Lisa Andrews

Review of Orchard Park Veterinary Medica...

First, let me give the positive - the technicians ...

First, let me give the positive - the technicians here truly care about the animals they work with. They never left my puppy's side while he was there and I could tell they were heartbroken by his situation.
Other than that, I do not have a lot good to say about our experience.
My 13 week old (8 lb) puppy, Apollo, was attacked by another dog (40 lb large breed). I brought him to my vet, just before closing. She did an xray and showed us the abdominal wall that was torn and sent us to OPVMC for monitoring and/or emergency medical attention as needed.
We arrived there at approx. 6:30 and were brought into a room. My friend showed the tech the puppy's grey gums who immediately went to get the vet, Dr. Hong. She took the xrays that my vet sent, reviewed them and said she didn't like them so wanted to do her own. After coming back she said that she did not feel that the wall was torn, that there were two bruises on the belly in the area of the area that showed issue and she felt it was a hematoma. She then wanted to do blood work.
We asked about an ultrasound and were met with, "there is no one here to do that". When she returned she informed us that even though she doesn't know how to do ultrasound, she knows what to look for and she "looked" but didn't see anything and suggested we leave him for monitoring over night because he acted "painful".
We left at 9:00PM and I called at 7:00 AM to check on him. He had remained stable overnight. At 9:30 I recieved a call from another vet that his situation had changed and they thought he may have neurologic damage. When I got there at 10:30, they told me he had no blood count, wasn't able to keep his blood glucose up and his BP was very low and his liver enzymes were off and they were worried about his "depressed state" and how "painful" he was.
Dr. Hong went to a consult meeting and after informed me, around 11:30 that she felt he had Parvo, due to his quick "depression" and lethargy and that his blood counts were so bad and that this was just an "unfortunate coincidence" when combined with the attack.
After going back and forth for over another hour, she came to me to discuss what steps to take next. More blood test, more monitoring, did I want heroic measures. Like the night before, I asked if they had done an ultrasound and she said that was an option, but it was "expensive". I told her to do it because it was the only way to see what was going on (I still have NO IDEA WHY they didn't do this from the beginning! 8 lb puppy attacked by 40 lb dog sustaining bite marks to the abdomen. I could see the damaged to the abdominal wall on the xray, but she dismissed it)
She returned to the room after the ultrasound with a syringe full of blood to tell me that his abdomen was filled with blood and bacteria and that he likely had ruptured his intenstine due to the attack. His only hope was to do a $6000 exploratory surgery which would likely end up in an intestinal resection that may or may not work because of the extensive internal damages to his body. And, since his BP and blood counts were almost non-existant, he would likely not survive.
In the end, we decided that it was best for our little baby to be let go and not put him through any more trauma. While I cannot guarantee that the outcome would have been different, I cannot help but think if she had not dismissed my experienced vet's diagnosis, done a full ultrasound up front and not started looking for other reasons - besides the giant bite marks on his belly - for his issues, he may have been able to be saved.
We lost a 13 week old puppy because the Dr. Hong did not look at the full facts presented to her, ignored another vets diagnosis and took forever to do the test we asked about upon arrival.
While they have the technology and capabilities to help animals and the tech staff is caring and excellent, I question the quality of the veterinary staff that is working here.