.* Speaking of which, I am still paying, and will be paying for months, for her substandard care. Just the last two appointments with them cost $271 and $291 respectively. For inaccurately interpreted test results and poorly done x-rays.* When I wanted copies of Pixie's records, I was told it would take 72 hours. Since her issues were time-critical, I asked if I could physically come in and take pictures of ONE of the pages, her most recent test results. I was told I could not. I think this should be illegal. I would like to see HIPAA law apply to veterinarians as it applies to human doctors. Those records are mine, I paid for them and should have easy access to them. Read Less