If possible, I would give Hopewell Animal Hospital 0 stars. Please, do yourself a favor and do not waste your time or money with this vet.The issue that brought me to the vet: My cat suddenly develope... Read More
If possible, I would give Hopewell Animal Hospital 0 stars. Please, do yourself a favor and do not waste your time or money with this vet.The issue that brought me to the vet: My cat suddenly developed an infection in his mouth that was visually very obvious- His mouth was swollen and could not close all of the way. His tongue would constantly hang out of his mouth and he would drool- He would not let you touch anywhere near his mouth. He was always hiding and had stopped eating.I called Hopewell Animal Hospital, and explained my cat's issue to the receptionist. Luckily, they were able to schedule me an appointment at 11:15 same day. I explained the issue in great detail to the vet (Dr. Buchanan) and voiced concern about there being an infection in his mouth. She opened his mouth for what was a very quick visual examination (She stuck her finger in his mouth long enough to make him open his mouth wide and slam it shut. His mouth was open for only a second or 2, but she felt she had a good enough look). The vet declares she sees nothing wrong with his mouth. I press her for more information (why is it hanging open, why does it look the way it does, why won't he eat, why is it painful to touch it) to which she basically could not give me any response other than to assure me "oh trust me, you get good at looking fast!". I was unconvinced, and tried to press further for information and asked her to specifically look at a certain part of his mouth that, to me looked especially swollen compared to the other side. Again, she offered little information, stated that she "did not see any obvious open sores or anything that would be bothering him in his mouth". She offered no antibiotics and no further diagnostic tests to check for underlying dental issues. Instead, she offered to give him fluids and some vitamins to "perk him up and make him friendly again". Additionally, she offered to do some blood work on him (my suspicion- they were pushing this blood work because of a "sale" they were having for the month of September. 25% off of blood work for senior pets over 7 years of age) I did not see the point to this, but I went ahead with the blood work. The cost of this visit turned out to be a whopping $266! Whoa! That certainly seemed like an insanely steep price to pay, especially when the issue at hand was minimally investigated, and certainly treated in no way.Two days later, I decide to take my cat to East Fishkill Animal Hospital. The vet (Dr Gonzalez) does a proper visual inspection of his mouth and discover 2 fractured teeth (They were bloody and broken down to the root. Obviously painful.) as well as a large abscess in the gum line. She schedules a surgery for the following day (Wednesday) to extract the teeth.The cost of this consultation- $55. The surgery next day went well-they removed 2 teeth, fixed the abscess, and gave him antibiotics. The cost of all of this? $195. Total cost for the visit to the second vet? $250. It is my opinion that Hopewell Animal Hospital employ some very incompetent veterinarians. I get the impression that they are only out to make money off of people (pushing blood work because it is "on sale"). They should be ashamed of the prices they charge, and for the fact that my cat was in pain for almost an entire week after visiting their office because the vet completely neglected to notice broken bloody in the cats mouth- "you get good at looking fast!" ...I will never bring my cat back to Hopewell Animal Hospital. Never again.Update: Hopewell Animal Hospital called to ask why I brought my cat to another vet. I got very emotional telling them how unhappy I was with their service, and how Dr Buchanan completely failed at identifying the broken teeth. I was told that the office manager would call me back and address my concerns: no call came. I called back to follow up and ask for my money back. Again I was assured the office manager would return my call. Over a week later, and still no call.Update 2: I called again to see why nobody was returning my phone calls. Spoke to the office manager, and was able to be refunded $55 (for the initial cost of the visit). I am glad they refunded some of the money but overall am still not pleased with their service and I will not be returning. Read Less