I took my cat here in the summer/fall of 2007 due to him scratching himself to the point of…read morebleeding, specifically around his neck and face. Although I had gone through this before with this cat, it was much more severe at this point than ever before and really had me worried. Thus I looked up local vets on the internet and took him to the Paulus Animal Hospital.
Dr. Paulus, who runs this place, is a nice enough old man, and when I met with him and my cat, Nine, I felt comfortable and that Nine was in good hands. Dr. Paulus suggested Nine probably had allergies (as I explained this has happened a few times in the past, and a previous vet had given Nine a steroid shot which seemed to do the trick, or prescribed prednisone.) He wanted to do a blood test to find to what Nine was specifically allergic, and proceed from there. Being that Nine's condition had become more severe than ever before, I agreed.
I left Nine there and came back that afternoon to pick him up. Nine was of course groggy from the drugs, but after a day had passed, he still seemed groggy, or just uninterested in any activity. The real problem came when I tried to feed him. I normally feed him dry food, but after attempting to eat once, he would just look at the food and not eat. I then tried giving him a can of tuna, as he did seem hungry. But when he attempted to eat the tuna he couldn't keep it in his mouth - he would be smacking away, tuna flying everywhere.
I called the vet and told him the situation, so they had me bring Nine back in. We met with Dr. Paulus again, who explained how and what they do in order to take the blood for the test and further explained there was no way the procedure could have harmed Nine. I explained Nine was in much worse shape than when I initially brought him in, with issues he didn't even previously have. Paulus then explained Nine might be experiencing some type of CNS issue, and that he might "not be right upstairs."
He told me to watch him for the next couple of days and gave me a contact to a specialist that handles CNS type issues.
I took Nine home and worked with him myself for hours, daily, figuring out what foods he was able to eat, and spending time with him until I got him back to his normal self. After dealing with Paulus I didn't trust going to any other vet with my cat, as well as I might have subconsciously been afraid one would tell me he needed to be put down, which is a day to which I am definitely not looking forward.
My other complaint with this veterinary office is this:
They initially prescribed Nine prednisone when the blood tests came back saying Nine was highly allergic to fungus/mold and dust mites. They were to have a special vaccine concocted in the interim that I would be able to give Nine whenever he showed symptoms of his allergies. This vaccine was supposed to be ready in two weeks. After 30 days Nine's prednisone prescription ran out and still no vaccine. So I called in to see if I could refill the prescription through an online service that was cheaper. The vet approved this and said the vaccine should be ready in a week or so. Another 30 days passes, still no vaccine. I attempt to renew the prescription online again, and the online service contacted me saying the vet would not renew the prescription. When I called the vet I was told it is bad to give an animal prednisone for an extended period of time. I looked this up online and verified it to be valid, and then wondered why then had they allowed the first refill. Nine was still having issues so I looked for nonprescription items to help, but had little luck. By the time the vaccine came in (I believe it took almost 4 months) I told the vet I didn't want it. I continued to tend to Nine myself until finally he was completely healed and 100% back to normal.
On top of everything else, the veterinary office always seemed dirty, and always smelled strongly of dirty animals. I would never, ever take any animal here, and I would suggest you don't either.
