After several years of bringing my pets to Babylon Animal Hospital, I recently decided to stop. The truth is, they do seem less expensive than most vets and for routine visits they are satisfactory. I... Read More
After several years of bringing my pets to Babylon Animal Hospital, I recently decided to stop. The truth is, they do seem less expensive than most vets and for routine visits they are satisfactory. It's when things get serious that they loss credibility. Months ago, my dog died after one of the vets failed to detect a growth, even after this vet saw him numerous times before and after we insisted that something was wrong. This vet finally detected the growth two days before our dog died. This past month we got a new puppy. After some serious trepidation about going back we brought him in for a check up and was told by the vet that he had kennel cough (which we knew) and she gave him an antibiotic. She seemed sure he would be fine. After a week he wasn't getting better, in fact he seemed worse. I called to get the vet's advice. The vet called me back 7 hours later. The next day the puppy was wheezing and was very lethargic. I called again first thing in the morning and expressed my serious concerns about the puppy. The front office staff was rather cold and told me they couldn't get him in that day because they were too booked, but they could get him the next day at 5pm. At that point I made the choice to bring him to another vet hospital. When I called, their staff said "well, we are booked, but bring him in anyway, we'll make it work" which is really what I expected to hear from BAH, a vet clinic that I have patronized for years. This new vet informed me that the puppy was seriously ill with pneumonia and that the antibiotic given at BAH was inappropriate and not potent enough for this strain of kennel cough. The new vet insisted that I bring him to the emergency animal hospital, which I did. The puppy was treated for pneumonia and spent a week in doggie ICU. He's doing fine now.
Babylon Animal Hospital used to be better. They seemed more personable and attentive to the pets. The front office staff used to be friendly and warm and seemed to genuinely love the animals, but in the last couple of years the quality has decreased. The vets and the front office staff often seem overwhelmed and there is vet "mill" feel about it now. Most importantly, I do not feel that these vets spend adequate time with the animals and seem very quick to make or decline a diagnosis. They don't even remember my pets when they return. Truthfully, I'm not sure if they are much cheaper than other vets, and even if they are, I'd rather pay more for better quality. Read Less