VCAHospitalsReviews 48

Horrible, horrible experience. Had a brand new vet Dr Maura totally screw up and wrongly diagnosed a leg fracture on my cat. She also totally missed her hip fracture and tail fracture. My cat was attacked by a large animal that Dr Maura stated was a "cat bite" even though you can fit 3 fingers into the wound which no cat could ever cause that kind of damage. She cleaned the wound out but never even bandaged the wound and then without regard put the dirty and soiled shirt back on the newly cleaned wound hence cross contaminating it. She suggested we take the cat to Blue Pearl which is a specialty Hospital almost 4 hours away. After spending almost $1300 dollars at VCA Palmetto that wasn't an option and we told Dr Maura this multiple times which she completely ignored. She charged for pre-surgery blood work which makes no sense as we told her we were taking the cat to our regular vet the next day. Dr Julie was the one who told us the cat's leg fracture was wrongly diagnosed and that she also had a hip and tail fracture. This vet Dr Maura wasn't even going to give pain medication or even antibiotics. My sister who is a vet tech made sure we left with an antibiotic and pain medication. However the pain medication prescribed did nothing to alleviate her pain. The antibiotic given wasn't even the correct one for skin infections or wounds. Also no education was given to us as to how to take care of the her wound. No supplies were given. Just that the vet totally took advantage of us and got all the money she could get out of us. Luckily my sister is a vet tech and helped stabilize my cat till we could get her to her regular vet early the next morning My vet retook x-rays because she did not agree with Dr Maura's diagnosis. My vet charged me $140 for x-rays, the correct antibiotics, appropriate pain medication, not to mention all the supplies to dress her wound, laser therapy, and debridement. When I called to complain to VCA Palmetto I was given Dr Buerkle to speak to who is the Medical Director. The only thing she was willing to do was refund the emergency office visit fee of $127. She said she would use this as a learning opportunity to help Dr Maura learn better communication skills when dealing with clients. What about her incompetence and wrong diagnosis? My cat had to have surgery today to amputate her leg and tail. This is clearly veterinarian malpractice and this hospital is all about the money and not the well-being and health of their clients. Dr Buerkle obviously is covering up for this new vet who had no senior supervision and was left on her own to do further damage to my poor cat. Don't trust these money grubbing idiots with your beloved pets because they don't care. It's all about the bottom line. Shame on you Dr Buerkle and your practice. Thank goodness for vets like Dr Julie at Lori's Animal Hospital who puts the well being of their patients first and foremost. Unlike VCA Palmetto Hospital and doctors Maura and Buerkle.