Banfield Veterinary

Banfield Veterinary Crossroads Plaza location in Rossford, OH. Undue Negligence Leads to Possibly Unnecessary Death of 11 week old PUPPY, Rossford, O

14th of Apr, 2011 by User793169

March 30 - April 2 we had a happy go lucky normal puppy. Well we had noticed
that the puppy had a little diarrhea but with the stress of being moved around
we figured this might just be an adjustment. Well Grandpa watched my son and
the animals for an hour and said I think she has worms. She's got diarrhea / loose stool. So
I called a vet clinic Banfield at our local Petsmart to get her seen quickly.
They scheduled an appt for 11:20 the next day. We took a stool sample in they
tested for worms but then said it was negative (gave me a reason that since I
had seen a few passed that they were adults and there probably wasn't any eggs
seen on microscope). The vet tech did an exam and found that her lymph nodes were a
little swolen but she said that could be normal for her but this wasn't noted or discussed with the vet. The vet didn't mention this so I didn't question. They explained what they
found and she appeared to be a healthy puppy and they would do a routine
vaccination and deworming again. After this they asked if I had questions. I
said I know there's a dangerous virus that dogs can catch / parvo and requested
a test. They disregarded this as Justice wasn't showing normal symptoms (loose
stools in their opinion didn't signify a problem as they were pretty sure she
had worms which could cause the loose stool as well) They dewormed her / gave
her a Parvo shot and we were on our way. We got home and she started to throw
up. She continued to throw up and the diarrhea got worse. I called the vet
back and they said they were "pretty sure" that it was a reaction to the shot
that if she continued to bring her back in and they would check into it. They
put a note in her file. I wasn't comfortable with Pretty sure but they are the Dr's this is what they went to school for so I didn't question more. Well she continued to throw up more often and have
diarrhea more often. We ended up taking her back and they gave her fluid under
the skin, a benedryl to counter act the reaction they were pretty sure was
causing this, and an antinausea shot. This all took place on April 2, 2011.
They proceeded to tell me that if we continued to have problems that they were
closed Sunday and Monday but there were emergency clinics open. We got home and
she was very sleepy but the throwing up had stopped. We were relieved by this
and thought maybe they had it figured out. She still wasn't acting herself.
She seemed depressed and not like the puppy we had gotten a few days prior. The
next day she seemed to be back to normal. She was showing an interest in food
again and drinking, eating and playing. We thought we had the problem taken
care of. Monday morning rolls around and I go back to work to have my husband
call me and tell me she's vomitting AGAIN. I called a different vet and was
able to get in that Monday, April 4, 2011 at 5:00 p.m. When I scheduled they asked why and I told them her symptoms and the fact that I had questioned the negative worm results althought she seemed to be passing worms and the fact that I questions PARVO and my concerns were pushed off to the side as she wasn't showing Typical symptoms. My husband said we can't
wait, it's getting worse. We could see that she was losing weight and I was
very concerned. We called the vet again and they got us right in at a different
location. We got in and were told a few different scenarios as to what it could
be. I right away questioned parvo and he said we'll test for that as well. We
did a stool check (with what little stool we could get due to not eating / drinking much and the vomitting / diarrhea) and ran the parvo test. Sure as the world 7 minutes later he came in with the parvo test and said anything with 2 or more means positive. My poor little 11 week old puppy was
victim to Parvo. The very disease I QUESTIONED them about and requested a test. What seemed to be a good healthy puppy turned to be a very sick little girl QUICKLY. Right away I contacted my cousin who said she didn't have the phone number any more as they don't have history of calls with her phone service. I tried finding an ad on craigslist and NOTHING. It was like
everything had disappeared. Well the vet gave us two options, hospitalize for
24 hours around the clock care or take her home and give a liquid diet every 15
minutes, as well as Raglan for vomitting and some Sulfate for the stomach
cramping / diarrhea. He also gave her 2 shots in the office an antibiotic and a
antinausea med again. We didn't want to lose our girl but felt that it would be
better on her to be in her own environment trying to nurse her back to health.
He said if we needed anything or if we wanted to hospitalize her just to let him
know. We followed his instructions to the T. Unfortunately she was having a
hard time with his liquid diet and she continued to throw up / vomit after
taking the stuff. We eventually turned to Pedialyte. Well after over 24 hours
of around the clock care my puppy was down to BARE BONES. She looked like a
cruelty case. I had taken a picture but deleted it due to looking cruel. We
kept her covered in a blanket. Well low and behold Tuesday night she was
looking / sounding pretty pathetic. I couldn't get ahold of our vet so we went
to bed doing the around the clock care hoping for the best. My gut knew it
wasn't looking good and I was hoping she'd turn around. She had nothing left in her. She had
withered from 11 lbs on Saturday to I don't even know what as we didn't weigh
her. Unfortunately at 3:55 a.m. I heard a yelping cry. She was taking her last
breath. I jumped up held her tight and within a minute she was gone.
I had filed a complaint with Banfield on Tuesday when we found out the parvo test was positive as I was very upset that if they would have addressed my concerns they would have tested and we would have known we were dealing with Parvo. I said God Forbid anything happen to Justice and we lose her. On Wednesday morning when we lost her I called again and updated the report. Their question is what do you want of this. I want the $$ back that we WASTED THERE back. We could have started treatment IMMEDIATELY instead of waiting 48 hours and $$ on unnecessary procedures and worked toward HELPING HER. Banfield says that someone will get back with me in 3 business days. I get a call from the second vet that wasn't working at the time Justice was treated 2 days later. She says the Vet that saw Justice is on vacation that week and should return Monday or Tuesday and that she can't speak for her so we have to wait until she gets back and talks to the medical director out there. Now it makes sense why when we brought her back in that we didn't get any more than fluids / shots to bandaide the problem that she was "PRETTY SURE" was a reaction to the vaccinations and we were set on our way. Well Saturday I get a call that they didn't want me to think they've forgot about me but they are reassuring me someone will be in contact with me when she returns. Tuesday afternoon I get a call from Banfield. To my surprise the vet that neglectfully took care of my pet call me. I honestly had no desire to talk to her. I had enough with her. I talked to her to hear her out. She apologized and then tried to tell me about PARVO. I just told her I knew all about it at this point and I didn't need her to try and educate me on a disease I saw take it's course on my puppy. She says that she was shocked to hear that it was Parvo. I told her the worst part was that I had ASKED about this and the vet tech reassured me there was no need as she wasn't showing typical symptoms at the time. Her gums weren't gray, her eyes were clear, there was no vomitting, etc. I said but I had questioned the LOOSE STOOL and wondered about the PARVO test. That's when she piped in she felt she spent a good deal of time with us and explained everything asked our concerns. When I questioned the negative worm test and still the loose stool she said that was "Probably" due to her passing worms and cleaning herself out. She said we followed standard protocol with a healthy pup and vaccinated. I said but when I called she said she was "Pretty sure" that it was a reaction to the shot and that if it continued we should bring her back in because she could get dehydrated quickly. She said what do you want with this? I said I want compensation. She says I already gave you the fluids for free when you came back in. I can compensate you for the other procedures you spent $$ on. She then mentioned that I was upset about the cost of the 2nd visits care. I said it didn't matter what it cost as long as my pup got the care she needed. I didn't feel as though we did. I felt rushed in and out the second time and that she wasn't completely checked over when I brought her back. She got rather nasty and started to turn it around on me and say well I think you're just putting the blame on someone. You're upset and will never get through / over this in this manner. Imagine having someone make you feel as though you did something wrong and didn't do what was best for the animal. I actually felt this way BEFORE I realized she was covering her butt to prevent any possible lawsuits. Great customer service there. Make your customers feel EVEN WORSE after losing a pet. I guess it's alarming that the vet was willing to reimburse me the cost of the second visit out there. If you feel as though you did everything medically that should have been why refund so easily? I guess long complaint short....if you're looking for a caring doctor who cares about the animals and not the expense aspect go somewhere else....(which confused me as they were more than willing to try and get more money from me for a wellness plan but wouldn't do a $50 PARVO Test requested) In the long run she made it sound like she spent too much time with us and was frustrated because she didn't do what actually should have been done in the time spend. And that said refund...is still to be seen in my account I spoke to them TUESDAY and called FRIDAY and they say oh you talked to her yesterday...no TUESDAY and they wanted me to come back in there? I said that's funny why can't you do it over the phone? Other places do. She did end up taking everything but a blood sample over the phone to do it...and then says I see in your ticket you want to speak to someone else regarding this can I help you. I said who are you? She was the Office Manager...nothing to do with Medical...She is supposed to tell the Medical Director out there to contact me but to not expect it until next week some time. I said I'll give it 3 days like the initial complaint and then I'll be calling back......I will NEVER STEP FOOT BACK IN THERE LET ALONE ANOTHER PETSMART AGAIN! And I have already spoke to a few people from around the area and informed them of this and they will be going elsewhere as well. After all if I wanted this kind of care I could buy the stuff and just immunize my pets myself...I wanted a professional and felt a severe LACK OF THAT FROM BANFIELD

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