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| - Our older male cat had been having recurring bouts of vomiting over the past couple months, and we had visited a couple vets (one near our home out of state, and locally in Phoenix) to help diagnose his condition - Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS). We brought him to The Scottsdale Cat Clinic over the past two weeks to help find a way to help him eat comfortably. After trying various cat foods, he was still not eating - or drinking well. The last trip to the Clinic on Friday 12/18/15, we were trying to find a way to get him to drink, and requested an IV session to hydrate him. Since this would take place over the weekend, we were concerned about leaving him there and causing him additional stress, so the vet suggested we perform a Sub-Q procedure at home, where fluid is injected directly beneath the skin and absorbed over a matter of hours. After the first round, our little guy began to show improvement, and much to our relief was beginning to move around, and started eating and drinking a little on his own again. However, over the next 2 days with the Sub-Q we began to notice he was losing ground, despite the additional hydration. Early Monday morning we took him to an emergency clinic, because he was in such discomfort and was now having difficulty breathing. The emergency clinic examined him - and told us he was not receiving enough oxygen and there was nothing they could do. Euthanasia was advised to relieve his suffering.
This past week, still shocked and bewildered by this tragic outcome, we spoke with our original vet out of state and sent him the results of the tests we had performed and explained in detail what had transpired. He informed us that given everything we told him, and by the information presented, that our cat had received Sub-Q fluids far in excess of the recommended amount needed to hydrate him, and this had resulted in pleural effusion (fluid around the lungs) which impaired his ability to breathe and get oxygen to his body. The attending vet at the emergency clinic had also confirmed this as well by way of physical examination. We also informed both vets that the Scottsdale Cat Clinic had also recommended chemotherapy - "just in case" - but in the absence of a concrete diagnosis of cancer/lymphoma. Both vets adamantly informed us that there was no way our cat could possibly survive this procedure given his condition.
We want to be completely clear that while our cat's prognosis with eating and IBS was problematic and perhaps not ultimately manageable, we consider Scottsdale Cat Clinic's final prescription for the fluids he received to be the reason his life was required to be terminated in the manner it was. When we confronted Scottsdale Cat Clinic with our concerns, Dr. Maya Bellapianta replied that she stood by her diagnosis. The point is - there was NO concrete evidence of cancer and we were led to believe our cat had Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS).
We have been privileged to have had many cats in our lives, and while some of our companions went peacefully, others were required to be released from suffering. This review is not a 'knee-jerk' reaction to the realities, but hopefully conveys our anger and frustration; we steadfastly believe the Scottsdale Cat Clinic's treatment was apathetic and negligent. During two of the visits, one of the techs appeared distracted and repeatedly asked us the same question. Another tech who assisted us was so nice - and appeared very concerned. We started having misgivings during the second visit but didn't want to switch vets at this point. To top it off, we received a very inappropriate email response to this review from one of the staff - without so much as a "we're sorry you had to emergency euthanize your cat because he was suffering." This experience was a heartbreaking end for us and an inexcusable lapse on their part. We would never recommend this clinic to anyone with a pet in distress or with an illness requiring definitive or recurring treatment.
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