Beware the Gatekeeper: Dr. Jacobson is a fine vet, and the other review is correct in that he is reasonably priced. However, I am one of those people who thinks the receptionists at vet offices are j... Read More
Beware the Gatekeeper: Dr. Jacobson is a fine vet, and the other review is correct in that he is reasonably priced. However, I am one of those people who thinks the receptionists at vet offices are just as important, or more so, than the vets. Dr. Jacobson's main receptionist seems to feel that her primary job is to protect Dr. Jacobson from the world. Well...when one takes one's fur child to a vet, one wants to be able to communicate with said vet. But her bedside manner is her worst quality. I have a snarly little dog. She's a rescue. She's afraid of everything but most particularly being confined, or squeezed. I have a way that I deal with the snarliness--I squeak a toy in her face to distract her from what the vet is doing. Well this annoyed the Gatekeeper. It made too much noise. So in she came, grabbed up the dog and squeezed her--scaring her even more. Today was the straw that made me finally write this review. I told her that my sweet old cat, whom the Dr. had been caring for for about 10 years, had passed away a couple of weeks ago. "OK," she said. "I'll make a note of it." I didn't expect much from her, but an "I'm sorry" would have been nice. I felt like I was reporting that a streetlamp on my street was burned out or something. My coworker once told a very similar story about when she went in, in an emergency situation, to have her dog put to sleep. Apparently protocol wasn't followed in some way, and my friend had to go elsewhere with the suffering dog. We were surprised to learn that we both felt the same way about the same person in a random veterinary office. Dr. Jacobson's main fault is a blindness where this woman is concerned. I told him twice that the primary reason I was going to a different vet was because of the Gatekeeper. It could be that he has tasked her with running off some of his least favorite patients. That would certainly make sense. She is certainly a natural. At any rate, I believe his business would be much improved if the gatekeeper was replaced by one of the more kind and friendly receptionists that work there when it is her day off. This woman belongs in an office, oh, say like, Child Support Enforcement, or University Parking Management, where everyone is angry from the get go, and someone needs to keep people under control. Not where caring frightened people bring frightened sick animals. Read Less