I adopted a 12-year old senior cat from SPCA and took him to see Dr. Bumgardner the next day. I could tell from the moment that Dr. Bumgardner walked in the room that he was kind and patient--he had n... Read More
I adopted a 12-year old senior cat from SPCA and took him to see Dr. Bumgardner the next day. I could tell from the moment that Dr. Bumgardner walked in the room that he was kind and patient--he had no air of pretension. He greeted me and then greeted my cat. Rather than jump right into an examination he spoke warmly to my cat and petted him. I could tell from the smile on Dr. Bumgardner's face that he had a genuine love for animals.
I also appreciated that Dr. Bumgardner had a more conservative approach to medical treatment. Because my cat had lab tests 3 months prior, Dr. B said it was unnecessary to subject him to the needle-stick again. He also spent some time talking to me about my cat's diet, countering "fads" with established facts (I had been thinking about a raw food diet but also had a lot of questions about "grain free" verses food with grains, etc.).
A few months ago I thought my cat had ear mites, so I took him to see Dr. B. After examining both of his ears, Dr. B. told me that my cat did not have ear mites, but an allergy--possibly environmental, possibly food-borne. He prescribed both an ear cleanser and an Rx ointment to treat the allergy, and he said if it didn't work we might need to consider an Rx diet (fortunately the ointment worked). When I went to check-out at the front desk they were out of the ear cleanser that he wanted me to buy, but the receptionist asked the doctor if she should sell me a new ear cleanser that had arrived earlier that week. Dr. B told me, "Well Sam, I've not yet reviewed this new cleanser as carefully as I'd like, so why don't you go ahead and buy the Epi-Optic cleanser from amazon instead. If I decide I like this other one better I'll let you know." I was really struck by the fact that he'd rather I buy a product that he trusted from another vendor then buy a product he had not yet researched. He's clearly more interested in your pets well being than making a few extra bucks.
I eventually ran out of the Rx ointment and my cats ears began to act up again. I called and scheduled a new appointment with Dr. B. A few hours later I received a call from his receptionist. Dr. B had reviewed my cats chart, and because his symptoms were the same as last time, he said that he could just re-prescribe the Rx, but to let him know immediately if his symptoms didn't clear-up. Again, Dr. B could have had me bring my cat in, which would have cost me a co-pay plus the Rx, but Dr. B had a sensible understanding that didn't require me to subject my cat to a vet visit unnecessarily (which is good, because my cat becomes extremely anxious when she has to leave my apartment).
The only "negative" thing I can say is that the first thing the vet techs do is weigh my cat when he arrives for an appointment. To weight him I have to take him out of his carrier and place him on a scale (a feat!), and getting him back into the carrier can be challenging. On my first visit my cat ran off and hid under a shelf, and it took some work to coax him out. So on my second visit I suggested that they weight my cat *in* his carrier, and then when he was out of his carrier for Dr. B they weighed the carrier by itself and subtracted that number from the first number. I now do this every time and it works like a charm.
I give Dr. B five stars and would recommend him to anyone. Read Less