Business ProfileforHight Veterinary Hospital, PA

We took our dog to this practice that suddenly became sick and needed help. They did some lab work and sent ** to an Animal Emergency Hospital where we were told she had been exposed to Leptospirosis. She was admitted into the hospital and they started treatment for this disease. We were instructed to take her back to ********************** Vet for a follow up and more blood work. We took our other dog into ********************** Vet to be vaccinated for this horrible disease. Dr. ********************** vaccinated him and set up another appointment for him to come in to get a booster vaccine.Sadly after three weeks, we woke up to our baby girl in a state of semi consciousness and in the process of dying. She was crying and definitely in pain, I immediately called ********************** Vet to request if we could bring her in for Euthanasia to stop her pain. To my amazement and shock, I was told that I could not bring her in because they were busy and did not have the time to see her. I was told by a receptionist very coldly that if she could make it through the weekend they MIGHT be able to see her on the following Monday. After a heated conversation took place with the receptionist, ********************** got on the phone and told us he would not see our dog and to take her to the Emergency Hospital to have her euthanized that he was busy and that the very fact he was talking to me on the phone was putting him further behind. I tried to explain to him that he was just right up the street from where we lived and begged him to please let us bring her in so he could humanely help her end her pain and suffering, he told me not to come back into his practice again. I told him that we had an appointment to bring our other dog in for a booster shot to the vaccine that HE had administered. He said he was not going to give it to him. Their lack of empathy was nothing short of astounding. I have asked for the information regarding the vaccine be sent to me so I can try to find another vet to administer the booster shot. I have received nothing from them.

I am the Practice Manager at Hight Veterinary Hospital. We, the staff and doctor, are terribly sorry for the loss of your little girl. We are a small practice with one doctor on staff most of the time. Saturdays we limit our appointments due to having limited hours and staff. Our sick appointments had been filled for the day when you called. We are not an emergency hospital. We will see emergencies if we can work them in, but most of the time you will be sent to the emergency hospital due to the limitations of supplies and resources we have. The receptionist you were talking to has the utmost respect and compassion for all of our clients and patients. She should not have to endure getting cursed at and called UNACCEPTABLE names after explaining to you that we did not have anywhere we could work you in and suggested to you many times to take her to one of the many emergency hospitals in the area. The multiple calls from you to our hospital, each time you getting more “heated” did not help the situation. Dr. Hight and the receptionist you were speaking with remained calm and were polite and professional when talking to you. That is why the doctor stepped in. He had no other choice than to tell you we will not see you as a client in the future. We will not allow our staff to be treated with disrespect and called names, when she was just doing her job and following what the doctor said. We understand you were very upset at the time, which is understandable, but you need to understand that the employees are just doing what they are told to do. Dr. Hight is a very compassionate doctor. He goes above and beyond for his patients. Most doctors will see you for what your appointment is scheduled for and if they suspect something else is going on they will make you come back to address that problem. Dr. Hight will address it at the time and have follow-up appointments to make sure it is addressed properly. If it is something that needs a specialist, he will refer you to one. As in Hannah’s case. Back in February, Dr. Hight did blood work and told you that she was in kidney failure. That is why he recommended for you to take her in on an emergency basis. We offered to send records, and you declined at that time. A month later you took her to emergency, had work up done, the doctor at the emergency hospital told you she needed supportive care until she could eat and you elected to leave her for 24 hours. We only saw Hannah one time, and you didn’t bring her back for any follow up appointments with us, or take her back to C.A.R.E. emergency hospital for follow up care. The day before she passed, you called us concerned she was not drinking and worried about dehydration. Dr. Hight advised for you to take her back to C.A.R.E. emergency hospital for further treatment with an internal medicine specialist. On the day you called for your other pet’s records, I was the one you talked to on the phone. I verified the email address with you and sent them to that email address. I did not get it back in my emails as not delivered, so I assumed it was delivered. If you did not receive them, you could have called or emailed us, and we could have resolved that situation. We did not withhold your pets’ medical records from you. The booster your pet was due for can be given by any Veterinarian, so saying that he refused you services that he started is unethical is not correct. He has every right to not see a client if said client was not happy with our services. As far as vaccinating for Leptospirosis, we routinely vaccinate with it. Had you told your new Veterinarian that your other pet needed a booster of the Leptospirosis vaccine they would have been able to give it, and they could have called us for his records. This is why we suggest not going to the discount clinic, where they were not vaccinated for this disease. Again, we are all very sorry for the loss of your Hannah, we were all hoping she would beat this terrible disease.