Ashley Kelly

Review of Dogwood Veterinary Emergency a...

Do not recommend this place, at all. I have owned...

Do not recommend this place, at all. I have owned animals all my life and have been through major, minor surgeries and other situations with my pets because I own them all of their lives, and as you know, the older your fur baby gets, the more medical attention they need. So I ve been through a lot of scenarios and appts and never had I ever had such an awful experience. Ever. My visit started off slow. First off, my appt was for a consult. I live in Newport News so I got up early to be at my appt by 9:30AM, this office is in Richmond. So I got there at 8:55AM And called them to let them know. They brought out paperwork at about 9:15. Fast forward to almost 10:15 (again appt was at 9:30 for a consult, no treatment) and someone finally calls. So at about 10:35AM someone finally calls again for me to meet them by the door with my paperwork, so they come out and take my dog back. So time keeps going by, an hour and a half later, I m noticing the cars that were there way before me, are all still sitting there too, waiting. (6 cars total) So now I m thinking, hopefully they are quick because it s just a consult. My vet already sent up our VERY expensive blood work info to them for my dog and his xrays of his chest and what not. So I m sitting there now and finally get a phone call around 11:30-11:45AM About my dog and the situation going on with him. Dr. Walker is talking about all these tests and this and that and talks for about 20 minutes straight with no concern for the fact that I haven t said 1 word in 20 minutes about the whole situation. First off he s telling me what I m going to do, not what I can do. He sounded very nice but his explanations were really all over the place, and all the stuff they wanted to do they weren t even sure which area needed the surgery. Also He wanted me to do all these different tests and then jump into a $4000 surgery with him. My dog is 11 years old, brachial, and stressed easy. He sounded very pushy about the surgery when he himself was not even exactly sure where on my dog the surgery was needed. And didn t explain any risks until I brought them up. Also the surgery could make my dog have seizures for life, and he didn t seem concerned with that. I feel like their office was very unorganized and disoriented that they were just trying to run through everything and I think they were so far behind with whatever schedule they had they were just trying to hurry people up. First of all I waited here for 7 hours and my dog was supposed to just have his consult, all the paperwork blood and x-rays for Him were already sent from my vet office so the fact that it took them 7 hours to just do a consult is beyond ridiculous. Also the fact that the doctor and the person doing the triaging about my dogs appointment, also shows me that nobody read his chart because I kept getting asked the same questions, what was I doing there and what was it for, and I kept having to repeat myself. I am in healthcare, reading the chart is very important with any patient. So I was also told an ultrasound could be done to determine what area needed the surgery, I was told the Ultrasound tech could do it today but they have to drive there to do it, so it was supposed to be between 12-1PM, is what he told me in the first place. So at 1:15 I called and ask them what is going on and the doctor told me he said he told me 1:30PM but he actually told me 12-1PM. So the tech finally gets there and 30 min go by, I finally call and then they tell me well your dog wouldn t stop squirming so if you want this ultrasound today, we ll have to sedate him. It is now 2PM and I ve been in the car for 7 hours. So I tell them no, this has dragged on way too long and I m ready to take my dog home now. I felt like they should ve paid me the $157 consult fee! My poor dog was so stressed when he came out and visibly frightened. I HIGHLY do not recommend!! Also my vet has been able to take xrays on him just fine, but you all struggled with a single ultrasound? He s had over a dozen xrays and did fine. It s your lack of care. So upset!