The reason I brought my kitten to Northbrook was because I had such an awful expetience at Banfield with him where I felt the vets were money-orientated and lazy while examining my kitten. I wanted my... Read More
The reason I brought my kitten to Northbrook was because I had such an awful expetience at Banfield with him where I felt the vets were money-orientated and lazy while examining my kitten. I wanted my kitten to have a thorough exam. I made sure to do my research the 2nd time around before bringing my kitten elsewhere. Northbrook is close to my home AND had a solid 5 stars. After reading all of the great reviews, an appointment was scheduled. I really seriously am starting to doubt that the other reviews were from actual customers. After being at Northbrook, I would gladly make the vets at Banfield the God parents to my kitten. First, when we arrived at Northbrook, the vet and her tech man-handled (absolutely no exaggeration) my kitten for 1 full minute while attempting to get his temperate rectally. My kitten was screaming bloody murder and appeared to be in a ton of pain. It was bad. Tbe Northbrook vet and tech appeared to be annoyed by his screams and only smooshed him into the metal exam table and grabbed his neck harder while he struggled. The vets at Banfield took his temp in 10 seconds and my kitten didn't appear to be in any discomfort besides a little agitation. Then, once finished, the Northbrook vet stated "99.1, I don't think it's accurate though since it wasn't in all of the way." The vet then proceeds to move onto the next task of his exam. Uh ok?? Then, she swabbed his ears aggressively. I kid you not. I am not a dramatic person, but I am still in disbelief over how she treated my kitten IN FRONT of me. My eyes teared up during the appointment. I felt so bad for him. After swabbing his ears, she takes one look at his wax and says "he has an ear infection!" To which I say, "I just paid $70 on Friday for Banfield to test his ears for mites and an infection. It came back negative." She looked embarrassed. Her tech left the room to call Banfield and have my papers faxed over (without my knowledge or prior approval). She then came back in the room 5 minutes later while the vet was still assessing my cat (very aggressively and unloving) to hand me the phone and have me tell Banfield that I approve his documents to be sent there. Oh ok..thanks for the heads up? I approved and the tech confirmed once the files were received that my kitten was indeed negative for an ear infection. My kitten also had some sticky stuff on his tail (lil guy gets into everything). To which the vet starts pulling his hair to get it out. I'm not kidding. He was already so scared from her aggressiveness and now she's going to start pulling on his hair? Again, my eye teared up and I attempted to comfort him, but I'm not good with confrontation so I didn't tell her to stop. I should have. She then carries him into their office and uses a scissors to cut it out (again, without my permission) after realizing that pulling his hair out wasn't a good idea. Yes, he did lose hair from her pulling on the sticky spot. While crying in pain. I was told over the phone that a standard exam would likely be enough to tell me what he was sick with, but once I was there, I was told that she is not sure what he has and it could be a number of things. She did not offer me any tests to be done to figure it out except the feline leukemia test. To which I agreed. Regretfully. She grabbed him and carried him into the other room. Without me. My heart absolutely broke knowing that this woman who has already proven herself insensitive and aggressive with my cat would be drawing his blood without me there to comfort him. I again started crying waiting in the exam room for my kitten. I could hear him screaming and crying in the next exam room over while they took his blood. He was returned to me 3 minutes later. I ran (again no exaggeration) to the door when she came back with him and grabbed him. I asked her if he would be sore and where I should be cautious holding him. Unsurprisingly, she gave me a condescending/slightly agitated look clearly annoyed that my kitten was outwardly showing pain and goes "no, not at all. It was a very small needle." She then left the room while I awaited his test results. To which I cuddled my kitten who licked his SORE leg for 10 minutes where she drew his blood from. 10 minutes later, she came back with his test results (which were negative thank goodness). She prescribed an antibiotic for him (without knowing what he has....ok?) that apparently helps fight off bacteria infections. I declined as it seemed she was also money-oriented like Banfield was. I paid the $100 fee and got my kitten out of that place so fast.I really wanted to like this place. I had such high hopes and no doubts based on the reviews, but my entire experience was the exact opposite of every review written. I feel like a terrible mom putting my 3 month old kitten through all of that . If PTSD is a thing for animals, I have no doubt my poor baby has it from this visit. I would never return. Read Less