J Angel

Review of Orchard Park Veterinary Medica...

I don't have a problem so much with the Hospital o...

I don't have a problem so much with the Hospital overall as I do with one particular 'doctor' that is employed at this facility.

My cat began to lose weight and became very lethargic, so we brought him in on Oct. 2nd. We had extensive blood work drawn up at the suggestion of 'doctor' Amioka. She called us at home later that afternoon and read us (on speaker phone) the results of his blood work. One by one, down the list she read off the results, noting that some levels were elevated, but "nothing of concern". Just "slight elevations". She suggested we come back for x-rays, which we did...the same day. She found nothing on the x-rays and suggested the next step would be an ultrasound, told us the [outrageous] cost of $600 and left it to us! Since she 'found nothing of concern', we opted to not have the ultrasound. We took our boy home and kept an eye on him.

The weekend of Oct. 13-14, our sweet boy took at turn for the WORST. He stopped eating and could barely move. By the evening of the 14th, we decided to have another veterinarian look at his blood work and x-rays. I contacted OPVMC and requested that they fax his records to the other doctor. The morning of Monday Oct. 15th, the second veterinarian contacted me and indicated that his Liver enzymes were extremely high and that he needed medication "IMMEDIATELY". I am not joking. This was the very SAME blood work that Amioka at OPVMC took on Oct. 2nd, NOT new blood work! This second veterinarian did NOT examine our boy....she merely looked at his records and told us he needed attention.

This second veterinarian advised that there were only TWO veterinarians in this area that had the in-depth ultrasound machine needed to look at his organs; Tamke in Cheektowaga, and unfortunately....OPVMC. As we were extremely vexed that OPVMC DROPPED THE BALL on our sweet boy's blood work, we decided that we would go with Tamke. That same day, I drove to Tamke's office with my boy with the hopes of an emergency ultrasound, but it is by appointment only. We scheduled his ultrasound for that Thursday (the 18th). While we were there, he was seen by Emergency Vet Services, which is in the same building as Tamke. They gave him some food (it was the last meal he would eat), gave him antibiotics, gave him an appetite stimulant, injected a water sac-type of thing to keep him hydrated, and sent us on our way....with the hopes that he would make it till Thursday.

Unfortunately, the next day (Tuesday), our sweet little creature took a turn for the worse. He had not eaten in over 24 hours and was lifeless. We had no choice but to take him to OPVMC....for an emergency ultrasound, as we knew he would not make it till Thursday. It was the second worst day of our lives. I had requested that anyone BUT Amioka see him, and a wonderful doctor (Dr. Burke) examined our boy. Unfortunately, it was too late. He had turned yellow. Anyone whose had a cat knows that if they turn yellow, they will die....unless you have a few thousand dollars you can spend on hospitalization, feeding tubes, surgery, etc. And even that was still no guarantee that our boy would make it. We decided to have him put down....but NOT at that facility. We took our angel home and spent our last night with him.

Sweet Miles died Wednesday, October 17th....with all of us there to comfort him and watch him leave this life and enter the next one. The worst day of our lives! Literally.

IT MUST BE NOTED that I inquired, and Dr. Burke indeed acknowledged, that had Amioka stressed the elevated levels in his blood work, and further stressed that an ultrasound should have been done when we initially brought him in, and if they could have put him on liver medication sooner, he could have been saved.

Yes, we are bitter. We are mad. He died two days ago and I feel an extremely strong need to share this experience.....especially if it saves even just one precious animal. In our opinions, that person has no business whatsoever in analyzing blood work or diagnosing treatment. Be aware if you go there.