On Saturday, the 17th of October, my Cat Jake passed away. I was unable to bury him, and so my boyfriend called your hospital, at 2360 West Oregon Avenue, Philadelphia PA to see if I could bring my cats body in.

Unfortunately I was unable to afford cremation, but we were told over the phone that I could bring the cats body in regardless.

When I arrived, I was alone carrying my beloved cats body in a cardboard box, people staring, and when the receptionist finally got to me, I told her who I was, she was unaware that we had called, and went into the back to speak to someone. I was then told that in fact they would NOT take the body, unless he were to be cremated. I explained the situation to the receptionist, who blamed it on Petsmart, saying that they must have given me the wrong info. I am certain my boyfriend spoke to Banfield, not Petsmart. Nobody apologized or even offered to let me sit down.

I understand that mistakes are made, but that was one of the most horrific experiences in my life. I had to leave with this box, you can imagine the state I was in just losing my cat. There was no compassion, discretion, or dignity in this whatsoever.

I am disgusted- to be honest I only brought Jake to this hospital once and decided to bring him back to his old vet. The atmosphere is bad, the wait is insane, and the vets are no smarter than the technicians.

I am telling everyone I know (and I work for a Pet-Sitting Service) to never use your hospital, as they are horrible.

I brought my 5 year old Pug in just over a month ago for his vaccinations, as well as a few lumps on his belly and rear end that were of concern. I am fairl new to Banfield, and have only taken my other dog (a 15 year old Chow)in for treatment of lupus. I have been working with Dr. Jordan with both of my dogs, and he seems like a knowledgeable and empathetic Dr. He treated my Chow beautifully, as he is living out his golden years quite comfortably. Let me mention that due to my own disables status, finances are very tight right now, but I do the absolute best I can to care for my animals. Anyhow, when I firt brought Yoda in to discuss the lumps, it was determined that he had mast-cell tumors. We discussed possibly treatments that I could budget for, but the nurse did talk me into signing up for the welness plan. Thinking that we could possibly get the tumors taken care of, this wouldn't be a bad idea for overall care. Anyhow, I hadn't yet been able to schedule the removal of his tumors, and my Pug fell quite ill a few days ago. Head tilt, lethargy, etc... I took him in immediately, and the Dr. suspected an inner ear infection. Considering the mast tumors, there's always a possibility of spreading, however - the overall signs at the time didn't indicate that it was tumor related. They sent me home with antibiotics and special calorie dense food to feed him. He would eat, but only by hand and I had to work to get him to drink. The following day, he declined, so I brought him back in. This was yesterday. Dr. Jordan suggested - and I agreed - to go ahead and keep him overnight for IV fluids and antibiotics. We went to visit my dog at 6:30pm last night, and he seemed a bit perkier, but overall lethargic (although he had just come out of anesthesia). I spoke with another Dr. this morning (Dr. Jordan was not in today) to see how me was. At 9:30am, he seemed to be improving, and they expected that I could take him home that afternoon (wanted to watch him for the rest of the day). I didn't hear from them in the afternoon, so I called at 3:00pm to see how he was. I was told by the front desk girl tha he was ready to go and I could come pick him up. My 7 year old son and I were very excited that he was coing know, assuming htat he responded well to the fluids. Upon arrival, we were asked to wait and they'd let the staff in the back know we were there (please bear in mind, at this point, they knew I was there only with only my 7 year old son). Prior to putting me in a room, they had me satisfy my bill. They then put us in a room, where, after waiting nearly 5 minutes, the Dr. came in and told us, with no regard that I had a child with me, that Yoda was not doing well and that he was being kept alive on oxygen. I am trying to hold in tears as to not alarm my son, but was disarmed, not knowing how to proceed with him in the room and I couldn't send him out into the store on his own. The Vet proceeded to tell me that when they took him outside to "go potty", he was still ill-responsive and was very unsteady on his feet. He then notied flickering in his eyes, and was certain, at this indication, that we were dealng with a brain tumor rather than an infeciton (particularly since he didn't respond to the antibiotics). As hard as I tried, I became hysterical along with my son, and had to call a neighbor to come meet me there so she could care for my son while I handled the issue with my dog. My husband was still about 30 minutes out, trying to make it as quickly as he could. My neighbor and son waited outside while my other neighbor sat with me as I held my dog, having him die in my arms. Please know that this complaint is not that I am dissatisfied with the overall care my dog received. Dr. Jordan is a fine Vet. I am absolutely appalled and shocked that they would "prepare" me to tkae my dog home, see that I have a small child in tow upon arrival, put on a perfect poker face to collect my money, and have me enter a room with a little boy expecting to take his dog home to only have the Vet come in and tell us he's dying. Had I been given any indication that the vet "needed to discuss somethng with me", I would have left my son with family or friends. By the time my husband arrived, our dog had already moved on. He was livid that my son was present, and let the staff know his feelings. Losing a pet is part of loving them, and I understand that, but the extra trauma put upon me to have my son learn the news in a way I would have never exposed him to amplifies my grief. Plus, I am now reading stories with the understanding that Banfield will continue to charge me the $40 a month for a wellness plan for an animal that no longer exists. This is only my first effort of putting my complaints into print. Banfield is next. I know that they cannot bring my dog back, but I, at minimum, want an explanation and an appropriate apology about their process.

The only economical damage was the $500 spent to treat him, however, that is to be expected. I don't blame them for attempting the treatment for an inner ear infection. I am on disability myself, and our household funds are not such where we have an extra $500 to handle these situations, but we made it work for our dog. Where I am heartsick is that I will continue paying $40 a month for a dog that cannot use the"welness plan". I can't even transfer it to my other dog. There was no physical damage, but there was a level of emotional damamge put upon my son. He understands death, however, he should have heard it from me, elsewhere, in a way that a mother explains it. He is now frightened of the Vet office, and, in turn, since it is located in our local Petsmart store, he will no longer go in there. The way they handled this was traumatic and will leave a long term, negative lasting effect on him.

We took are 3 year old tabby cat in to Banfield #0246 hospital for testing. Banfield conveyed to us that our cat was diabetic and Banfield missed diagnosis our cat as he did have anemia-extremely low blood platelets. Banfield did not feel that the low blood platelets were an issue or even critical for our cat. We had our normal vet review the testing that Banfield had done and that is where we found out that it was anemia not diabetes that killed our cat less than 12 hours later that very same day we took our cat to Banfield. Our regular vet confirmed that anemia is treatable and that our cat could of recovered. No thanks to Banfield as they obviously overlooked a critical situation and now we have lost our beloved Goddard. Do not under any circumstances take your pet to Banfield. There needs to be justice done.

So My wife and I noticed one of our dogs was itching alot and then all of the sudden she started loosing her hair! So we took her in to Banfield's since that is the closest vet to our house. They said she is allergic to flea bits. she gave us First Shield and shampoo and a conditioner and some other crap total (over $120). They convinced us to get a skin graph and skin scrape (another $60) they said she might also have a food allergy and recommended this dog food that is $65 for 15 LBS!!! And then after the graph and scrape they said she also has ring worm and bacterial infection. They wanted to treat everything all at once (another $230) I asked them how can we know whats wrong if we treat everything all at once? The lady said its just easier to be safe than sorry. After doing some research I found my dog had no symptoms of ring worm or a bacterial infection and they thought that the itching and hair loss could be either allergies or fleas (this is when I asked about how treating for both would tell us which it was). After using First Shield for several months my dog has lost more hair and itches non-stop and I still see fleas on her!!! I am out over $300 and I am worse off than when I started!!! I flea bombed I used the shampoos and sprays and did everything they said to do and all they have to say is bring her in and we can diagnose her again!!! Thats $30 just for the visit plus whatever bullshit tests they "need" to run it would be another $100+ for that visit!!! (I AM NOT JUST A RANDOM PERSON I HAVE WORKED AT VET CLINICS, HUMANE SOCIETIES, ALL OVER OREGON, I AM NO VET BUT BEEN AROUND AND WORKED WITH VETS FOR YEARS!!!) TAKE MY ADVICE DO NOT GO TO BANFIELD'S THEY ARE *** VETS, EACH VET WILL HAVE A COMPLETELY DIFFERENT DIAGNOSIS, THEY SCAM YOU AND FALSIFY INFORMATION, DO TESTING THAT IS NOT NECESSARY, TRY AND TREAT ONE SYMPTOM WHICH COULD BE MULTIPLE DIAGNOSIS ALL AT ONCE INSTEAD OF RULING OUT POSSIBLE ISSUES NOT ALLOWING YOU TO FIND OUT THE ACTUAL EXACT PROBLEM, THEY SELL *** PRODUCTS AT OVER PRICED LABELS, THEY ARE NOT AFRAID TO SELL PRODUCTS THAT ARE PROVEN TO NOT WORK OR CAUSE HARM TO YOUR PETS!!!, THIS IS A CORPORATION NOT A CLINIC THEY ARE VETS WHO CANNOT GET HIRED BY TRUE CLINICS OR ARE NOT COMPETENT ENOUGH TO HAVE THEIR OWN CLINIC, THEY ARE ALL ABOUT $$$$$ NOT YOUR ANIMAL!!! PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE TAKE MY ADVISE!!! I KNOW WHAT I AM TALKING ABOUT AND DON'T MAKE THE MISTAKE I DID AND SO MANY PEOPLE DO DAILY. WE NEED TO ALL PUT A STOP TO BANFIELD'S FRANCHISES EVERYWHERE!!! STICK WITH YOUR LOCAL CLINICS THESE ARE VETS THAT TRULY CARE ABOUT YOU AND YOUR PETS BECAUSE THEIR JOBS AND REPUTATION DEPEND ON IT IN ORDER TO COMPETE WITH THE BANFIELD'S OF THE COUNTRY!!!

On Sunday, August 23, my two dogs got in a fight.
I noticed on Tuesday, August 25, that the one dog's face on the right side was beginning to swell. I decided to keep an eye on it and take her to a vet on Wednesday if it was still swelling.

On Wed her face did look worse, but my husband had chest pains and I took him to the ER, he was admitted to the hospital and ended up in ICU.

On Thursday morning I called my daughter and grandson and asked them to find a vet and take my dog Sasha because her face was really swollen by now. My grandson googled the closest vet and found Banfield (7th Ave and Bell Road in Phoenix AZ). Since they are affiliated in the Petsmart store, I had confidence that this was a good place for them to take her.

When they arrived and the exam was completed, it was decided that she needed to have surgery. The cost was given of approx $1200 and I agreed to this - since my husband was in ICU, I could not put his dog to sleep at this time. Surgery was done, a drain tube placed in her cheek, oral and ear drop antibiotics were given. (She has been given her meds every 12 hours since the surgery).

On Monday, August 31, my daughter took her back to Banfield as requested by the Vet. She was examined and the drain tube was removed.

On September 10 I noticed that her face was starting to swell again. I called Banfield and was told that in order to have her checked again I would have to pay another exam visit. I questioned this since if the decision to remove the drain tube too soon was made, then I should not have to pay for that mistake. Christy put me on hold, came back and said she had talked to the Vet - and that there was nothing they could do - if I wanted her checked again I would have to pay for the visit. I told her I was very unhappy and that if I was going to pay someone a 2nd time to care for my dog after this botched procedure by their Vet - it would not be them.

This is the WORST vet attitude I have ever encountered. I am so sorry I took my pet to this location. I will do everything within my power to make sure others are aware of this treatment. I will share my BAD experience at every opportunity. I do not have another $1, 000 to take care of my pet and if another surgery is now required, then my pet will probably die.

Banfield doesn’t care – and Petsmart probably doesn’t either – but at least others are being made aware of this situation

Banfield Pet Hospital
Inside Petsmart
17035 N 7th Ave
Phoenix, AZ 85023
602-942-4308