Worst service

I have a complaint against the service I got from Valley Farm Animal Hospital. My 13 year old female dachshund started vomiting Saturday afternoon 17 November 2018 and developing a fever. Her stomach also made some rumbling sound. When her fever reached 39.5°C I phoned my veterinarian but he was out of town, so I took her to Valley Farm Animal Hospital as it has a 24/7 emergency facility and nearest to my home. When we arrive there at about 22:00, I was informed by the receptionist that there is only one veterinarian on duty and she is busy with another consultation. As I was standing at reception with my dog in my arms for some time the veterinarian passed by and I told her about my dog’s temperature, earlier vomiting, rumbling stomach and that her stomach doesn’t go. She said that she is still busy inside but would take my dog in so long that the nurse can monitor her until she can attend to her. At about 23:30 the veterinarian, after she apparently examined my dog without me being present, came to me and told me that I have two choices, either she run some blood tests at a cost of about R6000 to R7000 to be able to do a diagnosis or she can give her some injections for the vomiting, fever and pain, as she shows signs of stomach pain, that would bring my account to a total of R1600. She said that my dog would then be fine but if she runs a fever again I have to bring her back the next day or take her to my veterinarian as she is old and at her age one must be careful for pancreatitis. She gave her 4x injections, according to her 2x to avoid vomiting, 1x for pain and 1x for fever, although I told her that she didn’t vomit again since the afternoon but shows signs of stomach pain and her stomach doesn’t go. She said that she cannot give her any antibiotic medication without blood test results. Eventually the account to be settled was R1795 and we left at about 23:50. As my dog kept on crying and being restless the whole time at home, although her temperature did come down, my father took her in again at 02:30. The veterinarian then examine her again that also included back and leg examinations and temperature measurement and said that she does not show any stomach pain and the temperature is stable and she then injected fluid under the skin and prescribed some powder to dissolve in water and inject per mouth and 2x cans A/D + chicken, apparently to avoid dehydration, although she didn’t show any dehydration. She also prescribed 5x tablets for indigestion to be used ½ tablet twice per day and said she cannot give her any other medication as the injections she gave her should last for 12 hours. She also told my father that she cannot give a diagnosis without blood tests and that we have to take her to my veterinarian should there be any further problems. My father left Valley Farm with my dog at about 03:45. This second visit cost me a further R159. As my dog kept on crying the next morning and continuously kept on walking up and down, I took her temperature and found that her temperature was back to 39.6°C. I then called my veterinarian and arrange to take her in to his animal hospital as he was on his way back to Pretoria. My veterinarian examined her and after he made his diagnosis, without any blood smear, blood tests or unnecessary back testing, gave her an injection for the fever and an antibiotic injection. He took her in overnight and the Monday morning removed the big fat gland that she had between her front legs as this gland had formed nodules inside of which some had became cancerous and there was some infection in this gland. The veterinarian at Valley Farm didn’t even take any notice of this fat gland and didn’t mention anything about this huge gland hanging between her front legs. My dog is now doing just fine and after 3 days down the line looks like a new dog, running around and playing like a young dog. Under these circumstances I feel I was totally over charged for the poor service I got from Valley Farm Animal Hospital. For a price of R1954 I couldn’t even get a diagnosis about my dog’s illness. According to my invoice a blood smear was taken but the results thereof was not even mentioned to me. The injection for fever didn’t stabilize her temperature, the injection for pain didn’t had any effect at all and the fluid under the skin treatment was not necessary as she was not dehydrated, she did drink water and didn’t have diarrhea or any further vomiting. With the second visit she also examined her back and legs although we told her the dog is restless and walk continuously up and down that to our experience with previous dogs, a dog with back or leg problems doesn’t do at all. Therefore, I don’t know what this back examination got to do with vomiting, stomach pain and fever. I feel that I was ******, as for the R1954 this experience cost me, the only thing worthwhile was the cup of coffee I was offered in the waiting room. Apart from that my dog, that is like a child for me as I have no children, suffered for hours and hours as Valley Farm actually didn’t help her at all. With that said, I think it would not be unreasonable to claim a refund for this poor service. I also want to mention that I am in general extremely disappointed in Valley Farm as I couldn’t believe that in this huge grand 24/7 emergency hospital there is only one veterinarian and one nurse on duty on a weekend night.