Our tried and true old country vet had suggested a couple of extractions for our middle-aged cocker. Sadly, he longer does surgeries himself because of his own age/health. We decided to use this facility because of the ratings here and elsewhere. Long story short, we received a call from ""Dr. Linderman"" asking if we were considering euthenizing our pet because he needed $1500 to $2000 in extractions ""immediately"". What? Sure lady, I thought I'd spend $400 getting his teeth cleaned before I gave him the lethal injection. I explained that we were preparing to relocate to San Francisco, CA within a couple of weeks and did not feel comfortable putting him through that much pain plus a cross-country drive, not to mention the cost so close to such a major move. Asked if she could do only the most severely infected teeth or put him on antibiotics until we could get to CA. She stated she could not and would just wake him up if we could not agree to the extractions she suggested. She even went to far as to state that dogs with abcessed teeth do not respond to antiobiotic therapy the way humans do. She said she would ""try to find a vet for us in CA"" but was worried about being able to find someone as 'qualified' as she was. [In San Francisco??? Yeah right lady!] By the time I arrived to pick up my pet her attitude had completely changed. She handed me his prescription for antibiotics and pain killers and was almost ""syrupy' towards me. Then I found out why. While looking for ""an equally qualified vet"" she found out that the vet who wrote ""9 out of 10 of her 'advanced textbooks' on canine dentistry"" was based in - you guessed it - San Francisco, CA. She lavishly explained how she would love to work with his office in any way and would be glad to speak to him one on one regarding my dog's care. Yeah, I bet you would lady. She was almost drooling on the counter. When I asked about his x-rays, she quickly said, ""Oh, they'll need to do new x-rays when you get there because some of his teeth will probably be cleared up by the antibiotics and won't need to be extracted"" which, as you just read, COMPLETELY contradicted what she said when she was trying to talk me in to thousands of dollars worth of extractions. My guess is that she didn't want someone else, especially the author of so many books on responsible care of canine teeth, to see the x-rays she had taken and tried to rob us with. We're now here in sunny CA and my dear puppy needed exactly 2 extractions, just as my dear old country vet first said. In my opinion, ""Dr. Linderman"" is a predator that preys on emotional pet owners (hence the questions about euthenizing a 7 year old otherwise healthy dog, to make me think of him dying). It's sad that vets like her exist and give other kind hearted vets a bad rap. I suggest taking your dear pet and your dear checkbook elsewhere. Wish I could give zero stars. Best of luck to you and yours!
Cons: Deliberately misleading
more