After reading lots of other reviews of this place, I guess I should be grateful my dog is still alive. Wish I'd read more of them before her surgery.
One of their vets performed TPLO surgery on my 10-year-old girl. Now it's 8 months later & she's having problems & cannot put weight on the leg at all. She can't walk without limping, much more than before the surgery, and literally everything else about this place is awful as well.
If you are used to being involved in your pet's care, forget it. They whisk the animal out of the room & perform all exams elsewhere while you wait. When I went for one post-op checkup, I SPECIFICALLY requested that I be present for her exam and was completely ignored. They performed the exam without me.
After the initial exam, which I didn't get to witness, I was told she did in fact have a CCL tear, but I've wondered many times if this isn't the reason they do the exams without you there -- they can basically say anything they like. My questions were answered & options explained, & TPLO surgery seemed to be the only choice. Now come the problems. A vet tech then comes into the room with what amounts to a number written on a piece of paper. Nothing is broken out or itemized. Just a total, which you are told includes "everything." It's only after you've paid the bill that you find out you were charged $40 for an e-collar we never used but could get on amazon for 15 bucks, or that you were charged $150 for medication, the generic for which I got at Costco for $32, or $75 for a sling that we never used but I had no choice about, or $200 for ONE fentanyl patch, for which price you can get 10 patches at any pharmacy.
At the aforementioned postop check, we got Dr. Bissonette, who I have to say is more full of himself than any physician, human or animal, I've ever met. He is the one who did the exam without me & at one point during the conversation, while he was explaining the restrictions I should put on her activity, he says "we don't want to have to reoperate," even though the surgery is so "fun" to perform & "really good for my bank account." No, I'm not kidding.
So I said I guess it is, considering I paid 40 bucks for an e-collar. Which made him look vaguely sheepish, not much more. He then proceeded to over-prescribe pain meds, which made her sick & dehydrated.
Which brings me to my next point. The "everything" that is included in the magic number did not include even a single session of physical therapy or even instruction on how to manage postop rehab. You are given lots of restrictions, told everything possible about what *not* to do, but not told one thing about what you *should* do. So now my dog has a terribly weak leg & is limping worse than before the surgery. Deconditioning? Nerve damage? I'm working on finding out. Her limp is getting worse & worse & at this point, as I mentioned, is worse than it ever was when she had her supposed partial CCL rupture.
I saw the 2-month x-rays and was told they looked fine. I was given the impression that this would all take care of itself & not even told things to watch out for and am reduced to power-surfing Youtube for instructions. We went to a physical therapist, who identified, among other things, a severe hamstring contracture. They saw her before surgery, during surgery, 2 weeks after surgery, & 2 months after surgery & never caught this. It's absolutely inexcusable. I have serious doubts that she even needed the surgery but there's no way I can prove it because everything they do is hidden.
I would *never* go to this place for anything, ever again, & I advise anyone to avoid CVS at all costs.
Update: I reported them to the BBB. They got a copy of the above review. Their response to everything I said above was "You knew there could be complications." My head is exploding. They just don't get it. Bunch of sleazebags.
HI THIS DOCTOR AT CALIFORNIA VETERINARY SPECIALIST our dog named moon shadow was throwing up and sh*g blood we took her in this 24 hour vet clinic and the doctor said she needed to be hospitalized or she was going to die and I told the doctor that I would give them half now and pay off the rest the next day and the doctor said that would not be a problem and this girl that takes there payments came in there very rude we explained that the doctor said they would let me pay half now and half tomorrow and then she became very rude and disrespectful and everything and I told that lady I would not recommend or pay anyone to come to this place and told her I was going to file with the better business bureo and file a lawsuit against them as well and I swear everyone please don't take your animals there only if you don't want them to die and I took my baby girl to our vet next day and we told him the situation and what was going on and our vet said that was against the law on what they did and that I needed to contact my lawyer to file a lawsuit because our vet owner said he's going to go to court and stand besid us thru this whole thing and I have the best lawyer money can buy and my lawyer has never lost a case yet and me and my lawyer is going to get a document from the supreme court of new York and the supreme court of Washington to have there business license taken from them and to get every 24 hours clinic that they own shut down and I'm suing them for over $3 million dollars and hands down on my mothers grave I'm a 0 percent positive with out a doubt I'm going to win and people I'm being honest with you cause I don't lie don't take your vet there unless you want to lose your pet and thanks
California Veterinary Specialists Reviews
After reading lots of other reviews of this place, I guess I should be grateful my dog is still alive. Wish I'd read more of them before her surgery.
One of their vets performed TPLO surgery on my 10-year-old girl. Now it's 8 months later & she's having problems & cannot put weight on the leg at all. She can't walk without limping, much more than before the surgery, and literally everything else about this place is awful as well.
If you are used to being involved in your pet's care, forget it. They whisk the animal out of the room & perform all exams elsewhere while you wait. When I went for one post-op checkup, I SPECIFICALLY requested that I be present for her exam and was completely ignored. They performed the exam without me.
After the initial exam, which I didn't get to witness, I was told she did in fact have a CCL tear, but I've wondered many times if this isn't the reason they do the exams without you there -- they can basically say anything they like. My questions were answered & options explained, & TPLO surgery seemed to be the only choice. Now come the problems. A vet tech then comes into the room with what amounts to a number written on a piece of paper. Nothing is broken out or itemized. Just a total, which you are told includes "everything." It's only after you've paid the bill that you find out you were charged $40 for an e-collar we never used but could get on amazon for 15 bucks, or that you were charged $150 for medication, the generic for which I got at Costco for $32, or $75 for a sling that we never used but I had no choice about, or $200 for ONE fentanyl patch, for which price you can get 10 patches at any pharmacy.
At the aforementioned postop check, we got Dr. Bissonette, who I have to say is more full of himself than any physician, human or animal, I've ever met. He is the one who did the exam without me & at one point during the conversation, while he was explaining the restrictions I should put on her activity, he says "we don't want to have to reoperate," even though the surgery is so "fun" to perform & "really good for my bank account." No, I'm not kidding.
So I said I guess it is, considering I paid 40 bucks for an e-collar. Which made him look vaguely sheepish, not much more. He then proceeded to over-prescribe pain meds, which made her sick & dehydrated.
Which brings me to my next point. The "everything" that is included in the magic number did not include even a single session of physical therapy or even instruction on how to manage postop rehab. You are given lots of restrictions, told everything possible about what *not* to do, but not told one thing about what you *should* do. So now my dog has a terribly weak leg & is limping worse than before the surgery. Deconditioning? Nerve damage? I'm working on finding out. Her limp is getting worse & worse & at this point, as I mentioned, is worse than it ever was when she had her supposed partial CCL rupture.
I saw the 2-month x-rays and was told they looked fine. I was given the impression that this would all take care of itself & not even told things to watch out for and am reduced to power-surfing Youtube for instructions. We went to a physical therapist, who identified, among other things, a severe hamstring contracture. They saw her before surgery, during surgery, 2 weeks after surgery, & 2 months after surgery & never caught this. It's absolutely inexcusable. I have serious doubts that she even needed the surgery but there's no way I can prove it because everything they do is hidden.
I would *never* go to this place for anything, ever again, & I advise anyone to avoid CVS at all costs.
Update: I reported them to the BBB. They got a copy of the above review. Their response to everything I said above was "You knew there could be complications." My head is exploding. They just don't get it. Bunch of sleazebags.
HI THIS DOCTOR AT CALIFORNIA VETERINARY SPECIALIST our dog named moon shadow was throwing up and sh*g blood we took her in this 24 hour vet clinic and the doctor said she needed to be hospitalized or she was going to die and I told the doctor that I would give them half now and pay off the rest the next day and the doctor said that would not be a problem and this girl that takes there payments came in there very rude we explained that the doctor said they would let me pay half now and half tomorrow and then she became very rude and disrespectful and everything and I told that lady I would not recommend or pay anyone to come to this place and told her I was going to file with the better business bureo and file a lawsuit against them as well and I swear everyone please don't take your animals there only if you don't want them to die and I took my baby girl to our vet next day and we told him the situation and what was going on and our vet said that was against the law on what they did and that I needed to contact my lawyer to file a lawsuit because our vet owner said he's going to go to court and stand besid us thru this whole thing and I have the best lawyer money can buy and my lawyer has never lost a case yet and me and my lawyer is going to get a document from the supreme court of new York and the supreme court of Washington to have there business license taken from them and to get every 24 hours clinic that they own shut down and I'm suing them for over $3 million dollars and hands down on my mothers grave I'm a 0 percent positive with out a doubt I'm going to win and people I'm being honest with you cause I don't lie don't take your vet there unless you want to lose your pet and thanks