Anything I Can Do Here?

So I feel a little bit robbed. I had a situation last week where I needed to board two of my kitties for just a few hours while some maintenance folks came over to clean and do some repainting (my girlfriend and I are moving to a new apartment May 1). So I got a couple of the cats out of the way and put two in the bathroom. One of them is claustrophobic of small rooms and will just freak out so I did not want a tweaked out cat slamming against the door all morning. I decided to board them at a nearby vet that I have done business with in the past but no longer see regularly because one of their head vets is sort of.....well I hate to say it and sound mean....but she's a loser. She literally has no idea what she is doing. I have caught her twice just "googling" issues because her methods were outdated. She also recommended switching my cats over to dry food because it is "higher protein" than canned food. Wow. So anyways I took them to the vet and when I picked them up they were both shaking and very quiet. Almost like something horrible happened there. They are usually very friendly and outgoing to strangers so I am unsure what happened but something was "off" for an hour or so until I played with them and gave them some affection. Then on Saturday, one of the cats I had boarded at the vet for a short time, was itching his ear to the point of bleeding. They are INDOOR ONLY cats so I did not even question where this came from. I knew it was the vet. They were nowhere else. I had to rush him to a different vet, the one I trust and really like who does walk-in clinic on Saturdays. We got some ear drops for ear mites and all 4 of my kitties were given revolution to prevent an infestation. So what do I do today? I go out of my way, in an already busy schedule, to call the vet that boarded my two kitties last week. I wanted to inform them of the incident on Saturday so they could sanitize or whatever just in case it came from there. Either way wouldn't you want to know? Well the vet tech I spoke to not only spoke in an unappreciative manner, she never said sorry or took any responsibility. She just deflected my attempt to be kind and informative. She said there is no way this could have happened in 4 days and that they keep their exam rooms clean. This ordeal cost me $300 ($40 to board the kitties and $260 for revolution, ear drops, and vet exam fee). So now I feel like I just spent an enormous amount of money, which I can happily afford, on a vet clinic's inability to properly sanitize and prevent the spread of illness. Just wanted to vent and see if anyone else has ever had this experience?

No, I personally have not. Unfortunately for you, it was costly 'lesson learned' to never use that clinic, regardless of the purpose. Also, happy there weren't other issues to arise from your kitties being in that place!!

Glad the vet you trusted helped you get your little ones taken care of!

I would not feel happy about the situation. In your position I would make an appointment with one of the partners of the practice or with the practice manager and talk it through with them.

verna davies said:

I would not feel happy about the situation. In your position I would make an appointment with one of the partners of the practice or with the practice manager and talk it through with them.

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I am going to try and do this. I am fairly unhappy about how they responded when I called and gave them the information. I was not being rude or attacking them in any way. I was simply letting them know what happened this weekend without expecting anything in return.

They need to know to avoid something similar happening again and I'm sure you can put the facts over in a reasonable manner

verna davies said:

They need to know to avoid something similar happening again and I'm sure you can put the facts over in a reasonable manner

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Yeah I do respect all vets because I know their profession is not easy and there are a lot of intricacies involved. I try not to be rude or hyper-critical, but when an issue like this comes up I want to prevent it in the future.

The fact that they were shaking and quiet would also concern me. That part, at least, is water under the bridge, but it would bother me. Do I think that some vets are incompetent....yes. Can they get away with it because the animal is never going to talk....probably. You sound very sensible and on top of this, but I am sorry it happened to you.

fionasmom said:

The fact that they were shaking and quiet would also concern me. That part, at least, is water under the bridge, but it would bother me. Do I think that some vets are incompetent....yes. Can they get away with it because the animal is never going to talk....probably. You sound very sensible and on top of this, but I am sorry it happened to you.

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I never do this but I actually posted a google review today too. I really felt the need to share my experience because they have a fairly high overall rating. It’s sort of distorted because most pet owners just go where it’s convenient. I’m glad all my babies are okay. That’s all that matters. There will always be more money but my 4 kitties define me in so many ways. I’ve raised them since they were all very young so I’m protective of them!

I would be mad about having to treat my cats, but I would be even more pissed off that the technician acted like you are an idiot and don't know what you're talking about. You said you called up to let them know that they might need to sanitize a little more, if anything else they could have said thanks for the notice (so if there's something floating around they can prevent it from getting to any other animals) and they were sorry and at least offered to pay some of the vet bills.
Any area with lots of animals (or people) will probably spread some kind of bug, it happens even in the best of care and environments, but having the place cop an attitude like that would make me mad.
Sorry you had to put up with this.

I'm glad to hear that you posted a Google review. Maybe someone will inform the owner (s) or they'll see it themselves and clean up their act.