Not very impressed. My cat got into old food (dry, in a bag I'd no clue I'd left laying in an open box in our storage room) and I wanted to call a vet to make sure I knew what to watch for because oth... Read More
Not very impressed. My cat got into old food (dry, in a bag I'd no clue I'd left laying in an open box in our storage room) and I wanted to call a vet to make sure I knew what to watch for because other than throwing up and a slight bit of poo issues she was acting fine (but she has IBD - hence why it's OLD b/c she can't and doesn't eat it anymore - she's on a different diet now and has to take meds every day as it is to keep her from throwing up all the time + any change in her diet at all spawns diarrhea, so her reaction wasn't out of the ordinary even for fresh food of that type and I had no way to gauge whether it was just her IBD flaring up or if old food affected her badly.. at least not until anything serious happened, and I wanted to catch it early) but it was after-hours from her usual vet so called the emergency one given by their answering machine instead.
They were practically useless. The guy I spoke to wouldn't give me any useful info. at all - would barely even listen to the issue without trying to interrupt or rush me. All he would say is "new or worse symptoms" (obvious, but he wouldn't elaborate and would only say "anything I say could potentially be bad advice without seeing her" - which is understandable but I told him I get legalities, and it's a judgement call on my part, but I just want some basics to work with, he said that "legalities weren't a concern at all") and "no food/water for 12 hours" (no WATER? He even said compare it to myself getting sick and I think it goes without saying that I would NEVER dehydrate myself like that! My vet's office was even surprised at the suggestion when I called today!).
He also said that "well you kinda get what you pay for and you're not paying anything so....". I'm left with the impression that they only really care about money, not their customers - actual or potential - or the animals, and with an $85 exam fee (my vet charges half that!) I can't say I'm surprised.
I'm sure in an absolute emergency with no other options, this is probably one of the only 24-hour vet services available in the area and thus if life or death it may be worth it... but if you're looking for "I need just a little help gauging the severity of this and possibly getting through the night until I can get my animal to the vet in the morning!" they're basically useless and didn't do much to inspire trust, in my experience. I don't think I'd bring my cat there unless it was the last possible option.
[in comparison... kitty's fine but called my vet this morning just to make sure - not only did they listen to the situation, they told me that since things are normal (she did fine all night, ate late last night and this morning, poop was normal again etc) it seems like she's in the clear and if it were them, they wouldn't even bother bringing her in! they didn't seem very impressed by what the emergency place said, either - at least one place was upfront and helpful, and I didn't wind up with $85+ in vet fees to get a decent opinion / little advice!]Read Less