I brought my 4-year-old German shepherd dog to this clinic for ACL surgery because the cost was…read moresignificantly lower than what I was quoted in the United States. Looking back, it is one of the biggest regrets of my life.
Before surgery, my dog was otherwise healthy. He would occasionally carry his injured leg due to the torn ACL, but he was still happy, active, playful, and acting completely normal.
One of the first red flags should have been that I was never able to speak directly with the veterinarian--not once. All communication went through staff members. I also requested medical records and surgical notes multiple times and never received them.
Exactly one month after surgery--the same amount of time I was told the pain injection would last--my dog began yelping, screaming, and showing signs of severe pain. Watching him suffer was heartbreaking. We immediately took him to our regular veterinarian in the United States for a second opinion.
After evaluating him, they recommended revision surgery. During that procedure, they discovered multiple issues that needed to be corrected. We were told they essentially had to perform several repairs in one surgery because of the condition of his leg. According to our veterinarian, the plate had not been properly secured, his kneecap was out of place and had to be repaired, his meniscus was torn, and he also had a fractured bone. It was devastating to hear, but it finally explained why my dog had been screaming in pain.
Around this same time, I also began noticing that his eyes looked cloudy. I brought it up to our veterinarian, but because of the severity of the orthopedic issues, we focused on getting his leg repaired first and planned to address his eyes afterward.
Unfortunately, his condition continued to decline. He lost vision in one eye and then the other. Shortly after going blind, he began having difficulty standing and getting up on his own. Despite everything we did to help him, he continued to deteriorate and ultimately passed away only a few months after what should have been a routine ACL surgery.
I cannot say with certainty what caused all of the medical problems that followed, but I do know that I brought a healthy 4-year-old dog in for a torn ACL, and a few months later he was blind, unable to get up, and gone.
The lack of communication, the inability to speak with the veterinarian, the refusal or failure to provide medical records despite multiple requests, and the extensive corrective work required by my U.S. veterinarian have left me with far more questions than answers.
If I could go back, I would spend the extra money and have the surgery done in the United States. The money saved was not worth the outcome, the suffering my dog endured, or the heartbreak my family has experienced.