Justin Elmore

Review of Dogwood Veterinary Emergency a...

TL:DR

TL:DR
This practice is designed to extort your money when you are most vulnerable and provide almost no options to work around the expenses accompanying the surgeries that they push. They also rely on your medical ignorance to recommend surgeries that may result in a degradation of your pet s quality of life. Even if this place is your only option, find another option.

I brought my cat in with what was assumed as an obstructed bowel, unfortunately it was a blockage in the urethra. This was diagnosed expeditiously by the attending vet but is the end of the professionalism experienced. The cost to clear the blockage was in excess of $2000 dollars. After discussing the history of our pet, that being that he had had similar blockages in the past several months that had likewise been misdiagnosed as constipation but had cleared by themselves. Upon discussing this with the vet, it was recommended that further surgery would most likely be required to permanently remedy the issue, bringing the total in excess of $5000 dollars. This review is rated at one star for a combination of two factors. After revealing the exorbitant cost of the intending operations, the nurse informed me that there is no payment plan available requiring the cost to be paid up front, or you could apply for a "credit card". This credit card hard a six-month interest free opening incentive, which would result in monthly payments of over $900 a month, or you would have to back pay the interest at an APR of over 15%. It cannot be overstated how huge a conflict of interest that this represents, pushing a subpar credit card to cover the cost of life saving surgery is analogous to extortion. We could not afford the cost of the operations and were worried about the future quality of life our cat would have if we didn t get the surgery. Ultimately, we made the gut wrenching decision to have Walter euthanized. After debating with almost half the family, we came to this conclusion as the best course of action with a heavy heart. Clearing the blockage would not resolve the underlying issues that caused it in the first place and the surgeries had too many unknown variables combined with its immense cost. We advised the decision to the nurse (who understanding and compassionate). The vet proceeded to enter the room and immediately questioned our motives, having the gall to ask whether it was solely financially based. She then pushed again the surgery option as the best course of action after we had clearly made our intentions clear, to the point where a family member had to firmly state that we had clearly made our decision. The pressure exerted by the vet on all of us, after we had clearly made one of most difficult decision a pet owner could make was highly unprofessional. After Walter was euthanized, I decided to research the procedure that was recommended, being wholly ignorant to it still feeling extremely upset about his passing. To my surprise, the procedure was not as straightforward as the vet had billed it to be, with various complications possible, both during and after, and extensive aftercare required. The quality of life that Walter would have been diminished substantially as the surgery required would have rerouted his urethra to an area below his anus. Resulting in a significantly elevated risk of UTI s and no guarantee that it would permanently resolve his issue. The vet had indicated his quality of life would have been improved and I remained ignorant to much of the procedure and its complications. This active push towards expensive surgery would appear to be a common theme in the reviews of this establishment and the lack of consideration to the future care or quality of life for the pet seems to be at a minimum. Combining that with the lack of payment options for surgery expenses limits your choices to financial ruin or the euthanasia of your animal. This is not how a vet should be run and had I any other options, I would have gladly taken them.