I was pleased with Brodhead Veterinary Medical Center's care until my dog was diagnosed with diabetes. He was diagnosed on 9/3/18 in the wee hours of the AM by their emergency service. The on call MD... Read More
I was pleased with Brodhead Veterinary Medical Center's care until my dog was diagnosed with diabetes. He was diagnosed on 9/3/18 in the wee hours of the AM by their emergency service. The on call MD determined his blood sugar, discussed the importance of consistent feedings & insulin administration. She checked his eyes & diagnosed him with diabetic cataracts. She performed ocular pressure tests & determined it was not glaucoma. She instructed us to follow up in 10 days for his first glucose curve & a lab workup to check the effects diabetes has had on his other organs. His first glucose curve was scheduled for 9/13/18.
I then began reading up on diabetic cataracts & found articles discussing cataract extraction. I contacted Brodhead later that first week & asked if there were any pre-op interventions we should be doing to manage his condition until he could have a surgical consult. I was told via the receptionist, after being on hold, that she had asked the vet and there was no medicine to be given & that he was not a surgical candidate because of his diabetes. On my own, I contacted UW Madison & was able to make an appointment for consult, unfortunately they would not be able to see him until October.
While speaking with UW, I was told that my dog should be on a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory eye drop to reduce the risk of inflammation. This was the first time someone educated me that eye inflammation is very serious and if untreated can result in blindness due to the development of glaucoma. She instructed me to contact my vet for a prescription & said to tell my vet to call UW with questions.
It took the better part of a day to finally speak directly with a vet concerning my request. At the close of the day, I was told that basically the vet was too busy to bother consulting UW. His exact phrase was that he 'didn't have over thirty minutes to sit on hold with UW'. Undeterred, I strongly advocated for my dog and he was ultimately prescribed eye drops.
On 9/12/18, I came home from work to find my dog stooling blood & unable to open his right eye. We took him up to UW for an emergency appointment. After seeing ophthalmology, we were told he had severe inflammation in both eyes, the right pupil was pinpoint & nonreactive, & they began preparing us for the fact his right could easily develop glaucoma which would result in him loosing the eye. We were prescribed an intensive regime of an eye ointment and eye drops. In addition the emergency vet diagnosed colitis & a cyst in his right hind limb, which they aspirated & sent to pathology.
On 9/13/18 we went to Brodhead for his first glucose curve. I updated the tech about the events from the day prior. I also took a stool sample since he was still having bloody diarrhea, to rule out parasites. Finally I asked that they follow up on his pathology report. Let me make clear - my dog was brought in at 8 am & stayed until 4:30 pm. When I picked him up, a tech informed me I needed to increase his insulin dose. I asked for his glucose readings, she didn't have them. I told the tech I wanted a copy of the tests, which another tech later handed to me with no explanation of the results. I was also given a probiotic with no discussion of his stool results. When I questioned the path report, I was told that they were 'too busy' to contact UW & I could follow up on my own. No labs were run to assess his other organs' function. At no time did I see a vet.
If my complaint was merely 1 issue I could chalk it up to lack of time, new staff or whatever excuse was put forth. However, this was a string of missteps & indifference. It was at this point that I decided to remove our pets from Brodhead's care, or lack thereof.
On 9/19/18 my dog had his first recheck at UW. While his eyes are still incredibly inflamed, the right pupil now reacts. So we continue an intensive regime of eye drops and follow up in a few weeks. He is considered legally blind. He is not a surgical candidate due to the severity of the inflammatory response from the cataract formation.
Do I know if better collaboration & communication could have preserved some of my dog's eye function? Of course not. Would better communication & empathy have made a hard time a little less stressful? Absolutely.
Their website totes "known for our compassion and progressiveness, we go beyond just providing services . . . Our emphasis on you and your companion's needs, makes BVMC more than just a nice place to bring your pet". This organization lived up to that motto during uneventful annual well checks. However, when I needed a vet most, they were nothing short of awful. Read Less