Editor’s Note: The following description is the experience that my husband, dog, and I had at TLC Veterinary Specialty Care in Leesburg, VA. Your experience will likely be different, but this is offered to help other consumers of veterinary medicine make better informed decisions about their animals’ health care.
What is not made clear to new customers at TLC is that it is **not** an animal hospital. It is a veterinary office building that houses nine different practices, one of which operates 24-hour emergency care. Each practice bills separately, so if you have to deal with more than one veterinary specialist, you will receive a separate bill from each practice. Also, they charge 1.5 to 2 times as much as other animal hospitals in the DC area.
While certain specialties are difficult to find for animals, such as oncology and neurology, there are options other than TLC in Leesburg, VA. Research these before making a final choice for your pet’s health; don’t just depend on one referral, even if it’s from your regular veterinarian. This was a mistake we made, and by sharing our experience, we hope to help others avoid this mistake.
Look around, get a second opinion, and don’t rush to a decision. We do things for our animals because we love them, but sometimes in trying to help, we end up hurting.
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On June 18, 2007, our dog had his annual check up, and other than the mild neurological symptoms that became serious six weeks later, his regular vet at Friendship Hospital for Animals told us she “couldn’t find a plum-pluckin’ thing wrong with him.” Despite our frequent mentioning of his recent exam and long-time care at Friendship, no one at TLC contacted them for consultation or to get his records. This adversely affected his treatment and led to additional unnecessary expenses for tests that were not needed.
On July 24, 2007, our dog was admitted as an emergency patient to TLC on the recommendation of a doctor at Friendship Hospital for Animals in Washington, DC. Upon subsequent examination, treatment, and tests, it was determined that he had spinal compression and required surgery to correct the defect.
On August 3, 2007, our dog received a dorsal laminectomy. At 9 am that day, the neurologist (Dr. Bush) reported that the surgery had gone “flawlessly.” There were no complications during surgery and the disk was corrected. He instructed us to call later in the day for an update.
At 7:15 pm on August 3, Dr. Bush reported that our dog was doing fine, except he seemed to be in a lot of pain and discomfort. Dr. Bush put our dog on four pain medications and a steroid the same day he was coming out of general anesthesia.
At 11:30 pm on August 3, we received a call from Dr. Bush that our dog had developed pneumonia because he was given a meatball and aspirated part of it in his left lung. He gave us a 50/50 chance that our dog would survive.
We received another call at 2 am from the critical/emergency care staff at TLC that our dog was doing worse and they wanted to know if they should ventilate him and/or do CPR. We said yes. We called back at 2:30 am to check on him and were told that he was completely unresponsive, and his respiration, heart rate, blood pressure, and body temperature were all very low. They did not expect him to make it.
We arrived at TLC at approximately 3:30 am on Saturday, August 4, 2007. Our dog was doing slightly better, in that he responded to our presence (opening his eyes and moving his head) but was still in bad shape.
These incidents in post-surgical care led to a chain of expenses we had to incur both at TLC Emergency Services and afterward. Prior to the surgery, we had expected Our dog to recover in our home a day or two after the operation. Instead, we were forced to pay an additional $3,791.81 in unplanned costs for lifesaving measures because our dog was transferred to another practice’s care – not the neurologists’ – as well as $1,683.71 to Friendship Hospital for Animals for additional supervised recovery care between the evenings of August 6 and August 8, as our dog was failing to thrive under the care of Dr. Barnes at TLC.
Again, these expenses from Friendship would have been completely unnecessary had our dog avoided coming close to death while under post-surgical care by the veterinary practice known as Critical Care Associates.
We had repeatedly warned all parties participating in our dog’s care at TLC that he was an atypical animal in his reactions to medications, anesthesia, etc. In fact, BVNS thoroughly documented these conditions in a neurology consultation memo conducted on July 24.
Due to the care our dog received post-surgery, which caused his health to be severely impacted, we had to draw substantially on our financial resources in order to ensure our pet’s wellness, in the expectation of having to spend $5,000.00 for the entire process. Instead, we incurred financially debilitating expenses of more than twice this amount – a condition from which we will not easily be able to recover for quite some time.
Beyond issues of money, however, is the physical and emotional toll this entire matter has taken on both of us. In the space of less than four hours, our feelings went from elation over a successful surgery, to disbelief that our beloved pet’s condition had deteriorated so rapidly, to the incredible stress of preparing to cope with his death.
During that time, and our dog’s stay in Friendship Hospital for Animals, we were taken on an emotional roller coaster ride all while driving hundreds of miles and losing many hours of sleep while attempting to maintain a regular work schedule. The latter was impacted even more adversely during our dog’s prolonged recovery at home, which required our constant attention and many missed hours of work.
While we naturally prepared to do this for a considerable amount of time, Our dog’s poor condition after surgery required a much more protracted period of intense care.
Meanwhile, during the 24 hours immediately following our dog’s surgery, we were counseled by Dr. Barnes to prepare ourselves for a possible decision regarding euthanasia, and in this stressful time, we were required to pay thousands of additional dollars we could barely afford or we would not be allowed to visit our dog.
TLC’s refusal to allow us to visit our dog for some six hours (between roughly 5 am and 11 am), contributed to the emotional duress we felt. We were in a precarious position from lack of sleep and emotional circumstances, and we were given no recourse or option other than signing the paper because our dog’s health was being held in the balance.
Perhaps worst of all, however, our dog was put through what was the most painful and distressing period of his life since he was a puppy some 12 years ago. Since it is our firm belief that dogs can retain some kind of memory of traumatic situations, we are convinced that his behavioral health will be affected by this terrible experience long after any physical symptoms have disappeared. Indeed, to this day our dog strenuously resists collars and other objects placed anywhere near his neck, and reacts in a defensive manner if you try to touch his neck too quickly.
Medicine is not an exact science, but the repeated lapses in judgment in our dog’s care resulted in a chain of events for which BVNS and TLC should bear at least some responsibility.
It was clear from Dr. Barnes’ attitude upon our initial meeting that she had no faith in our dog’s recovery, nor did she convince us that she would wholeheartedly work toward his recovery. Her initial advice after introducing herself was to suggest euthanasia because our dog was on oxygen and may not be able to breathe on his own again.
She neglected to acknowledge that our dog was on oxygen because of the post-surgical care he received that caused him to aspirate solid food. (No one we spoke with after this incident supported giving any living creature – human or animal – solid food the same day of surgery when general anesthesia is used.)
Our dog did not survive because of the care he received at TLC; he survived despite of it. It was our dog’s strong spirit, and our decision to move him to Friendship Hospital for Animals, that allowed him to recover and be with us today.
