Kristy Wanat

Review of Orchard Park Veterinary Medica...

This was my first, and i hope to say ONLY experien...

This was my first, and i hope to say ONLY experience with this clinic. Due to a very traumatic decline in my Dogs health we had no choice but to use this clinic "late" last night to have our dog put to rest. I called prior to and spoke with Ann who explained to me they charge by the vets time, weight, and how you want after care proceeded with-i.e-cremation.

Fast forward to an abrupt decision, piling into the car with little though, and getting to the clinic. They take us promptly into a room (no soft lighting, no comfortable ambiance, lowered lights, blankets, etc. Where I was asked to sign a form, told the price- looked at as if "pay up" and left to wait.

Visited again by same staff member who was dressed formally, assuming she was a front desk/secretary. Who proceeded to ask if we wanted to have our dog who was very anxious and riled- who does not like car rides, given a sedative to calm him down prior to saying bye. SURELY, why not. This woman then left, came back and asked for more money before any kind if clinical staff member visited us in the room.

IMPORTANT FACT: I HAVE NEVER PUT DOWN A DOG IN MY LIFE.

I sat in this room with my dog who was present from my teenage to late twenty-something years. Unsure of what was going to happen, do they take me to my dog somewhere more "peaceful" for this process? How do they actually put the dog down? How long does it take? Where does he go from here.

The tech came in to administer the sedative, offered a blanket for him to get comfy stating it takes about 15 to set in-then disappeared. No blanket came back until he was taken 20-25 minutes later for the IV, then dropped back off with the infamous blanket and a new tech asking if we are ready....

READY FOR WHAT? I had no clue what was even going on this whole process, except for knowing my dog was not settled- comfortable- and to me no effort made by the staff for this horrible decision to be made even a little bit easier. I was then on the spot for deciding when the vet comes in to put my dog to sleep, never even knowing I was the one making the time decision etc which in my opinion was worse. I was never, and never would have been ready to say bye to be fair.

I told this new tech returning my dog from his IV- I have never done this before, didn't know what was even going on etc. This young woman sincerely explained the process to us.

Then followed by the Vet coming to to put him asleep-apologizing for the lack of information prior to.

I am not writing this to bash the clinic, but maybe to bring to their attention this is not a standard experience for everyone walking through their emergency doors. All in all, hopefully moving forward your facility can implement some type of policy or protocol for people such as myself dealing with this life changing experience.

The vet herself (Dr.Burke) was very mildly mannered, and sympathetic to our reasoning for the visit. Just wish we could of seen her prior to the other staff handling this sensitive situation, and maybe we would of had a better understanding of how everything was to go.