Please do not go here... After having animals my entire life, and owning my 2 cats involved in this issue for the last 7 years, I have never been to an animal hospital that was more concerned about money than the animals... until I met Dr. Swanson and the team at Denver Pet Hospital. To make a very long story short: we moved here from Atlanta and I took my 2 cats for a well visit and yearly vaccinations in March of '08. After Dr. Swanson scared us by saying that one cat had a heart murmur and the other had an enlarged liver on her examination, she "suggested" a number of different vaccinations, as well as labs/tests to check the health of both animals. We were floored that one had a murmur and the other an enlarged liver, so we went along with her suggestions. Well, $1391.63 later - we wanted nothing more than to get out of there. I never would have paid the bill knowing what I know now. I went home and looked up a bunch of different things we had been told (and not told) in our clinic visit in differnt Veterianary literature and publications, and found some great info from the American Association of Feline Practitioners... all of which contradicted what Dr. Swanson had told us. I called the next morning to speak with the office manager, who was to return my call later. Dr. Swanson called me that evening, to tell me that one of the cats tested + for Giardia, which she had vaccinated him for the previous evening (which makes no sense to me). After much back-and-forth Dr. Swanson offered to give us a free microchip for our unchipped cat who had been given the FIV vaccine the previous day, but nothing more. There was much, much more to the story, but I'm abbreviating. We went in to see the office manager that weekend, and I'm glad my husband was with me, b/c the office manager was very hostile and told me there was "no way in hell" we would be returned 1/2 of our money. A week later we received a refund of $88.34 in the mail. Thanks for that one... that really made a difference! So I made a huge notebook detailing a formal complaint of everything that happened, and submitted one to the BBB and the other to the Co. State Board of Licensing. The BBB told me it was a "medical malpractice" issue and there was nothing they could do, and the Board of Vet. Medicine ultimately decided in Jan of '09 that Dr. Swanson had done "nothing illegal" and sent her a "letter of guidance" for her future practice. By-the-way, she sent her formal response to the Board saying the only reason we were upset about the issue was b/c "we couldn't pay our mortgage." Nice touch Dr. Swanson. How about I was upset that you subjected my animals to vaccines that not only aren't recommended by your professional associations, but aren't even offered by the majority of local Denver vets (I called 18 in the SW Denver area). Apparently you can be a horrible business person, be extremely unprofessional, and do things that are not recommended by the professional Veterinarian Associations, but it's not illegal. Therefore she's still practicing. Every time I go by the neon cat sign I gag. Also, both cats' labs were normal - no heart or liver issues that Dr. Swanson had diagnosed on examination (what a surprise...). It is so unfortunate that people take advantage of others like this and it's legal, and nothing can be done. All I can do is tell you not to go here. We now go to Belcaro Animal Hospital, and the 2 doctors we have seen there have been fantastic. . They care about the animals, and aren't concerned with making you pay for a bunch of unnecessary (and in some cases harmful) junk. If you're looking for a great vet, drive the extra mile north on Holly to Belcaro Animal Hospital and save yourself all the frustration and anger Dr. Swanson and her team will cause you. By-the-way I am an RN, and if they can scare me into thinking that my animals are this sick and need these tests/labs/procedures/vaccines, I can only imagine how they would take advantage of someone who has no medical knowledge...
You may see this posting elsewhere, b/c I'm going to post on every
possible site I can...
