DO NOT USE SEVEN HILLS IF YOU REALLY LOVE YOUR BEST FRIEND AND WANT TO ENSURE YOU GET GOOD CARE!!!!!
If I could have, I wouldn't have given any stars, but you have to select at least one to post the review.
I have used Seven Hills for a few years mainly because they are close and when my dog had leg issues, from a surgery performed by another vet clinic, they seemed very thorough in explaining why the previous surgery failed and that there was a better option known as TPLO. Of course much more expensive, but I was ok with that if it was better for my pet. I complained many times over the next couple years about the service there and came to the realization that they were just about the money. It seemed like every time I went in they wanted to do x-rays and/or blood work. Even when those had just been done a couple months earlier. Keep in mind, my boy was going in each time for the same thing, issues related to the knee surgery, arthritis and elevated kidney levels as a result of a pain killer they had him on for his arthritis. There are a couple vets that seem to care, but the fact that you get a different one each time results in lost communication and contradictory information.
At 14 years old I had Huckleberry checked out when he was having some difficulty keeping his balance and a vet at 7Hills told me Huckleberry could potentially have a brain tumor, and I was referred to a specialist. The specialist indicated that Huckleberry seemed to be suffering from doggie dementia.
Fast forward about a year when Huckleberry was 15 years old. Huckleberry was having issues with a open soar on his knee that had the TPLO surgery. They indicated that the knee was infected and he needed surgery to remove the plate. I was very skeptical of doing surgery on a 15-year old dog with dementia, but they insisted it was ok and said it was a very simple surgery to remove the plate. I put it off for a couple months and then went with their recommendation to do the surgery.
HUCKLEBERRY WAS NEVER THE SAME!!!
He was standing up and walking fine before the surgery ,but afterwards could not stand up, was having difficulty sleeping at night and wouldn't eat. Dr. Butler, who performed the surgery, said during a postop call that he had some difficulty removing one of the screws and said, "Hopefully I didn't create any other damage trying to get the plate out." Not something you want to hear the surgeon say. During Huckleberry's postop appointment to remove the staples, I was asking Dr. Butler a number of questions about the difficulty Huckleberry was having. Dr. Butler seemed uninterested and responded saying, "Well, he is living on borrowed time."
During that appointment I asked Dr. Butler if they could have tested the fluid coming from Huckleberry's knee prior to surgery and had it cultured to see what type of infection it was, and he said yes they could have.
Knowing he was over 15 years old and suffering from doggie dementia, why in the world wouldn't they take that approach first and see about treating the infection with anti-biotics, especially if they thought he was on "borrowed time."
My conclusion was obvious and what I had been feeling for a couple years, THEY ARE ALL ABOUT MONEY, MONEY, MONEY.
And then Dr. Butler referred me back to a specialist.
The specialist indicated that the surgery likely exacerbated the dementia causing some of the problems Huckleberry was experiencing.
Two and a half months after the surgery, Huckleberry was struggling and I had to do a consult with a vet from Caring Pathways who indicated the best thing for Huckleberry at that point was end of life and so I had to make the most heartbreaking decision of my life to euthanize Huckleberry.
I'm convinced still today, four months after making that decision, that Huckleberry would have had a much better ending to his life without that surgery to remove the plate from his knee.
A decision made because the 7 Hills vets insisted he needed the surgery. No doubt in my mind he would have lived longer than 2 1/2 months and had a better quality of life in those months if we hadn't done the surgery.
I'll live the rest of my life regretting following their recommendation. read more