Animal Referral Hospital VIC, Essendon

This place puts profits first, pets second. 0 care factor or empathy, the type of sociopaths that will take on cases that they know they can’t do whilst delaying life saving treatment that could have been provided else’s and prolonging suffering to line their own pockets. They do this while leaving pets in excruciating pain in abhorrent… Read more

conditions, unmonitored, un attended and without fluid or pain relief while putting their hand out for 10’s of thousands. If they put as much effort in to taking care of animals as they do taking multiple payments first or actually provided the care that has been prior paid for, maybe animals may not suffer so much or have a chance at recovery.

Proper sociopaths. Do not let them kill your pet for profit.

Left me waiting for days for answers for a terminally ill cat – Very disappointed overall with the service received, due to waiting for days for results for a terminally ill cat. Visited the Animal Referral Hospital in Essendon Fields VIC. I took my cat in with breathing problems on a Saturday night. At first, the vet was good in calling me back with 4 possible illnesses, and texting me during the night… Read more

once. They kept my pet overnight and stabilised him, returning him to me on Sunday afternoon. This was all during a COVID lockdown, so you had to hand over your pet and wait for them to call.

The first and second vets l talked to were good, but when l picked up my cat, l wasn't told what was wrong with him, just symptoms and that they had ruled out one of the possible causes, heart disease. I was told his blood test results would come in on Monday afternoon and to see my vet in 3 to 5 days. I paid just under $1800 for treatment.

I called on Monday afternoon, but the blood test results had not come in. I called again on Tuesday lunch, again no results. Meanwhile l had my cat at home, struggling to breathe. I called Tuesday night and was then told the results were in, but the vets were busy and they would call me back. I did not hear back from them.

I called on Wednesday morning and asked his for tests results. These were inconclusive and the third, new vet, then suggested he had heart disease (previously ruled out) and blood tests didn't point to cancer.

From Saturday night to Wednesday morning, l had no answers as to what was his underlying cause of breathing issues. Why didn't they do any x-rays or ultrasound scans when he was there, to find out what was wrong with him? They have the facilities!

I took my cat to the vet on Wednesday morning, after the long wait for the test results from the Animal Referral Hospital. When l saw my vet, she told me my cat was very sick and most likely going to die soon. I wanted to know what was wrong with him and if there's anything l could do for him. So l went to a different animal hospital recommended by my vet, where l got answers in 3 hours, after an ultrasound showed a cancerous growth. Whilst I was devastated, I was given answers, but most importantly, the new hospital used their facilities to find out what was wrong with him and gave me advice on palliative care. They also charged a hell of a lot less.

Unfortunately, I had to put my much loved cat to sleep the next day, which broke my heart.

Where I am most upset with the Animal Referral Hospital is: 1) the window of time from Saturday night to Wednesday morning, to receive his blood test results. This was way too long and unacceptable. Plus I had to keep ringing them, they never rang me. 2) how long they had him in care for, but didn't do any investigative tests, other than a blood test. They did help him by draining fluid from his chest, with bought him a little time. 3) The last vet I spoke with then contradicted the first vet about what he had, leaving me confused, and with a cat that had no treatment plan and I had no answers.

As stated, the first 2 vets were good over the phone, whilst the third was poor. In the end, I didn't get a diagnosis of what he had, but paid a lot of money. The Animal Referral Hospital need to improve the communication between their vets, for the benefit of the patient's care and treatment. Please don't leave animal owners desperately waiting for answers for DAYS, when an animal is so sick. The end to end process was disgraceful, slow, costly (happy to pay for true care). My cat was left hanging for days and if I had of known there was no hope earlier, would have actioned his care differently.

I won't be coming back, nor recommending them I'm sorry to say. I really felt like I was ripped off, as once they took the payment and handed back my pet, there was no after care service. I had to to keep calling to find out what was wrong, and didn't get that answer, despite paying for urgent care.

I did find a subsequent animal hospital in Kensington, to be much more helpful, where the vets took the time to call me and explain the situation in detail over the phone, after doing prompt tests to find out about my cat's illness. So the service I expected, can be done.