I am not fan of vet offices because I have had such horrible experiences in the past. Four Legged Friends was among the better experiences, but I will not take any of my pets back. I was referred to Dr. Ferguson with glowing reviews, but he/she was not available and I got an appt with someone else who was VERY nice and caring to my pet. No complaints there or with how quickly they got me in.
My concern was the overwhelming sense of being upsold. I distinctly felt like I was being given high pressure used car sale tactics. I received a phone call stating my pet's initial blood work caused them concern and they needed to run extra tests. I was given the run down of the horrible things my pet could experience if I didn't get this test done to ensure the proper course of treatment was followed. I was very worried and said I'd be right in with my dog. Things that make ya go umm begin NOW: 1) I was told they could run the tests off the sample they already had. 2) 5 minutes later, I received a call from another individual at the hospital with the test results. I asked how did they have them so quickly. The caller stammered. I pointed out that they obviously already had the results and the earlier call was simply to get to me to authorize payment since I had paid for different tests when I was there. The caller continued to stammer. I informed the caller that I appreciated their concern but that I would be more inclined to believe them if they had just been honest with me from the beginning and told me that there was something troubling in the blood tests but that I needed to pay the near $100 for the more sophisticated test RESULT (which they already had).
I recognize it's a business and they have overhead and need to make a profit. I took NO position against that. It was MY perception of their attempted ruse that put me off.
I took my dog elsewhere and explained why I was switching my dog mid-treatment. To date, my pet is doing wonderfully well. I am positive he would have also done well at Four Legged as I believe they were skilled and competent, but I wonder how many more phone calls I would have gotten leading me to belief extra work/testing was needed when the answer may have already been in the file.
Four Legged's staff was friendly and kind to my pet who is NOT easy to handle at the vet's office, particularly when he is not feeling well. They displayed incredible patience in handling my pet and that is of the utmost importance to me. My only negative is the issue of how they handled the supposed need for further testing. They began a business relationship with me and pet with what I suspected to be dishonesty, and as I would with any relationship that begins that way, I ended it.