In brief, my cat is no longer with us, while I do not blame CFVC, I just want to inform others that if you hoping for answers, I feel their equipment or skill level isn't going to help.I visited this ... Read More
In brief, my cat is no longer with us, while I do not blame CFVC, I just want to inform others that if you hoping for answers, I feel their equipment or skill level isn't going to help.I visited this vet 6/20/17. My 15 year old kitty was not eating very well for a month or so, I was told by my vet that I needed a referral for an Ultrasound to make sure she wasn't blocked or had a mass. I called the local emergency clinics, they could do it on an emergency basis, or an appointment for a week later. I thought I'd try local vets that have Ultrasound equipment to see if I could get her an appointment sooner.Luckily enough Cuyahoga Falls Vet Clinic had an Ultrasound, could get her in the next day, yes! So they set me up for 2pm, I explained to the receptionist she would probably need to be sedated, as it was for her abdomen area, and she seemed confused that I would need sedation for an ultrasound, which I found odd, most cats will not sit still for that, but she set it up anyway.In the morning, 8 am, I went to work in Canton, I had a gut feeling and called them again to confirm the appointment for 2pm, and just to be sure, I asked yet again if they're sure she wouldn't need sedated/fasted for the Ultrasound. She went to ask and said "yes, she does need sedated, if you want that Ultrasound today, you have to get here right now". Unbelievable, I tried to tell them! So I had to drive all the way back from work in Canton, to pick her up take her in, and then go back to work. I should have known this was a sign and cancelled due to the lack of knowledge. The staff was very friendly, the doctor was lovely, asked lots of questions, all of her records were sent over, I gave a thorough explanation, along with a CD with her xRays. Later that evening, I picked her up, was told the images were available on their website. According to his report "Ultrasound did not reveal any unusual masses, nothing out of the ordinary was observed along the intestinal tract", he said the next step is exploratory surgery, and he recommended a steroid which we gave her. I did not want surgery unless we knew what we were looking for. I gave the images and report to my regular vet, she told me that the "images were of poor quality", which I expected as they came from their website, not directly from the machine, but I told her let's trust that he saw what he saw. We tried a few types of antibiotics to make sure it wasn't an infection. She got worse and worse over the next two weeks, eating less, yowling in pain more frequently. My vet said we have to get her another Ultrasound, let's get her to a facility with a Internal Specialist, we did. 2 Days later, I had a diagnosis: Intermediate Gastrointestinal Lymphoma. Cancer. On the Ultrasound, he saw a significant mass, and because of that, did an aspirate on her lymph node to determine this.We started Prednisone & discussed chemo, we thought we had at least a few weeks. However, 24 hours later, as if she was waiting for her diagnosis, she slipped away into not moving, or eating. It was obvious she was letting go. I was not done fighting for her but we had to make the heartbreaking decision to put her to sleep.So I will just state this, I feel that I wasted $300 at Cuyahoga Falls Vet Clinic, and precious time. Even with my kitty with mid-range intermediate level of cancer, their equipment did not find it, they told me she was normal. Not only that, they wanted to do exploratory surgery, and I obtained the diagnosis without surgery. They may say perhaps her cancer wasn't obvious enough at that time, but I saw them 6/20, and on 7/12, it was at an intermediate level, obvious enough to see on an Ultrasound, she passed on 7/15. I guess I was naive to assume that if you have an Ultrasound machine, to trust and expect the same results as if I took her anywhere else in the area capable of Ultrasound. I was just trying to do what is best for her and get her in to whomever could see her the quickest. Again, I do not blame them for her death, but if they had just found something that day we may have had a diagnosis weeks sooner, we could have started treatment, instead it caused me to insist to my vet to trust CFVC's findings, and assumed her intestines weren't the problem.I debated not posting this, I fully support small local businesses and I almost never leave bad reviews, I just never go back. But this is an entirely different serious matter, life or death, I feel I need to inform other pet owners. While this clinic may be wonderful for basic checkups and exams, if you have something serious going on, I cannot recommend trusting their equipment. I feel it is either outdated, or the skill level is lacking. Read Less