Like many I was drawn to this place for the hopeful promise of a cheaper Vet Bill. My German Shepherd has in the last 3 years gone from 95lbs to 54lbs and majority of the weight was lost this past year while under the care of this "Pet Hospital". My pet was under care for a little longer than a year, thus full filling my obligation with their contract or so I thought. When I moved to Gulfport I shopped around and was told by the staff that the plan I was on should pay for most if not all tests and office visits are free due to the plan. After a few months under the direct care of the local vet (who will remain nameless due to legal action I am taking also) I was finally offered the option of yet another test that had to be ran to find out why my pet was losing so much weight and had freq diarrhea; daily. I agreed and a test was ran and had to be sent out of town to get the results Nov and the following day the results were phoned to me stating that my Shepherd had pancreatitis and this test just confirmed it. The option I had was to now purchase a powdered medicine to add to his food and it was very expensive and required refills every two weeks. I purchased this medicine for over a year without my shepherd getting any better or putting on any substantial weight. I also purchased additional prescription dog food which also shot right out his butt just like the cheap stuff.
After over a year of this advice I decided enough was enough and decided to go to a different Vet in my area. Many times the records were requested by the other vet and after 2 months I went to Banfield and picked up the records myself. The new vet had been giving my Shepherd the same medicine because he was told over the phone that this was a confirmed case of this disorder. After I got the medical records by actually picking them up I brought to the new vet; and he was confused and asked to see my Shepherd for additional tests. So here we go again, I was given the third degree again about my pet, what tests and it actually made me feel uneasy due to the questions. Additional tests completed and the new Vet went through the source material from Banfield and found out that even the tests that Banfield did showed my pet "Did Not Have Pancreatitis"; although for over a year I paid for the expensive medicine for a condition even their tests showed he did not.
Two days ago I called the staff just to find out why he was placed on this expensive medicine and why he was being treated for over a year for a condition he did not have. A voice mail was left on my phone stating "It was because I did not approve a additional test". While money might be a difficult thing to come by a additional $40.00 test would have been far cheaper than a years worth of 51.00 every two weeks. Had I known that his test results came out negative and another test was needed it would have been approved but its going to be a legal battle now because this very unhappy customer found out even after your year of "Pet Plan" unless you cancel in righting within 30 days of the anniversary "The Pet Hospital" will renew your obligation without your knowing.
I will update as the court case continues, but I am not a happy pet owner; especially after over 1,000.00 in vet fees in one year they still did not do what was right in my situation.
0 comments