Be careful of Banfield Animal Clinics

RuckMonkey

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Misawa, Japan
All,

I know this is overall a uke forum, but, many uke lovers are also animal lovers, so, I need to share an experience I just had locally with a veterinary clinic that is apparently a national chain.

This past Sunday I took my cat in for an emergency visit to a Banfield Animal Hospital located in a PetsMart around the corner from my house. As it was a Sunday morning they were the only vet clinic open and I figured a vet clinic in a PetsMart would be reputable and trustworthy. Oh how wrong I was.

We went as a walk in and the initial wait was completely reasonable. There were three walk-in appointments ahead of us, so, the 45 minute wait to get in a room was fine. But, that is the end of good things happening with this visit.

We then waited another 25 minutes for a vet tech to come in and take my cats vitals. After the vet tech left, we waited 1 hour and 18 minutes for the vet to come in. She spent less than five minutes in the office with us and did not even bother to look inside my cat's ears or even touch the swollen ear. From her visual assessment she determined that Surgery was the only option and then left without giving me an opportunity to ask any questions. There was no assessment to see if he an underlying infection which caused the ear problem in the first place. Nothing. We then waited another 35 minutes for the vet tech to walk in with the surgery estimate that blew my mind. The lowest cost for the surgery was estimated at $1050 and the highest at $1350. That is just flat out highway robbery. I had a cat that I adopted with horrid dental problems in Hawaii and the surgery to have four teeth removed and that cost $700.

Final gripe, they gave me a cone collar for him that was too small. Couldn't even come close to closing around his neck.

The main reason I feel justified in these gripes is that I went to a second vet for another opinion. The second vet did a thorough inspection, the vet was more than open with all the options that were available for treatment, and assessed him to have ear mites (picked up from our brief stop over with my aunt and her indoor/outdoor dogs on our way in from Japan I'm assuming) and an ear infection. The techs were polite, the vet was great, the desk staff was helpful. Also, when they gave me the surgery estimate, it was $225 to $454. I really would like to know how Banfield can charge (according to my estimate) $475 for the anesthetic alone. They are a chain, doesn't that mean they should have a LOWER overhead cost? Instead, I am going with a veterinary clinic operated out of a large, clean, and welcoming facility, a great staff, and nothing but great reviews from people who I have met locally with pets.

In summary, Banfield overcharges, their vets don't actually care about your pets, and they do not bother with actually informing you of what it is they are doing and why it is necessary. Be cautious with your furry family UU friends.
 
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