I have an 18 year old Cocker Spaniel. I know it's time for him to be put down. He has lost control of his back legs, has lost control of his bowels, and has urinary incontinence. My wife has been o... Read More
I have an 18 year old Cocker Spaniel. I know it's time for him to be put down. He has lost control of his back legs, has lost control of his bowels, and has urinary incontinence. My wife has been out of town on business for 2 weeks. I had a business trip that I could not cancel for 5 days. Our dog took a turn for the worse (which is saying something) and stopped eating, drinking, bad diarrhea, etc. Normally I take my dog to another Vet group who does not have Kennel facilities and charges out the nose for every little service. Money is not an object for my wife and I, but it does kind of get old the way our normal Vet group makes us feel guilty everytime we don't want to do every procedure known to man on an 18 year old dog and then finds a way to charge $750-1000 each time anyway. But again, not my point. The other issue is our normal Vet rarely can see us the day we call and has never been accomodating for an emergency. Dr McDonald was able to see me right away. She reviewed Griffey, asked what my goals with him were, did not judge my choices to keep him going and to try and make him comfortable (he was obviously suffering) until my wife would return in a few days so she could share in his last days. I started crying when explaining that I knew it was my dogs time and Dr McDonald started crying as well (first time she has met my dog and she cared so much about his well being she was crying) and told me not to worry and that they would keep Griffey in the intensive care portion of their facility (rather than in the normal Kennel area) and that they would ensure they would do all they could to make him comfortable. She (and her staff) also asked me to call as often as I wanted to check up on him. Which I did, and each time I called, I got to speak to someone who gave me a complete run down on his status. I just picked Griffey up and he's eating again, is comfortable and stable, and is about as happy and healthy as an 18 year old dog can be. He received A+ care from the Vet to the Vet Tech to the girls who kept him clean and even gave him several baths. By the way, I was charged for just 1 Vet visit, some fluids they had to give through an IV drip, regular Kennel charges (even though he was kept in Special care), and 1 bath (no way they only gave him just 1 bath). All told, the bill I was charged was less than 1/2 of the cheapest bill I have received for normal check up (with no stays or special care) at my other Vet. Anyone else would have charged me $1000+ no doubt and my bill was less than $250! Dr McDonald came out to see Griffey off as did the other Vet Tech and Assistants. I am a picky customer and my dogs have all outlived life expectance due to the amount of money I and special care my wife and I give our dogs. Take it from me, these folks are awesome!!!! I suspect the negative comes from them being an emergency 24 hour clinic for so long that they got the worst of the worst of pets in very bad shape. Take your pets to Central Valley. Read Less