Veterinary Specialties Referral Center

On March 11 I took my dog Daisy up to Veterinarian Specialties in Rotterdam New York for ACL surgery on her rear left leg. I picked her up the following morning March 12 and brought her home she would not eat or drink anything at all for her to drink anything she would only lick ice chips she would not leave her crate. Saturday morning the 16th she was crying in her crate so  I took her out and she finally had a bowel movement while she was having the bowel movement a glass tube came out of her. I took the tube to my local vet at Thornwood animal hospital and he confirmed that it was the cover for the anal thermometer, so it turns out that whoever took the anal thermometer out of her left the tube in her, it was in her for five days. I still do not know if there is permanent internal damage. On Saturday after my vet confirmed what it was I called the animal hospital which was closed. A technician got back to me had me send her a picture of it she called me back and confirmed that it was theirs. On Monday the 18th the manager of the practice called me and was very very upset about it and was going to look into it further she was appropriately upset she said she was going to have the that performed the surgery Dr. Courtney Fitzpatrick call me. Dr. Fitzpatrick did not call me back until the following day at 5 o'clock in the afternoon and dismissed the entire thing saying "You wouldn't believe what I've seen come out of dogs". At the time the owner of the practice Dr. Glennon was on vacation and was going to call me on Monday.  Dr. Glennon finally called us on March 26th and said it was no big deal and he was not going to acknowledge any fault of their own he dismissed it and told us that he would give us the x-ray for free in two months. Do nit tryst these people with your animals - they are negligent and obnoxious. Read Less

I took my dog here for herniated disc surgery and got him back in a box of ashes. He made it through surgery fine and the next day suddenly had full fledged pneumonia with a grave prognosis. The doctor did not seem very sympathic because her tone of voice was very matter of fact and it didn't even initially sink in that she was saying he was dying. I had to put him down and am completely heartbroken. They tried to charge me another $3000.00 when I picked up his ashes but my boyfriend asked to speak with someone and they did wave it, however the doctor was in the back and wouldn't even look at us. It was strange and horrible. I will never bring any of my animals there again. Read Less

In 2013 our family cat Frankie got out of the house and came home limping and when we took her to see your veterinarian we waited there for over an hour & a half past our appointment for her to come in. When she finally came in the room she didn't even apologize for making us wait & said that Frankie had a dislocated elbow & fractured forearm & was going to need surgery and explained our options and left. She was only in the room with us for about 10 minutes! Then her assistant came in and told us that the surgery was going to be $3242 & told us to apply for credit if we didn't have the money & to make another appointment to come back. We were so upset because neither of us have that kind of money & already knew we were gong to get denied for credit since we don't have jobs. We stopped at the front desk and was blown away with a bill for $150 for NOTHING. The woman at the desk said it was the cost just to be seen. My sister and I were in shock because we didn't have any money! We had no choice but to call our mother and asked her give her credit card info over the phone. When we got home the headache began because we applied for credit on the site they provided. I'm not even kidding when I say that THE WHOLE FAMILY was denied (our mother, father, 2 sisters, brother in law, my fiancee, my aunt, my 2 cousins & ourselves) It was devastating for the 7 of us living in this house. We don't have that kind of money you know? Most people these days live paycheck to paycheck and have very little to buy the things that they want and instead buy what they need. Anyways, my mother cried for days trying to figure out what to do, we couldn't stand to see the cat suffer anymore so she decided to take the money out of her retirement and called to schedule the surgery. Do you know how rediculous that sounds? But i guess that's just what you do when you love your animals right. Frankie went into surgery that morning & we were all anxiuosly waiting for her to come home & praying things went well BUT THEN the phone rang... It was a woman from your office saying that the surgery was "on hold" because the vet found torn ligaments and wanted MORE money $1000!!!!! Ummmm helloooo isn't that supposed to be included with the cost of the surgery!?! I became enraged! I wanted to curse the veterinarian out!!! That was the greediest, money hungry thing I've ever heard in my life!!!! This poor cat was laying on a table somewhere waiting while we all scrambled to find more money and in the end we didn't have it! So instead of just fixing the ligaments while the they had Frankie cut open, we had NO CHOICE but to tell them to AMPUTATE her arm all because we couldn't afford it!! So now for the rest of my cats life she has to hop around with one arm & learn to do things differently because of YOUR MONEY HUNGRY, GREEDY, SELFISH VETERINARIAN! I know it's not right to wish bad upon someone but i sincerely hope that karma comes back to this woman in this life. I grew up thinking that veterinarians helped animals from their heart and did it with love..... NOT raping lower class families for their money! And chopping off animals arms just because they know how. It breaks my heart to see Frankie hop around on one arm now. But she's getting better at it (not that you care) I guess i just needed to get that off of my chest :) Have a nice day Read Less

Taking my dog here was a nightmare.  I couldn't really explain how my dog broke his front leg, so Bowersox said either it was abuse or bone cancer and the dog should be put down.  He sent x-rays to a radiologist out of state and the result said cancer was a possibility, so again Bowersox said bone cancer was painful and the dog should be put down.  He did nothing to treat him.  I had to argue with him to wait for me to pick up my dog to have him put down at home.  I couldn't wait to get my dog out of there.  I called a vet who hadn't even seen the dog since the injury and read him the x-ray findings over the phone.  This vet said elbow breaks rarely are due to cancer and referred me to another orthopedist who did surgery a month later and found no cancer .  My dog healed completely.  I hope the second surgeon told Bowersox that he was wrong, because I would never talk to the man again. Read Less

We were referred by our vet to see what could be done for our lame pup. The staff was friendly and helpful. The specialist was exceptional. He spent a long time with us explaining the problem and various options in detail. He answered all our questions completely and patiently. I was impressed and I don't impress easily. Read Less

my pup needs surgery called and was given a quote.50%down and rest when you pick up your pet. was referred to jen(office manger) I explains my situation told her that I could do down payment but asked to make payments on the balance. was told that I wasn't doing enough should try borrowing from family members a go fund me our pet insurance. she told me that the vets need their money.i said because people can't come up with the amount we have to put our family member down.if vets cared they would work with people.i hope tonight that Jen sleep well knowing that a family member is being put down because of her unwillingness to work with people Read Less

Absolute joke. I was referred to this place by Howes cave animal hospital they charged me 175$ just to talk toe about what could be wrong with my dog. I couldn't be anymore unhappy nice people who like big wallets. 3600 to just see if something is wrong then if they can't do anything they charge you to kill your dog for you because it's not humane or legal to do it yourself. All for money. Read Less

Our puppy has/had biangular limb deformity, one leg was significantly more deformed than the other and our vet recommended we see a specialist. We went and the people there are wonderful, amazing, people who genuinely care about and love animals. During the process of evaluating how bad the problem was and what we should do, the vet kept us extremely informed and answered all of my questions no matter how silly or many I had. The staff there are also amazing, the night shift worker made us feel at ease about her overnight stay for the surgery. The receptionist and staff kept me informed about how she was doing throughout the day. They really made me feel like she was in great hands. Even when our puppy had a difficult leg deformity to correct they contacted some people and got a 3D model printed to practice on to make sure they could do it. My pup is almost ready for her 2 month follow up after the surgery, she's been walking a lot better and I'm glad we went here to fix it. I'm sure once she's allowed to run again she'll be the happiest puppy. Thank you all for being awesome!Read Less

Dr. Glennon and the rest of the staff were very kind and took extra time to make sure all options were clear to me. My cat recovered beautifully from the amputation and I wouldn't hesitate to recommend dr. Glennon. Read Less

My 7 year old bicheon just had back surgery here. They were all very friendly and helpful. The Dr was very nice ( serious but that's not a bad thing)  Mason went in on Thursday and I picked him up Saturday. I called to check on him a lot and everyone was very nice and I never felt like I was bugging them and when I picked him up he was barking like crazy!!!! I'm sure it drove them nuts but they didn't let me know. I was even called before surgery amd during and after and told all details! The staff was very helpful and very professional I can't thank them enough! Read Less

DO NOT bring your animal to Jeffrey Bowersox. He is the most ARROGANT, UNPROFESSIONAL A**HOLE I have ever encountered. When he first entered the room, he didn't even acknowledge my dog's presence and when she approached him and kissed him on the cheek, he clamped down hard on her muzzle, pinned her to the ground and yelled at her. We had been referred to him because our pup had been limping and babying her front right leg. When we asked him if he could take a look at it, he insisted that he couldn't and that we would need to return the following day (a "surgery day") because he refused to even LOOK at her leg without anesthetizing her. When I kindly asked if she could be looked out without being put under, the man literally got in my face and yelled at me, saying "YOU CAME HERE TO GET THE OPINION OF AN EXPERT. I AM THE EXPERT - I SAY SHE NEEDS TO BE ANESTHETIZED." That was it for us...this man had no bedside manner and acted psychotically after we voiced our simple preference that he first try to examine her without anesthesia. We walked out of his office, after paying a $120 to get nothing (except screamed at). DO NOT go to this man! After this nightmare, we went straight to Shaker Veterinary Hospital where we saw Dr. Cherry. He is a GODSEND! He has been helping us nurse our pup through a broken leg for two months now. Through numerous xrays and three new casts, he has never once requested to put her down while under his care. He is a devoted animal doctor with authentic concern for his patience and their people. He even gets down on the floor to play with my pup and doesn't mind her slobbery kisses  Please do not subject yourself to the nightmare we lived through in Dr. Bowersox's presence.  The man is away on a power trip and isn't coming back any time soon. Read Less

I would have to write a book to properly express how grateful I am for what Dr. Bowersox and Veterinary Specialties did for me and my dog. My dog was hit by a car and sustained serious injuries to one of his rear legs. After speaking with my family vet and doctors at the emergency clinic, I decided that I was willing and able to spend a few thousand dollars to avoid amputating my dogs leg. The emergency clinic and my primary veterinarian referred me to Upstate Veterinary Specialties in Latham, they gave me an estimate of $3000-$4000 for all of the care to restore my dog's health. Six days and $2500 later, without any changes in my dog's condition, the same specialist told me that it would be an additional $3000-$5000 to treat my dog. Needless to say, I was furious that that the estimate magically doubled and I decided to take my business elsewhere strictly based on the principle that I felt it was an unfair business practice to inflate the cost of care so much. So, expecting that my dog still needed a few thousand dollars more in health care, I took my dog to Dr. Bowersox at Veterinary Specialties Referral Center. Dr. Bowersox said that surgery was unnecessary, and after two months and only a few hundred, rather than thousands, my dog is in good health. I cannot express how happy I am with the results... If I could I would use them as my primary veterinarian. Read Less