County Animal Hospital
Failed to diagnose, failed to treat, failed to give owner test rersults

In conclusion mourning his loss. Despite my grief, I am compelled to communicate to VCA the circumstances leading up to the death of my pet. Be it bad veterinary medicine based in arrogance or case mismanagement, if another pet owner can be spared the grief I will find comfort. The balance of this letter describes the inadequacies experienced.
Wolf, my 7 yr 10 mo old Yorkshire terrier, and patient of County Animal Hospital was lethargic, shivering, trembling, vomiting and disinterested in food in the afternoon of Sunday, January 10. He was brought to County on an emergency basis and was seen by Dr. Garnett. Wolf's regular veterinarian was Dr. Berkowitz who while still with VCA is no longer at County. I currently have 6 dogs other than Wolf and have used County for many years for these and my prior pets. We were uncomfortable with Dr. Garnett's immediately noticeable arrogance and were assured that Dr. Garnett was being overseen by Dr. Glaser. I remain uncertain as to Dr. Garnett's status with County. We were immediately told that Wolf was clinically dehydrated and that he had to stay for hydration and could not be re-hydrated subcutaneously.in-house tests were performed and many of his levels were clearly not acceptable. His renal functions were also clearly not normal. The lab tests did not seem to even include a basic CBC and he was not treated for infection. Dr. Garnett and Dr. Glaser advised that Wolf exhibited the classic symptoms of Addison's disease. The trembling was never addressed. Dropping his little head down was never addressed.
Pain suffering was never mentioned.
It was recommended that Wolf be hospitalized for observation and hydration and that an ultrasound and x-rays be scheduled if the test for Addison's disease did not confirm the clinical diagnosis. It was never suggested that Wolf was in pain or could be suffering from an infection and no pain medications were, to the best of our knowledge, administered. The results of additional lab work through County subsequently confirmed an untreated and unsuspected e-coli infection at a minimum. We subsequently learned that Wolf also had blood and protein in his urine.

Based upon Wolf's condition, I preferred that he be under the care of a veterinarian overnight and he was transferred to your Animal Specialty Center (ASC), Yonkers NY, at our request as an emergency patient for Addison's disease at a duplication of emergency examination cost and expense. Wolf was seen by an ASC emergency veterinarian and was to be referred to the internal medicine department on Monday for further treatment. We were unaware at that time of the incompetency of the County vets as we have always received treatment at County due to the efficiency and caring nature of the hospital's administrator, Elissa Nanna.
We were not then aware that many symptoms Wolf was exhibiting were ignored due to the short-sighted diagnosis of Dr. Garnett. PAIN AND SUFFERING.
If we had been advised that Wolf might be suffering PAIN it would have changed everything. He would not have had to suffer so much for so long. That is an absolute
On Monday, January 11, Wolf was re-transferred to County for this further treatment and was treated by Dr. Young who has seen others of our dogs since Dr. Berkowitz departure. Shortly before 1:00 pm Dr. Young who called to say that he was surprised to have learned through ASC that the test for Addison's disease did not confirm the diagnosis, but rather indicated that Wolf was suffering from just the opposite, Cushing Disease but that such a diagnosis was not supported by the clinical findings. Dr. Young was concerned about the reliability of the testing and suggested that perhaps the calibration of the testing equipment was faulty. He further indicated that he and a veterinarian from ASC had discussed the case and that each believed Wolf was Addisonian. He believed that the test should be verified for accuracy with the lab and re-run and that we would discuss how best to proceed after the test was re-checked by the outside laboratory.in any case, as Wolf's in house blood work had improved during hydration and he was eating, up and about, he was released from County in the late afternoon awaiting the results of the re-check of the test for Addison's. Again, despite Wolf's many other symptoms, at no time did a veterinarian at County mention that Wolf may be suffering from a very painful pancreatitis, provide him with pain medications to lessen his suffering. We were not provided with the results of any other laboratory testing which had been performed on January 10 or January 11.
In the early afternoon on Tuesday, January 12, we received a call from Dr. Young who confirmed that the test results were as previously reported. He referred us to Dr. Peterson an endocrinologist in Bedford Hills, NY, or, alternatively, if we were not going to see the endocrinologist we should move forward with the x-rays and abdominal sonogram through County. At no time did Dr. Young indicate any urgency to see the endocrinologist or immediate testing nor did he provide the results of the outside urine culture and blood tests. At this time, Wolf was at home and was acting normally, eating, drinking and daily activities. We were entirely unaware that the hydration masked the underlying causes of his illness.
By Sunday morning, January 17, Wolf was again trembling intermittently and began to look droopy, act lethargic and refuse to eat. Again, we went to County and Dr. Gannett determined he required additional hydration. This occurred and Wolf was released that evening from County, after having eaten and acting appropriately there for discharge. County was to schedule the abdominal sonogram for Monday, January 18 since clearly hydration was not resolving the underlying issues. A message was left for the independent veterinarian who performs sonograms at County.By Monday morning, Wolf had already deteriorated and thinking it an emergency that Wolf be treated, we called County to check on the status of the scheduling of the abdominal sonogram. Dr. Gannett advised that a message had been left for the veterinarian and that he could not call again but rather had to wait to hear back from him. His suggestion was that we again bring Wolf for additional IV therapy pending a return phone call and scheduling.

At that point, no longer having any confidence in the professional staff at County, I elected to return to YOUR ASC Animal Specialty division where equipment is on-site and we were not at the mercy of a traveling veterinarian who could not be reached. Wolf was triaged through the ASC emergency room, through Dr. Cahn, had the abdominal sonogram and scheduled to see Dr. Heuter in the afternoon. It was evidently clear to competent qualified veterinarians that Wolf was quite critical and that the shivering and trembling Wolf was experiencing was pain related due to tenderness in his abdominal area incident to suspected pancreatitis. This diagnosis, amongst others, was confirmed as quickly as possible through testing and a reasonable treatment plan was established pending those results.
Under the above described circumstances, and the lack of quality veterinary care provided during each instance, we have disputed the charges for services provided by County and question its position on hiring veterinarians to provide services to its patients who are clearly not qualified to do so. While inconsequential in relation to the overall monetary costs of Wolf's final illness and treatment, we do not feel that acceptable standards were met at County by Dr. Garnett or Dr. Young under the circumstances nor that these charges were justifiable. These last few weeks have been quite grueling for all of us, especially our Wolf, and we will be always left wondering whether the lack of quality veterinary care over the course of the first week of his illness contributed to his demise.in this pet loving society, we can only hope that in writing this letter, VCA will investigate the credentials of the Dr's. And whether he was qualified to be providing emergency care despite his obvious lack of compassion and training and the overall care or lack thereof provided to Wolf in his critical medical condition.

Company: County Animal Hospital
Country: USA
State: New York
City: Yonkers
Address: 1574 Central Park Avenue
Site: vcahospitals.com

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