Brought my Rottie in to have his face looked at. He ran into another dog and got a hematoma. The face was swollen and the eye looked infected. Took him in to be put on an antibiotic. I was told they would have to run some blood work because he is 8 yrs old and he might not tolerate the medicine. $480 dollars later I was told I could pick him up. The knocked him out to draw blood. I was told his blood work was fine other then his white blood count a little high but nothing major. They didn't think he had an infection but put him on antibiotics anyway. was told to bring him in in 2 weeks. 2 weeks later I brough him back and was told the face looked better then it did but they wanted to take exrays or more blood work. I declined. I brought him back 2 weeks later on a Sunday because his face got swollen again and you could tell that he had another infection. They said they had to take xrays. I had to leave him for a few hours. They would try sedate him a little to take them if they couldn't they would again knock him out. At this point i was told it would be almost $500 or if I sign up for the wellness plan it would only cost $235 plus like $40 a month for the next year. This amount would have to be paid even if he died. About 4 hours later I got a call to come pick him up. Of course they knocked him out and it took 3 people to carry him into the car because he was still so sedated. I was told that I need to see an oncologist because they think it was cancer. I told them it is clearly infected again and was told the medicine wouldn't do any good. I took almost 4 days for him to start eating because of the trauma they did to his face taking xrays. I left in shock and took him home. I looked at my bill when I got home and saw that i was charged for stuff that wasn't even done to him. I t was what they would have passed through to the insurance if i took out that wellness policy. i beleive that is insurance fraud. I called on Wednesday and asked if I could please get medicine for him because his face was clearly infected. I asked for a Vet to return my call. I again called back on Thursday and said I never received a call and would like to talk to a Vet. I was told the Vet is in surgery and that I really need to take him to the oncologist for a biopsy. I asked for a return call. It is now 2 weeks later and i am still waiting for that return call. I have a friend who is a Vet and she was passing through our state to go home. She stopped by and looked at him. She started him on antibiotics. After 2 doses his face is almost back to normal. I will never go to a Banfield again and do my best to make sure I tell everyone about my experience with them.

04/13/2009 My fiance came home from work while I was at the airport dropping my nephew off. He called and said that our 13 week teacup yorkie was laying on his back with his legs stiff in the air. He then proceeded to bring our puppy up to Banfield Vet located inside of pet smart. I met him there shortly after they had taken Max (our puppy) back. They called me back and told me they want to try to save our dog but needed to do blood work. The cost of that was to be over 400 dollars.. We explained that we dont have that kind of money and that was the start of the visit. They then explained to us that our puppy may have liver shunt. Which if he did have it that he would need a 2000. dollar surgery.And that was not even going to guarantee his life. The Vet told us that this puppy was suffering and we needed to make a decision quick. We had no other choice but to put the puppy to sleep. SO we thought. After deciding to do that the nurse came out with a 234. dollar bill to put Max to sleep. We then told her we didnt have that kind of money either. She rolled her eyes and went back in with the bill. Came back out and said we can do it free but you will need to sign him over to us. WE struggled with the decision for sometime and then decided that it would be best. It was going to cost a lot of money to keep this poor puppy up to par. We walked in the back and said our goodbyes. Both distraut.We walked out to our vehicles and was heading home. The lady from Banfield came out and asked us to come back in and that the Doctor wanted to speak with us. This is AFTER we signed the papers to have Max put to sleep. I can't remember what exactly he wanted but to throw more bills in our face.
Shelby a lady that works in Pet Smart came out and handed us this number for a lady named Joanne Courture. She is the director of Li'l lapdog rescue of Central Fl. She came rushing up quick. this lady was soon going to save our puppy. Shelby came out in the parking lot to explain what the nurse was saying at Banfield Vet. After the Vet nurse came out to get us, Shelby a Pet smart employee asked her what was going on for she has seen us in there before. the nurse said " Well they can't afford to get the puppy better so I guess I will be taking him home!
My jaw just hit the ground! I just signed to have my puppy whom we all love so much to sleep and thats not what they are even planning on doing?? Who gave this woman the athority to keep my puppy?? And it's to my understanding I am not the only one this has happened to. Fortunatly for us we were able to go in and get Max and hand him over to Joanne so she could get him the help he needed. The nurse's jaw dropped when i went in and told her we were taking our puppy. Max's condition is still just stable but he is in great hands. After trying to rip me off with a 400 bill not including a 2000. surgery bill. These people have played with my emotions. They look down on you because you can't shell out that kind of money and then want to tell you that they are gonna put your dog to sleep and slip him out the back door?? We have a full bread yorkie. akc registered. and this lady saw that as a money making opportunity. I lknow that the pet smart employee will talk as well as the gentleman that brought his puppy there too. And i hope if you help me with this many others will speak up as well and we can to stop this from happening to other pet owners.
I was told that if I complained to corperate from shelby the pet smart employee, that they will just shrug it off and never investigate the matter. The office manager at the Vet will be sent a letter and they will lay low for awhile. Then when nobody is looking they will try to screw another average working American family. That is suffering with the economy crisis we have going on.

I took my cat there, he was blocked, it costs me 700.00 for 1 over night stay, they sent him home on Saturday because they were closing and would be closed until Monday. They said to take him to the emergency room if he got worse. I ended up having to bring him to the ER because he wasn't any better. The ER said that Banfield should have kept him 48hrs at least. Wellness plans are a joke because they make up for the low cost by overcharging for medical visits. They also overcharge for flea meds, etc. Don't let your pet get sick on the weekend either, they'll treat him fast, take your money and release him too early then you'll end up going to an emergency vet and pay even more. Sad, so sad when all we are doing is looking for good care for our pets.