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| - (Edited to address the misleading and inaccurate comments by EMAH in response to the review)
I absolutely would not recommend East Maryland Animal Hospital. Our first vet seemed competent but the second one we saw, Dr. Clemons, is terrible at her job.
Once she told us our puppy had to lose 4 to 5 pounds, even though she gave her about five treats while we were there (they never ask if they can, they just ask if the dog has allergies). Then after she lost one pound, a vet tech told us she had to lose 2 more while Dr. Clemons (who originally said she needed to lose 4 to 5) said her weight was perfect. Way to run your business like a guessing game.
We took our puppy back in after she injured herself falling while trying to run up a step, and Dr. Clemons tried to push a $300 Valley Fever test even though our puppy had none of the symptoms (none!) just to "rule it out." (Easy to want to rule things out when it's on someone else's dime!)
We did get an x-ray and a radiology report. The report basically said our puppy should get further testing if there isn't improvement. The vet's interpretation of the report was that our puppy will have chronic pain issues for the rest of her life, and she even started talking about *daily* pain medication, as well as annual blood tests to make sure the dose was okay.
I guess there's less money in common-sense reactions than there is in acting like a very minor issue is a death sentence, recommending that pet owners ruin their poor dog's liver with unnecessary pain meds, oh and doing your best to drain their bank accounts for unnecessary tests.
(By the way, our puppy was already doing loads better even before we gave her any pain meds, so she's almost recovered from her injury. I guess I learned my lesson that we would've been better off not taking her in at all.
Looking through the other reviews, I see that other people have had similar problems (and the answers are frankly pretty dismissive). It'd be great if they'd address people's concerns rather and fix these ongoing issues with their business rather than blaming their problems on the clients.
Edited to add:
1. Using a radiologist to review X-rays is a GREAT idea--if the vet actually shares the information from the radiologist instead of coming up with her own radical interpretation that doesn't reflect what's actually on the report.
Hint: A report saying that it may be worth getting additional tests if symptoms continue after rest and NSAIDS is *not the same* as "your dog will have chronic pain for the rest of her life and needs to be on NSAIDs permanently and should never run or jump or play, plus we'll need to do an annual blood test to make sure the levels aren't too high."And no, this is not "adding their recommendations into your treatment plans"--it's making up treatment plans that have little to do with the report.
I actually showed the report and played the message for another veterinarian I know and she agreed with me-- the information I received was 1) inaccurate based on the report 2) completely unethical to tell someone a condition will be permanent without evidence.
P.S. Do you try to get every pet that comes in tested for Valley Fever? Or just the ones that literally don't have any symptoms?
2. Recommending permanent painkillers is not "being the pets' advocate" unless ruining a pet's liver w/ unnecessary medication is advocacy. (Again, the vet I checked with agreed with me and said she would never recommend that based on the report!)
3. If a pet becomes better without NSAIDs, as mine did (she showed improvement before the vet even wrote the scrip the next day), then no, this is NOT an example of treatment helping symptoms improve in a short amount of time. It is an example of the symptoms improving WITHOUT TREATMENT in a short amount of time.
It's fascinating to me that a vet, who is supposedly an expert, can predict that symptoms will be permanent (not MAY be permanent, but WILL be permanent due to a chronic debilitating condition, which will require *DAILY* doses of NSAIDS, ANNUAL blood tests, and a life of inactivity in a 1-year-old puppy) resolved by itself in less than 24 hours. Maybe I have a magically self-healing wonderpup... Or maybe your vet unethically and unprofessionally read into the report and came up with her own inaccurate assessment.
4. "Decreasing anxiety" is a poor excuse for giving a pet 5 treats AND peanut butter (after recommending weight loss) without so much as asking "Can I give your pet a treat?" instead of "does your pet have allergies?" Even people handing samples at pet stores know to do this.
5. Your comments in response to this review are disappointing, but not surprising--I guess it's unreasonable to expect a social media person to be a good listener when the vets only hear what they want to!
If your top priority is truly pet health and comfort, you may want to work on your listening skills rather than ignoring them in favor of pushing your own agenda.
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