Banfield Pet Hospital review: veterinarian malpractice/lack of knowledge ( 4 comments)

This is an unfortunate complaint. I had a 4 year old Miniature Pincher - who I took to Banfield starting 4/2, because he hadn't been eating and appeared to be having some serious abdominal pain. I also explained that he liked to eat things, particularly rags or towels... which usually were the ones I put in his cage for him to sleep on. On the first visit, Banfield did a very very basic Barium test and sent me home advising that it was an "upset stomach" and that I needed to give him Pepcid before meals.

After 2 more days, he still wasn't eating, and if he did eat, he simply vomited the food up, (whole) and completely undigested. I re-explained to the Vet on the 2nd visit, that his symptoms were getting worse and I was beginning to worry. She again said she couldn't 'see' anything wrong and sent me home with stronger med's for nausea (Cerenia).. I asked why he would all of a sudden start not-eating, or vomiting whole undigested food... and asked why his abdomen would be so painful (to the point where he would bite me if I touched them)... they said he was just having upset stomach and that it would pass after a few days. Never did Banfield offer any suggestions or really take heed that I explained my Dog liked to eat Towels (which if the remained lodged in his intestines would end up killing him)... They kept wanting to run expensive tests, like a Sonogram or Ultrasound, to see if there was debris in his body.. but couldn't tell me if the test would show fabric, nor did they say the test would really help them find anything wrong with my Dog.

I took my dog to Banfield a total of 5 times over 7 Days, each day Banfield not having any other suggestions.. and each time my Dog's symptoms getting 10x worse. He started not having bowel movements and became so sick that I couldn't even hold him without causing him extreme pain.

After getting tired of the Banfield runaround, I opted to pay an extreme premium to have a second vet make another determination of the situation and rerun all the tests, which was a $400+ initial investment. The same Barium test (but done properly with the correct dose) resulted in an xray finding of a blockage in his lower intestines... The next morning the new vet called and suggested an immediate exploratory surgery; within 2 hours the Vet called me back, and explained that all the intestines from my dog's stomach to his Anus were "black" and "dead"... they explained that there was a long piece of Towel and a small plastic Tennis Ball shard, that they recovered, but that they also found on the FIRST xray of his intestines.

End result, my little Jesse was Euthanised on 4.10.2010... all as a result of a mis-diagnosis and poor treatment being provided by the Banfield Vet, Dr. Kucera. Had this been the first time I had this issue, I would truly think of it as an honest mistake, however, a friend of mind nearly lost his English Springer, to the same vet, for 1. a complete misdiagnosis, and 2. an extreme overdose of medication that caused both of his kidneys to shut down and nearly kill the dog.

This vet needs recertification and needs to be stopped from practicing any type of medicine. My dog had no history of illness.. he was just over 4 years old and was active, healthy and a happy dog. The neglect from this vet has caused so much pain and grief... I haven't yet figured out how to cope with the loss of my dog.

Just wanted to initially share my complaint... this Vet needs to be stopped and does not need to administer any service to any animal. No animal should ever suffer, the way my dog suffered for nearly 10 days. Just absolutely terrible.