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Review content:
For the sake of your beloved pet, I urge you to avoid Southern California Veterinary Specialty Hospital/Irvine Regional Animal Emergency Hospital, and to please read this warning. I took my dog to this hospital for a routine examination by Dr. Christopher Eich, in which he subsequently recommended x-rays, ultra-sound and prostate tissue aspiration, which are routine tests. I gave authorization to proceed and gave Dr. Eich specific instructions, telling him 3 times for emphasis, to please be very gentle with my elderly dog as he was old and fragile. I left my dog in his and his assistant's ""care"" for approximately 5 hours for what I was assured were routine tests, and returned to the clinic later that day to pick him up and take him home. Later that evening, he developed stomach ""bloat"" as a result of being mistreated and mishandled while at this clinic. I had no idea what ""bloat"" was, and during our consultation, Dr. Eich never mentioned that this could potentially occur during his tests. I rushed my dog back to the hospital where Dr. Lara Ashbran ""de-bloated"" him (another traumatic procedure). Dr. Ashbran released him to me and failed to instruct me as to the seriousness and lethality of stomach bloat, and that he would likely ""re-bloat"" and die if he was not close to the clinic to be ""de-bloated"" again. Well, he re-bloated early the next morning and was rushed back to the hospital where hours later my dog suffered several heart attacks and died a very painful and traumatic death as a direct result of the bloating due to the traumatization he received at this hospital the previous day. I was devastated and very disappointed with the treatment my dog received by this hospital's staff, specifically Dr.'s Christopher Eich and Lara Ashbran, and urge anyone who cares for the well being of their pet to seek testing and treatment elsewhere. When you bring your pet to a veterinary hospital, you assume that your pet will be handled gently, and will receive expert care. That is after all what you're paying them for, and their professional duty as well. I've learned now that this should never be automatically assumed. Because of the errors, mistreatment and mishandling done by Dr. Eich, Dr. Ashbran, and the staff at this hospital, my dog suffered an unimaginably horrific, drawn-out and painful death. I'm still grieving more than 2 years later. Dr. Eich even later admitted to me that elderly, large-breed dogs such as my Chow are susceptible to bloating if flipped on their back as would occur during an x-ray or other type of exam, and that he should have recalled this prior to performing these tests on my dog. Still, he never apologized for this lethally catastrophic error of his. I wouldn't mind his arrogance if he had the comptency to back it up. However, in Dr. Eich's case, it's just arrogance masking gross incompetence. Oh, and don't be swayed by your general practitioner vet recommending this hospital for specialty treatment. Be aware that various forms of kick backs and ""quid pro quo"" are most likely pervasive. I urge everyone to take their pet elsewhere for veterinary care. I only wish I had known this before it was too late.
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