UPDATE - Horrible Vet experience - 6th Avenue Animal Clinic

veets

Thanks for clarifying that!! Sounds like Dr. Dendtler is filling a need for those folks who are in Ft Greene..

bergenites

Everyone - thank you for your kind words about my experience and your advice. My pup seems to be doing well and I will take him to Hope or Animal Kind when he next needs a vet.

I am very grateful to have this forum as a place to learn and to spread knowledge about this great borough!

Especial thanks to veets - I really appreciate your compassion and honesty.

greene-eyed monster

When we first got our dog, we took her to Hope. She was often sick as a puppy (ear infections, eye infections, runny stool, etc.). She HATED Hope and and eventually, I began to hate them as well. As a 4-mo/old, they told us she had allergies and recommended that we give her 2 Benadryl capsules every couple of hours (1 knocks me out!) which I thought was kind of odd. We took her there to get spayed and the incision took months and months to heal. Finally, we took her to Dr. Lenny Silverman at Prospect Park Animal Clinic. I'd gone to him with my cats when I lived in Park Slope and always loved him but when we moved to Fort Greene, it just seemed a bit of a hike. He took one look at her incision and said, "We didn't do this." Our girl loves going to the vet (she has a crush on Dr. Lenny) and he always does a great job looking after her. I HIGHLY recommend PPAC.

ch_apartment

I took my dog to Prospect Park Animal Clinic a few weeks ago. I needed to update his bordatella shot so that he could stay overnight in a kennel while I went on a short trip.

On the phone, PPAC told me that the shot would cost $30, and on that advise I scheduled an appointment.

My dog had had his regular check-up just a few weeks earlier at the Humane Society, but PPAC insisted on doing another exam, then charged me for the exam, shot and "disposal of medical waste". The total was over seventy dollars - just for a simple vaccination!

They also mentioned teeth cleaning. It's something I'd like to have done soon for my dog, but PPAC told me it would cost $250!!

I have pet insurance, but the prices these vets charge make the insurance reimbursements into little more than a joke.

The reimbursement for the bordatella shot, for example, is only $8. That is probably about what it cost.

This is why whenever I can, I only go to the Humane Society. It's a hike into Manhattan, but I know they won't overcharge me like for-profit vet clinics do. Lately, the Humane Society has been really booked up though. I think many, many people in the city are going to them for veterinary services in order to avoid the insane costs of going to for-profit vet clinics.

veets

ch apartment I understand that you want to save money and still get your dog good medical attention and by seeking out the Humane Society you have solved the dilemna for you.

However..Prospect Park Animal Clinic is known to charge a little LESS across the board for various proceedures. I don't know the rates for service of every vet in Brooklyn but I know what I said is true because my son uses PPAC rather than AK because of the price difference on exactly same routine care. When you called and asked how much the vaccination would be you got the answer to your specific question.. the shot is $30. When the vet examined your dog before giving the vaccination he was practicing good medicine. The vitals on your dog may have been perfect afew weeks ago when examined by another vet but the condition of the body changes.

When I stop by MY doctor afew times a year to renew medication he always does a basic exam. Yeah in part he is doing it so he can justify the "office visit" on the insurance form but same sound medical reason to do an exam on me as your vet had to perform the exam on your dog.

Hey if anyone has an insurance policy for their pet that DOES cover all or nearly all of the actual cost of vet care.. let us know.. I would purchase that in a nanosecond. My understanding from researching those policies (and I don't have one running) is you can expect no more than partial re-imbursement but if the math works out I could see in many cases it is worth purchasing a policy.

abs276

veets wrote:
Hey if anyone has an insurance policy for their pet that DOES cover all or nearly all of the actual cost of vet care.. let us know.. I would purchase that in a nanosecond. My understanding from researching those policies (and I don't have one running) is you can expect no more than partial re-imbursement but if the math works out I could see in many cases it is worth purchasing a policy.

what insurance do you have now? i got a quote on the ASPCA insurance for my 2 cats, and it looks pretty affordable and seems to have good coverage. let me know if you know otherwise!

i've already had to spend over $3000 on just one of my cats this year, so a couple hundred for insurance that would've covered that sounds awesome.

leet

I think the problem is that insurance reimbursement amounts are based on average costs for vet procedures. That puts New York City residents at a disadvantage, because vet costs are so extremely high here. I would guess that the crazy real estate prices and the cost of living in this area drive up the cost of all sorts of goods and services, including vet services.

shishkab

ch_apartment wrote: My dog had had his regular check-up just a few weeks earlier at the Humane Society, but PPAC insisted on doing another exam, then charged me for the exam, shot and "disposal of medical waste". The total was over seventy dollars - just for a simple vaccination!

i hear your concerns. but to practice veterinary medicine just like human medicine, there HAS to be a doctor/patient relationship. you couldn't walk into any old doc's office and say "give me blood pressure pills for my hypertension" and expect them to hand you a 'scrip without doing a physical on you first. thus it's the same for veterinarians and their patients. the reason why it would only cost you the price of the vaccination at HuS is because they already have a patient history with your boy. the next time you go to PPAC (if you ever do), if it was less than a year you wouldn't have to subject your pooch to another physical.

They also mentioned teeth cleaning. It's something I'd like to have done soon for my dog, but PPAC told me it would cost $250!!

this is due to the fact that to clean your dog's teeth, it would require full anesthesia (no animal would sit still for the dental tech. heck, i squirm like mad in the dentist's chair myself!). that means bloodwork, anesthesia, monitoring, post-procedure monitoring. it's a lot of work, actually.

I have pet insurance, but the prices these vets charge make the insurance reimbursements into little more than a joke.

The reimbursement for the bordatella shot, for example, is only $8. That is probably about what it cost.

oh, and human medicine doesn't do this? i just had a mammogram/sonogram done, and thus far the doc & the hospital has charged me over $800, and the bills are still coming in! that's outrageous! but how much am i paying? only as much as my insurance tells me to. and we've all heard about the old adage that if you stay in the hospital, send your loved one down to the local drug store to buy you aspirin for a headache cuz the facility will charge you about $5 PER PILL. but i don't begrudge my doctors for charging what they do. it's a BUSINESS to them, after all. i am a patient # and file, not a person, really. when a doctor is forced to carry a patient load of 800 or more (that number may not be exactly accurate. there are human doctors on this list who could correct me and i'd be glad for the input) because of quotas set by the insurance companies they don't remember me. perhaps something of interest in my file or something about my face may jog their memory, but for the most part doctors just have too many darn patients to keep track of. it's not their fault -- i place the blame entirely on the insurance behemoths. but since it IS a business, i don't begrudge them in the least for trying to make a profit. i can't see how veterinary medicine is any different. the costs involved in keeping a clinic open are astronomical. as i was told from the moment i entered school: if you think you're getting into this business to get rich, go into human medicine because that's where the money is.

This is why whenever I can, I only go to the Humane Society. It's a hike into Manhattan, but I know they won't overcharge me like for-profit vet clinics do. Lately, the Humane Society has been really booked up though. I think many, many people in the city are going to them for veterinary services in order to avoid the insane costs of going to for-profit vet clinics.

by all means, you should choose the practice you feel most comfortable with. that's the bottom line. i just think your logic is a bit.... severe.

limestonekid

Bergenites wrote: I have read the boards... unfortunately, not before our first visit. I shouldn't have gone back for the "follow up" but I really did have my pup's best interests at heart.

I think we will be trying Hope Vet... any opinions on it? It is much closer to us, and I've read good things on here.

The people at Hope Vet are FANTASTIC!

Heck, they even did a follow-up call after we had our dog in there two weeks ago. A follow-up call! I was stunned.

They have been very patient and very, very professional whenever we have taken our animals there. (We have 2 cats and, now, 2 dogs.)

bergenites

Update - We took our dog to Hope Vet on Saturday. We got in, were greeted pleasantly by the staff at the desk. I asked if they could give me an estimate on what the charges for the day would be and without hesitation they told me the charges for a new patient exam, vaccines, etc. No problem!
After less than 5 minutes wait (in an airconditioned, comfortable waiting room!) a tech took us into a room. She was very nice, seemed to genuinely care about us and our dog, and took her time doing the basic exam. After asking us lots of questions (and answering ours). When she was finished we waited about 5 minutes for Dr. Young to come see us.

Dr. Young was FANTASTIC! She spent over 45 minutes with us, going over our dog's history, discussing vaccine options (they advocate doing as little as possible, i.e. no needless lyme disease vaccine for a dog who lives inside and in the city, etc), and examining our dog. She was incredibly gentle with him, and very kind and open with us.

We had gone in to get him examined and 2 vaccines. We also wanted his anal glands checked and his nails clipped. Dr. Young explained that the vaccines our previous vet told us he was "due" for were really not necessary for him (they work differently with each dog at this vet), and so we left without doing any vaccinations!

I was also very happy to see their extesive cat (and rabbit) rescue program, and I hope that anyone looking for a new pet will go there and see all the sweet kitties and bunnies they have available for good homes.

Thanks to everyone for their advice!

bergenites

Oh... and Dr. Young took one look at my doggie's teeth and said they are gorgeous and no one in their right mind would think he needed them cleaned!

bklynbks

Without a doubt, Hope Vet (and Dr. Young), is the BEST place to take your pet. After many bad experiences with other Vets, we found Hope Vet 2 years ago, and our doggie has been thanking us every day since then. Not only is Dr. Young caring and intelligent, she runs a professional office, and all her staff are quite obviously animal lovers.

quiddity

Yay Hope Vet! They are good. They can be little too persnickety for my tastes (like only giving one vaccination at a time!!! which increases my visits, but I guess it's for the good of my pup...) And I had a small issue with them when I brought my coughing dog in for an exam. He needed to be quarantined (fair enough) but the staff couldn't figure out where to put me so I was left standing around the hallway and felt forgotten about.

I was there yesterday and the waiting room was chaos because 2 people had called in sick. But everyone (clients) kept their chill and we all got through it and there were no tantrums because this is such an unusual occurence there.

The front desk people are really good (when they're there and the techs are great and the doctors are super. On a scale of 1-10, 10 being perfect, I give them a 9. As a good friend of mine says, "There are no 10s. "

brooklynpotter

i have to say, of all the vets we (passionately, argumentatively) discuss, hope is the one place nobody has said anything really wicked about.

i'm staying with doctor gibson at animal kind for my own reasons, but it's nice to know there's another option that everyone seems very confident with.

veets

brooklynpotter wrote: i have to say, of all the vets we (passionately, argumentatively) discuss, hope is the one place nobody has said anything really wicked about.

i'm staying with doctor gibson at animal kind for my own reasons, but it's nice to know there's another option that everyone seems very confident with.

I totally Agree with you!
I am staying with Animal Kind for my reasons that I have stated aplenty on this forum but up with Hope and all the positive feedback. They must be doing a lot right!

chaplin'smom

i give a big thumbs up to "park slope veterinary care" on 6th ave and 7th st!

leozoeypiper

I am going to add Park Slope Animal Clinic on Flatbush to the "do not go there" list. That place is shady.

caseopele

Years ago I took my 3 year old Maine Coon runt to Park Slope Animal Clinic on Flatbush. She was acting strange, lethargic and not eating. They sent me home with some medicine (can't quite remember all the details since it was about 10 years ago). A week later I woke up to find her laying on the bathroom floor and rushed her to Pet Haven Animal Hospital. She died shortly after of kidney failure. I never forgave PSAC for sending us home with meds without doing any tests. I was young, stupid, broke, and didn't know a good vet in the area. I always knew my girl was fragile, she was really tiny for a Maine Coon (even a mix) but I never expected to lose her at 3 years old.

I second chaplin's mom's thumbs up to Park Slope Vet Care (5th Ave between 7th and 8th though). I trust Drs. Parker and Maddon with my 4 cats and 2 dogs, they've proven themselves worthy of that trust repeatedly.

cat

Hope Vet is so wonderful in so many ways but if you have blood work done have it checked twice, go over EVERY number. I have had two instances where they missed things!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! One was possibly fatal (the cat died - if they had caught it would she have lived.... will be something I will always wonder).

leozoeypiper

I have received incorrect information regarding bloodwork at Hope Vet also. I love Dr. Kristine Young but hesitate to take my animals there due to the poor experience that I received twice with their diagnostics. And they often have the vet techs give you the results instead of the vet. I don't feel that is very good practice.

cat

hi Leozoeypiper,

I feel the same way. I really truly like Dr. Young as a person tremendously. I feel that she is trying to do great things and has vision but having bloodwork read wrong with bad results is just something you can't take a chance with. I wish these other vet clinics were trying what she is attempting to do with herbs, really healthy pet food, raw foods, adoptions, therapy support groups, etc.

veets

Hey this thing with mis-reading results on blood tests is just so not acceptable. The last few posts at least anecdotally make it appear that this has happened at Hope more ttimes than statistically could be chalked up to human error. I have no opnion judgement on this one. Just finding it disturbing to read about.