Boland Animal Clinic (Worcester)

Dog misdiagnosed by Boland Animal Clinic (Worcester) leading to her death and billed an amount of R19 060, 88

My dog was misdiagnosed during 4 visits in 2025 by 3 different vets at Boland Animal Clinic (Worcester) and euthanized as a result. I visited Boland Animal clinic 4 times in 2025 when my dog experienced the same symptoms (seizures). During the first visit on 16 July 2025, Dr Alex Strydom examined my dog and made a misdiagnosis of Pannus and Inappetence and invoiced an amount of R1718.28. The next day, I consulted with dr Alex again as my dog's condition has not improved. He made a misdiagnosis of Meningitis (which he acknowledge he was not sure of) and recommended that my dog be hospitalized overnight. I was billed an amount for R5066.13 for the hospitalization (overnight and day stay) and for tests being performed without informing me beforehand and obtaining informed consent to perform these test. I visited the clinic a third time on 30 October 2025 after my dog experienced the same symptoms (seizures) as the previous 2 clinic visits. During this visit, Dr Marli Strydom examined my dog and made a misdiagnosis of abdominal discomfort and invoiced an amount of R 1519.57 for the consultation. My dog was not improving and by that time I lost trust in the vets at Boland Animal Clinic and were left with extremely high vet bills. I visited the clinic a fourth and final time on 11 December 2025 when my dog experienced the same symptoms (seizures) as the previous 3 clinic visits and the senior vet, Dr Hans Wolfaard examined my dog this time. My dog also struggled to breath and was hospitalized for 4 days. I was invoiced an amount of R9 823,14 for my dog's hospitalization with various test being performed without the vet being able to make a correct diagnosis of the cause of my dog's illness. After being treated for 4 days in hospital, the senior vet, Dr Hans Wolfaardt, informed me that my dogs's condition deteriorated over the weekend and the prospects does not look good. He recommended that I euthanized my dog, therefore, I made the decision to euthanize as I did not want my dog to suffer anymore and it was clear that the vets at Boland Animal Clinic lacked the skills to properly diagnose and provide the correct treatment. I was invoiced and amount of R17 976.88 for the 4 clinic consultations and hospitalization with an additional amount of R1084 billed by Pathcare for blood tests performed by the senior vet during my dog's final fatal hospital admission. The vets fees amounted to R19 060.88 for 4 Boland Animal Clinic visits (including R1084 Pathcare account) for 4 misdiagnosis'. The Pathcare result was only released after my dog was euthanized. I am so disappointed that the senior vet did not even showed courtesy by informing me about the outcome of the Pathcare result. This would have provided closure as I would have at least known what was the cause of my dog's illness and her ultimate death. I send him an email after I received the Patchcare bill requesting the outcome of the result. He has not yet shared the outcome Patch care result, However, I noticed from my latest invoice that a diagnosis of Cushing disease was indicated. This is so sad as my dog could have still be alive alive if the correct diagnosis was made timeously during the first/second or third consultation and proper treatment being provided. Dogs with Cushing's disease have a life expectancy of 2-4 years with proper treatment provided. The vet recommended euthanasia prematurely despite not knowing the outcome of the Pathcare result. What is also heartbreaking is that they did not do anything to alleviate me dog's struggle to breathe. Boland Animal's clinic ethos of "Our purpose is to share our love and passion for animals through the pursuit of veterinary excellence" was not upheld with my dog. The experience that I had with was being ripped of through being billed high fees while my dog was misdiagnosed 4 times leading to her death. I wish that I rather consulted with another veterinary clinic as my intuition already warned me that my dog was not getting better despite 3 previous visits and still displaying the same symptoms. All I can do now is to warn other pet owners to obtain a second opinion from another vet so that your animal don't suffer the same fate my beloved dog suffered at Boland Animal Clinic. I so desperately wanted to help my dog when she was struggling to breathe and experiencing seizures and made a wrong decision to take her to Boland animal clinic again. My next step will be to lodge a formal complaint with the South African Vetenary Council (SAVC) against these vets as I am of the opinion that there was malpractice (4 misdiagnosis ) and ********* behaviour involved when they made a decision to hospitalize my dog for 4 dogs while my dog was suffering and knowing the prospects was not good. They also did not care about the financial implication for me as the owner and did not allow me to make an informed decision earlier to euthanize.