Trauma and frustration is what I got from TAH

I am so heartbroken and disappointed in TAH Goodwood. I had purchased a cat, a Persian and I paid R3000 for the cat. The cat was suffering from a severe flea allergy so I took her in to TAH Goodwood, the very next day after purchasing her. Now I would like to say upfront that I have absolutely no problem with Dr. Crouse, a lovely female doctor who clearly has a heart and cares not only for the animals but the human owners too. Dr. Crouse treated Queenie, our little Persian and suggested that we run the FIV and Leukemia tests. Queenie turned out FIV positive, according to the test result. At the advice of the doctor, we were told that its best not to keep a FIV positive cat if we have another cat, as there is a risk of transmission. My 14 year old daughter was beyond devastated. We had to get Persian Rescue involved as we couldn't keep her, as we do have another cat. We asked Persian Rescue to help us, in trying to find a home for Queenie. We kept and looked after Queenie for two more weeks before handing her over to Persian Rescue. They cared for her, for a few more weeks until a suitable home became available for her. They tested Queenie again before handing her over to her new owner, and the test result came back FIV negative, which is the correct result guaranteed by the new vet. We went through weeks of heartache and handed our cat over because of a false positive from TAH. Granted, error does occur and I can't fault Dr. Crouse whom I have a lot of respect for, because her nature is kind and caring and I know she would never cause harm deliberately. I left it at that, and didnt take this any further. I resigned myself to having lost thousands unnecessarily, not only in purchasing Queenie, but the added vet bills as well. What was most devastating was the emotional turmoil in my home, most especially the ordeal my teenage daughter went through when she lost Queenie to a new home. And then to discover it was all for nothing and we cannot take her away from her new owners, that would be cruel. Ok, that is gone now, we had to deal with it.

Today I take my cat Roxy to TAH as she seemed to have an eye infection. There was a young stand in doctor in place of the usual female doctor who was on leave, and I explained to him what happened with Queenie. He seemed sympathetic but what really got my blood boiling was that I was knocked with a bill of R765 for a simple eye infection. I didnt expect much, but after the ordeal we went through I expected at least a waiver of their ridiculous consultation fee of R459 - just a simple gesture of goodwill. I didn't event expect medication and treatment for free, I just thought that at least, in empathy for what I went through with Queenie, that a measly consult would be the least. This is nothing compared to the thousands lost and the emotional trauma we still are feeling. The doctor seemed to have no strength when I told him how I felt, as he was a young stand in and didn't have the ability to make decisions. I think that your patients need to be made aware that your results can be incorrect. If we had kept Queenie we could have been incurring expenses monthly for aids meds that would not have been necessary. That would have nonetheless been better than losing her, which is exactly what happened. You guys should as a rule re-test after a month or two at your own cost to make certain your results are correct. Rather err on the side of caution as you are dealing with human emotions and trauma. And when an error does occur, be human and show empathy, offer a gesture of goodwill. It is not only about making money, the field of veterinary science is about heart. Unfortunately this is what lacks in today's world, and all that matters is money.