Oh My Goodness, I wish I would have read the 1-star reviews before taking my 11 year old chihuahua…read morein for a routine vet check.
It started last October (2024) when recently moving to the area, I was looking for a new vet. My dog has a diagnosis of a heart murmur, so it is important that I stay on top of it. I took my dog in for a well visit, and to get to know the vet. This office is in my neighborhood and seemed like a good fit. .
At first the Vet seemed caring and knowledgeable. However, after touching my dogs back he had me convinced that my dog was in agony due to severe back pain. He based this off of "muscle spasms" that he saw when touching my dog. It is possible that my dog may or may not have some arthritis in his back, but this man said it was severe and basically implied that I was a bad dog owner for not noticing sooner. I also want to point out that is is after we just had two back-to-back hurricanes that flooded our house. It is possible that I missed something because we were all exhausted by this time from the hurricanes.
After, doing x-rays, sedating him, 2 hours wait time and $600 later, he showed me the x-rays and says, "Gee I expected them to be much worse. There were four small spots that might have been arthurites, however, it did not appear as bad as he previously stated. But he still put my dog on pain pills, muscle relaxers and a steroid. Keep in mind, by dog has a heart murmur. I later found out that he should never been put on a steroid.
By the time I got home (they place we were staying as we worked on our house), my happy healthy dog went from running around the house chasing balls to barely being able to move. He could not get up and go outside and was urinating on himself. I stopped the pain meds and muscle relaxers immediately, but continued with the steroid. My dog appeared to get better, began running around, playing fetch again and being his old self.
Fast forward to this last week (May 2025) when I took him for routine shots and heartworm preventative. I left home with a dog that was jumping onto the back of the couch because he was so excited that I was taking him for a "car ride", he was running around in circles and bouncing on his hind legs. We get to the vets office, which was very busy at the time, as they appeared to have several emergencies going on. My dog hates the vet and immediately started shaking. He curled up on my lap and shook the entire time. It took them about 55 minutes to get to me, but because we were just there for shots, I didn't mind the wait. They took us back, and my dog got his blood drawn, 3 shots, one oral medication and a stool sample. I still do not know what all they gave him, and then we wait again.
The vet comes into the room, runs his had down my dogs back and says, this dog is in severe pain. I laughed a little and said, "I really don't know how true that is because he was just running around at home like he was a puppy. I think he may be a little dramatic because of his fear of Vets." Then things took a turn for the worse. The vet very sternly said to me that I was the worse type of owner because I am abusing my dog and don't even know it. I thought he was kidding. I again said, "He was just running around like a puppy at home." The vet began talking over me and said that he should report me for abuse. I quickly grabbed my dog and said, "I think we are done here, I don't appreciate how your are talking to me." I told him that I will not be verbally abused by him any longer. He then said that he should just take a gun and shoot both me and my dog. I quickly tried to get my things and get out of the room. He started yelling after me, "You better hope there is not a heaven." I have no idea what set him off at the time. But now reading all of the reviews, I now understand that because I questioned him on his diagnosis of back pain, he became very angary. I ran out of the office letting them know to mail the bill for the vaccines and I will pay them. But I was shaking so much I could not stay.
I have been traumatized by the terrible things he said to me and the way that I was treated. I now realize that this was all a scam that he has played on other people to get more money for unnecessary treatments. Not to mention that it could have killed my dog and may have made the heart murmur worse.
AND, once I got home, my dog immediacy got his toy ball and wanted to play fetch. The video I am attaching is from the same day he was at the vet. DO NOT accept any diagnosis of a back problem based off of his touching her dog. Get a second opinion! I wish I had never gone here.
