I've taken my puppy here since I got him at 8 weeks. He had symptoms of a stroke when my boyfriend and I were at work, and when we came home and saw him, we were horrified. He was covered in his own vomit and he had diarrhea. And the stroke took a tole on his facial features - his eyes and mouth were droopy. He acted like he was terrified and like he couldn't really see us. His legs were stiff, he was slightly hunched to one side and he couldn't control his bladder. He kept having seizure after seizure while my mother was trying to get in touch with a vet with an emergency number, since it was after 7 PM.
We brought our pup in to North Whidbey Vet Hospital because they were the only ones that answered. Haji was restless the whole ride, from and during the emergency visit. I had to hold onto him to make sure he didn't fall off of the examination table. First thing I noticed about the head vet was his choice of grammar. I wasn't too thrilled to hear him call my sick puppy a "fart," "ugly," and say "he is so cute it's disgusting" after he had gone through a stroke and seizures, so his face showed exactly that. I also didn't appreciate the curse words he chose to say at random, or that he kept the thermometer in him for a good couple of minutes, when it shouldn't even take a minute (he had a fever of 102.8). After inspecting him, the vet said that he looks fine, that his abdomen feels normal, that I shouldn't be so upset and that he isn't dehydrated. My puppy had puked a lot earlier and his gums and eyes showed it - not to mention how he'd try to keep water down, but couldn't because his mouth became paralyzed from the stroke. Although the vet said he wasn't dehydrated, he gave him fluids (for no longer than a couple minutes), and shots to help keep him from puking. Then his advice was this - give him a little bit of white rice and a little bit of water every half hour tomorrow. Tonight, don't give him anything! Take away his food and water. And once you notice he wants more, give him more rice and water, and gradually transition his regular food into the rice. Once he is able to eat his regular food with the rice, give him half of an antibiotic (which he gave me 2). He didn't seem worried about Haji at all, despite of his irregular face and that we mentioned the seizures. So I asked the vet, "What do you think caused this?"
And he simply said, "He ate something he shouldn't had."
Which wasn't true, because there is no possibility of him getting anything he shouldn't have. He only eats what I give him and I always keep an eye on him. I told the vet this, and he was like, "Well I'm sure he has chewed on a twig before? Or grass?" Yes, he has, but twigs and grass do not cause full on strokes and seizures. So it ended with the vet saying to call the clinic in the morning if he pukes or if he doesn't eat, which will then lead him to taking X-rays, even though he thought it was unnecessary since he wasn't worried at all with everything we had to say. At the end of the appointment, which didn't last for more than 15 minutes, I owed over $200 ($150 for the emergency appointment), which I would've paid anything to help my puppy live and feel better.
Our puppy, who wasn't even 9 months old yet, didn't make it through the night. He had passed away at 3 AM that following morning. We tried contacting another vet, only for him to let us down too. At the end of all this, I believe that something could've been done to make it easier for my puppy in his last hours, but he had to endure the multiple seizures and strokes until he passed away that morning.
All USA
I've taken my puppy here since I got him at 8 weeks. He had symptoms of a stroke when my boyfriend and I were at work, and when we came home and saw him, we were horrified. He was covered in his own vomit and he had diarrhea. And the stroke took a tole on his facial features - his eyes and mouth were droopy. He acted like he was terrified and like he couldn't really see us. His legs were stiff, he was slightly hunched to one side and he couldn't control his bladder. He kept having seizure after seizure while my mother was trying to get in touch with a vet with an emergency number, since it was after 7 PM. We brought our pup in to North Whidbey Vet Hospital because they were the only ones that answered. Haji was restless the whole ride, from and during the emergency visit. I had to hold onto him to make sure he didn't fall off of the examination table. First thing I noticed about the head vet was his choice of grammar. I wasn't too thrilled to hear him call my sick puppy a "fart," "ugly," and say "he is so cute it's disgusting" after he had gone through a stroke and seizures, so his face showed exactly that. I also didn't appreciate the curse words he chose to say at random, or that he kept the thermometer in him for a good couple of minutes, when it shouldn't even take a minute (he had a fever of 102.8). After inspecting him, the vet said that he looks fine, that his abdomen feels normal, that I shouldn't be so upset and that he isn't dehydrated. My puppy had puked a lot earlier and his gums and eyes showed it - not to mention how he'd try to keep water down, but couldn't because his mouth became paralyzed from the stroke. Although the vet said he wasn't dehydrated, he gave him fluids (for no longer than a couple minutes), and shots to help keep him from puking. Then his advice was this - give him a little bit of white rice and a little bit of water every half hour tomorrow. Tonight, don't give him anything! Take away his food and water. And once you notice he wants more, give him more rice and water, and gradually transition his regular food into the rice. Once he is able to eat his regular food with the rice, give him half of an antibiotic (which he gave me 2). He didn't seem worried about Haji at all, despite of his irregular face and that we mentioned the seizures. So I asked the vet, "What do you think caused this?" And he simply said, "He ate something he shouldn't had." Which wasn't true, because there is no possibility of him getting anything he shouldn't have. He only eats what I give him and I always keep an eye on him. I told the vet this, and he was like, "Well I'm sure he has chewed on a twig before? Or grass?" Yes, he has, but twigs and grass do not cause full on strokes and seizures. So it ended with the vet saying to call the clinic in the morning if he pukes or if he doesn't eat, which will then lead him to taking X-rays, even though he thought it was unnecessary since he wasn't worried at all with everything we had to say. At the end of the appointment, which didn't last for more than 15 minutes, I owed over $200 ($150 for the emergency appointment), which I would've paid anything to help my puppy live and feel better. Our puppy, who wasn't even 9 months old yet, didn't make it through the night. He had passed away at 3 AM that following morning. We tried contacting another vet, only for him to let us down too. At the end of all this, I believe that something could've been done to make it easier for my puppy in his last hours, but he had to endure the multiple seizures and strokes until he passed away that morning.