My biggest concern with Stevenson Ranch Veterinary Center is not even the dental procedure itself…read more It is how the owner/CEO, Dr. Lisa Pope-Moore, responded when I asked reasonable questions afterward.
My dog, Sora, underwent a dental procedure under general anesthesia on 8/27. She has been anesthetized many times before and always recovered without difficulty. This time, even though she was at SRVC for more than 4 hrs after extubation, she came home profoundly disoriented and poorly coordinated. She couldn't navigate a short distance back to our home and had to be carried. Hours later she was still markedly impaired and wouldn't eat. She also smelled strongly of urine and ammonia. On closer inspection I realized her entire hindquarters were soiled with urine. We had to give her a bath late that night despite her condition.
I had a really busy week due to multiple root canals and work, but on 8/30 I reviewed the records and sent SRVC a detailed email asking about the procedure. Among other things, I asked about two low blood-pressure readings in the anesthesia record, what happened after staff took her outside and she would not urinate, what could account for her difficult recovery, and what should be done next time.
SRVC itself had called me on 8/28 after the procedure and invited any "questions, comments, problems or concerns." Screenshot of voicemail attached. So I was stunned by Dr. Pope's response.
Instead of just answering my questions, on 9/1 Dr. Pope gave largely generalized explanations, emphasized the practice's AAHA accreditation and confidence in its staff, and then concluded that I "lack trust" in the practice and told me to find a different vet lol. She also said animals sometimes don't pee after a procedure--but I didn't ask why Sora didn't pee. I asked why she was sent home covered in urine and why the record didn't reflect anything about the fact that she wouldn't urinate, what they did about it, and whether she soiled herself. Screenshot of part of Pope's 9/1 email is attached.
When I objected to the nonresponse and asked again for direct answers, Dr. Pope did give more specific info, but still didn't answer questions about the urine. Her 9/2 reply made the BP record more concerning: Systolic readings were 128 at 9:30, 82 at 9:55, 64 at 10:10, and 92 at 10:30. Dr. Pope said the cuff slipped at 64 and BP improved after repositioning, but there is no documented immediate recheck. The next reading is 20 mins later. It also doesn't explain the low 82 reading 15 mins earlier. With these gaps, the record doesn't show when Sora became hypotensive or how long it lasted. She also told me that my original email had an "accusatory tone" and suggested that I ignored SRVC's efforts to get info from me and chose "instead" to request Sora's records. Part of her 9/2 email is attached.
That chronology is demonstrably wrong: All the correspondence is timestamped. I requested Sora's records on 8/27 at 4:34pm before Sora was even picked up from the clinic by my husband at 5pm, so it couldn't have been "instead" of responding to SRVC's post-op calls the next day. My 8/27 email is attached. My email asks that the records be sent to her oncologist and to me to submit to insurance. SRVC didn't send the records to me until about 4pm on Friday, 8/28. Then 8/29 and 8/30 were the weekend. I filed the insurance claim on 8/29 and sent SRVC my detailed email on 8/30. On 8/31, I returned SRVC's AM call within 3 minutes. I also followed up again via email that night when they never called back. My 8/31 email is attached.
I have longstanding relationships with Sora's regular vets and specialists and routinely ask detailed questions about her care. I've never had a vet treat questions about her medical care as evidence that the relationship itself should end.
Pet owners should be able to say, "My animal had an unusual recovery; please explain what happened," without the inquiry itself becoming the problem. Obviously dogs can't speak up for themselves. It's our job to be informed and advocate for them.
Dr. Pope ultimately invited independent review and referred the matter to SRVC's insurance carrier. So I submitted medical records and correspondence to the CA Veterinary Medical Board. Dr. Pope wasn't even the treating veterinarian. Dr. Fox was, and I never had a chance to talk to him about the concerns before Dr. Pope took over the response and ended the relationship. The matter has now progressed to a board complaint involving the care he provided, which is unfortunate.
Whatever the board ultimately concludes about the medical care, the way my questions were handled destroyed my confidence in this practice. I would not return. I do, however, highly recommend these vets: Montrose Pet Hospital and TrueCare AKA BluePearl Pet Hospital.
If anyone wants to review the full correspondence or records mentioned here, I'd be happy to share more info. Here's also a photo of my baby Sora.
