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Review content:
I'd gone here for years when my large 3yearold dog had surgery to repair an acl tear. I'm embarassed that I didn't get a second opinion, as it was the worst decision I've ever made. Dr. Gray did the surgery, one that it turns out is not adaquate for a dog his size. She basically just tripled the amount of material that should have been used to accomodate his size and ""overtightened the joint""...rather than have the integrity to refer me to a specialist for an appropriate surgery. After multiple visits and me explaining ""it is just not right"" and her insisting it was and would take a year to see 'how good a job it was', including a $500 bill for something they couldn't diagnose, but that I'll get into later, we went to a different vet. I should also mention that due to his complete inability to bear any weight on that leg, the other side tore within a few months. We opted for no surgery on this side obviously. I felt treated as a second class citizen after spending thousands of dollars there (the owner even had the nerve at one point to tell me ""I know money is an issue""....uh, what?) The long story short (as short as possible) is that not only was it a completely inappropriate surgery (a radiologist referred to it as a 'botched job' and 'epic failure'), and unnecessary given his good mobility before surgery, his body had been rejecting the device the entire time! What does this mean? Well, for one, as I trusted Dr. Gray, and waited a full year (I'm sick over this), the infection has caused EXTREME IRREVERSIBLE arthritic damage that is sooooo swollen, the new vet was nearly sure it was cancer (Dr. Gray insisted that no...it wasn't swollen...the reason it looked so large was that I was actually seeing the device she put in). It also means that occasionally, this infection will enter his blood stream and cause another area of the body to swell up out of nowhere, requiring medication, or steroids. I'm not talking run of the mill swelling....I'm talking the kind that is over the size of a grapefruit, and eventually pops and drains bloody fluid. This will happen for the rest of his life. This was what I was referring to earlier. The entire leg with the tear swelled up, and Dr. Steven insisted I have xrays done....it must not have dawned on any of them that 3 months after surgery, if that leg swells and bursts, they MIGHT BE RELATED. And the device should have been removed at that time. It's recommended it is now too late to remove the device, as there is new infection risk (apparently it's now just likely to latch on somewhere else in his body) and another long recovery time (4-6 mos). I'm not just taking the advice of a new vet, he's been to Cornell, had CAT scans, more xrays than I can count, joint taps....the works. We've started a holistic approach that is our last option to buy this 5 year old dog a little comfort, as he currently can't walk further than a half a block. So, I have now spent upwards of $7000 on this 'issue' to have a dog that will likely need to be put down within a year. I have literally cried myself to sleep, feeling that I could have avoided this, if I didn't just trust the vet I've been going to for so long. If I could steer anyone and EVERYONE away from this place, I would. I should also mention how nasty I was treated when I needed to pick up xrays and records, only to have Dr. Stevens call me himself and tell me he was sending everything personally, and what do you know? They never received a thing. In summary, if you feel like spending boatloads of money to be treated horribly, and would love to have your pet's quality of life completely diminished, go here!
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