I would give zero stars to this place if I could. If you have a cat, do not--I repeat--DO NOT take them here! I made the fatal mistake of bringing our beloved senior cat here after he stopped eating a... Read More
I would give zero stars to this place if I could. If you have a cat, do not--I repeat--DO NOT take them here! I made the fatal mistake of bringing our beloved senior cat here after he stopped eating all of a sudden.Dr. Campanile's bedside manner seemed great so we were instantly taken with him. Unlike our previous vet, he was very responsive and returned calls promptly after diagnosing our cat with hepatic lipidosis (fatty liver disease). On our first visit, he gave our cat a shot to boost his appetite as well as a prescribed bottle of prednisolone to get him to eat. After two days on the meds, he got worse. He began to show noticable signs of jaundice (yellow skin) and became even more lethargic. Alarmed, we brought our boy back to Dr. Campanile where we were told that he'd be staying there for 2 nights for an emergency IV treatment. We were willing to do anything to make sure our boy got better, so we agreed and paid $380 upfront. We were positive that he'd make a full recovery as Dr. Campanile ensured us that he isn't "flat" and that there was a 50/50 chance of survival. Now, I've done my research on fatty liver disease and while it can be fatal, many cats make a full recovery if given the right treatment. We thought Dr. Campanile would help us. Everyday we called the office everyday to check on our cat's condition.The second day, we decided to pay our cat a visit. When they brought him out, he looked miserable. He'd dropped a significant amount of weight already, but the fact that there was dry, crusty food around his mouth and chest from attempted syringe feedings had my mother and I in tears. Because he can't clean himself, that responsibility should have been a given because he was prone to infection from all the dirt on his fur in his weakened state. Despite his condition, he was able to stand and purr when he saw us. I asked the vet tech if they did e-tube surgeries and he looked confused. "What? No," I remember him telling me. I began to explain that cats with hepatic lipidosis need a tube inserted immediately because the first step to recovery was to get food inside of them. Honestly, you dont have to be a f***ing vet to know this, it's common sense. Friends who worked with various vets as rescue volunteers have had experience with cats who suffered from fatty liver disease, and they watched countless recoveries after having a tube temporarily inserted in them. While, yes, many would argue that they can get bacterial infection from the tube, every surgery has its risks. A high shot at recovery is better than accepting your furry friend will die. I should have trusted my gut to pull him out then and there and bring him to someone who knows what they're doing, but what do I know? I'm not a vet. Immediately we started to lose trust in him.After, Dr. Campanile said he'd keep him for one more night after saying that there were no improvements. We were reluctant but he's a vet, surely he knows what he's doing, right?The very next day, my mom got a call at work. Dr. Campanile urged us to pick him up because he wasn't going to make it. For three days he starved at that godforsaken clinic. If he couldn't administer a tube (which was obviously the case), the right thing to do was to refer us to someone who can, if he really cared about the well-being of his patients. Again, you don't have to be a vet to know that the first thing you need to do to help a cat who isn't eating is to OBVIOUSLY get food into them, even through drastic measures. At this point, all we saw was a money-grubbing "doctor" who couldn't give two sh***s about our cat. My mom left work early, picked him up, and brought him home. Despite looking like he'd make a full recovery two days ago, his health took a very quick plunge in a couple of days. He looked like he'd been through hell and back. He could no longer stand and he struggled to breathe as he laid dying on our couch. After five hours, he finally passed in my mom's arms. If Dr. Campanile knew he wouldn't make it that day, why couldn't he offer to euthanize our cat so he wouldn't suffer anymore?We brought his body back there despite everything that happened. Our buddy was shipped to a crematory. Vets profit of cremations, so they milked us for cash until the very end.Now, our cat was therapeutic for my mom and this absolutely made her sad. She's gotten so depressed and she hasn't stopped crying. Mind you, all of this was very recent. This clinic made money off of us without actually making an effort to save our cat, especially when he had a very good chance of recovery in the right hands. If we'd taken him to VERG, he'd probably be with us today. Sure, it would have been pricier, but I've heard that they at least have payment plans.F*** this place and avoid it at all costs. Read Less