I have to start with how saddened I am to write this post. My husband and I have debated over posting for a few weeks now,, however, the health of our dog is so important we felt we needed to get the... Read More
I have to start with how saddened I am to write this post. My husband and I have debated over posting for a few weeks now,, however, the health of our dog is so important we felt we needed to get the word out so other's don't have the problems we have had.
We have been going to Animal Crackers for over 20 years. We have had several dogs and cats that Dr. Palfreyman has taken great care of. We now have a new Westie, she is 2, and was diagnosed with Addison. It is a disease that require monthly shots of Percorten to keep her organ's functioning. So over the past 18 months we have been making our monthly trip to Animal Crackers for the shot. Never during this time was her temperature checked or vitals taken. Now the story takes a sad turn for the worse. In November of 2016 I saw Dr. Handy for the 1st time. He asked if everything was going ok, if our dog was vomiting or anything. I answered with "well she will vomit clear liquid after she drinks a lot of water, but other then that, everything is fine. His answer was "well we need to give her more Percorten then, and he doubled her dose. I instantly felt uneasy about it, I mean dogs vomit clear liquid after drinking water for many different reason's, and there was no other sign of her being in an Addison crisis. But I put my worry aside, trusted the Dr. and allowed the shot. Within a week she was not doing well, she was lethargic, no energy, looked kind of sad all the time, so we called the vet and they immediately had us come back in and run blood work. My question now was, why didn't you run blood work BEFORE you doubled her dose? The next time I was in with Dr. Handy, he had a vet tech come in before him and say she needed to take our dogs temp and vitals. Now keep in mind, this had NEVER happened before. Not with any of the Dr's, so obviously I was concerned that something might be going on. I asked the vet tech why they were doing vitals and taking her temp and the response was "because the dr said to" WHAT? What kind of answer is that? So she took the temp and vitals and left the room. When the Dr came in, he again was with his vet tech, and said he was going to give my dog the shot. Every single time before that I was allowed to hold and comfort my dog. THIS TIME, I was not allowed to. The vet tech HAD to do it. And when I expressed my dislike, the Dr. didn't really care. They grabbed the dog, gave the shot and that was that. I was clearly upset, so the Dr asked me about it. I told him I was upset because they had just taken charge, my poor dog had always had me there to comfort her during the shot and now because HE said so some stranger took her. NOT OK. He said it was policy, Really? Then why was that the first time in 18 months that "policy" had been enforced. His answer, because we have been short staffed. For 18 months? Really? I asked about the fact that they took her temp and vitals for the 1st time EVER, and his response was, I'm being thorough. So, you haven't been being thorough for the last 18 months, but now all of a sudden you are? Why weren't you thorough when you doubled her dose of medication?? Needless to say I have LOST all trust in this Dr, but sadly he is the one there in the evenings when I can take my dog. Needless to say, we will never be going back. I will not allow a Dr. I have NO faith or trust in, treat my dog.
We also asked several Dr's if we could get a prescription for the Percorten and give our dog her shots at home. We were flat out LIED to and told that we couldn't get Percorten, it had to be given by a vet. Well we have since found a NEW vet, and guess what. He wrote us a prescription for Percorten, and taught us how to administer the shot at home. Imagine that, an honest vet that is actually trying to help you manage your dog's illness without gouging your pocket book.
I will not, nor would I EVER recommend Dr. Handy to anyone that loves their pet. His bedside manor is horrible, he is condescending and flat out RUDE, and will cut corner's when needed. Read Less