The Village Vets of Decatur

Dreadfully Slipshod and Exceptionally Irresponsible

In our opinion, The Village Vets damaged and shorten the life of our beloved cat. In our opinion, their staff, which I refuse to call doctors of veterinary medicine, imposed so much emotional damage to our lives that I am continually experiencing nightmares and insomnia. The following review is our opinion of the events regarding our experiences with the Village Vets. We noticed Sunday that our almost 2 year old male cat, was struggling walking up the stairs. We rushed him the Village Vets for an examination. We told them, he stopped eating Thursday but today we noticed that he was having problems moving around. Since his temp was 104, the staff wanted to keep him overnight for more testing and to administer IV fluids. Our agreement to allow them to keep our cat was the absolutely the biggest mistake, that I will regret for the rest of my life. After doing several tests, x-rays, blood chemistry profiles, the staff concluded he had feline infectious peritonitis, FIP. We were told FIP is fatal and there were no treatments for the disease. Before the diagnosis of FIP, the staff diagnosed and treated for haemobartonellosis, feline infectious anemia, because of the presence of anemia, lethargy, loss of appetite and dehydration. They did not tell us whether they tested him for Mycoplasma haemofelis, the parasite that causes feline infectious anemia. They also did a biopsy for cancer, which they claimed was negative. Approx. four days after admission, the staff discharged our cat with a high temperature and several Rx medications. They said he was eating and for us to monitor his temperature and give the medications as instructed. We reported daily an elevated temperature and loss of appetite. They Rx an appetite stimulant, but nothing for the elevated temperature, did not recheck his blood chemistry profile and red blood cell volume. We gave the appetite stimulant and our cat had no change in appetite, therefore we made an appointment to see their staff again, because he had lost several pounds from not eating. In the Village Vets our cat temperature was still high and he had lost considerable weight. The staff refused to insert a feeding tube, admit him to their hospital for follow up tests, change the medication, (given to treat haemobartonellosis) or refer our cat to a Vet specialty hospital. They said, use the syringe to feed the Hills Rx canned food and continue giving the medications. They also said, we can order the PI (Polyprenyl immunostimulant) drug to treat his FIP. Our cat continued to decline in health so much so he could no longer walk or stand. His red cell count dropped, so low that he went into shock. We rushed him to Ga Vet Specialist, and the GVS doctors diagnosed him with lymphoma, not feline infectious anemia and not feline infectious peritonitis. For several days, I watched in horror as our beloved cat slowly died a suffering death from the shock brought on by anemia, loss of appetite and dehydration; the very same symptoms that the Village Vets not only misdiagnosed horribly but failed to treat responsibly. My husband cried for three days, I have never stopped weeping and every night I scream in my sleep. In less than one month of being treated by the Village Vets, our cat died. In our opinion the staff of the Village Vets killed our most beloved cat.